.44 caliber Sisterdale revolver and holster

This six shooter is one of only six produced by a group of German Texans, all of whom were soldiers in Company F, Texas 36th Cavalry during the Civil War.

In August 1862 they were sent to Sisterdale, a small town northwest of San Antonio, to design and manufacture a six shooter. Their ultimate goal was to secure a contract with the Confederacy who faced a critical shortage of firearms. Unlike the Union, the South had few factories. Only a trickle of guns could be smuggled through the Union blockade of the coast. The Texas government decided to encourage the production of firearms at home.

Alfred Kapp may have been the group's only experienced gun maker, as he reportedly worked at the Colt factory in Connecticut, though that has never been substantiated. Joining Kapp were Rudolf Coreth, Charles "Carl" Coreth, Johann Coreth (all brothers), Adolph Münzenberger, August Schimmelpfennig, Hermann Kämmerling, and a blacksmith named either Schmidt or Willem. The revolver they produced is larger (14" overall, 7 3/4" barrel length) than most .44 caliber handguns and weighs four pounds. Because the men put so much effort into engineering the revolver, only a handful of them were completed before the war ended.