Dr. Jean Francois Alexander LeMat (1821-1895) is best remembered for the percussion version of his "Grapeshot" revolvers which were famously used by the Confederacy during the American Civil War, but he continued to pursue and alter his designs in the post-war era. The centerfire variation of LeMat's famous revolvers were introduced in the late 1860s and modified and improved multiple times into the 1880s. This example is similar to the design shown in the 1871 French patent extension. Like their famous percussion predecessors, these centerfire revolvers have a combination of a rifled barrel fed by a revolving cylinder and a central shot barrel. There is a loading gate on the upper right for loading the cylinder and a larger loading gate with a firing pin on the back of the recoil plate for loading and unloading the shot barrel. The hammer has a pivoting arm to switch to the shot barrel. The upper barrel has a triangular front sight, "Colonel Le Mat Paris," and the oval "EP" marking. A notch rear sight is on the top of the recoil plate. A lanyard ring secured by a cross-pin is on the butt. The upper barrel, cylinder, frame, trigger guard, and grips are marked "31."