The Le Mat was designed by Dr. Jean Alexandre François Le Mat (1824 – 1895), who received a patent in 1856 for a revolver with a 9-shot cylinder that revolves around a separate central short-barrelled shotgun and was also known as the “Grape Shot Revolver.” Le Mat was born in France but moved to New Orleans in America in 1840 and his revolver saw service with the Confederates during the Civil War as well as in the Franco-Prussian War.

Below is a Rifle/Shotgun combination produced Fagard (Belgium) It has a 12mm centerfire 9-round cylinder revolving around a 65cm long 15mm smoothbore barrel. The hammer has a switch that flips its head either up to fire the pistol rounds or down to fire the central shotgun barrel. The Lemat revolver design in general predates the use of chokes in scatterguns, making it a fearsome weapon in confined spaces.