Mateba Autorevolver

Developed by the Italian gun manufacturer Mateba Srl, the Mateba Autorevolver, sometimes refered to as the Mateba Model 6 Unica, is one of the few types of hybrid handguns called automatic revolvers. This revolver type, when fired, automatically recocks the hammer and rotates the cylinder for the wielder.

The Mateba Autorevolver's barrel allignment is different from most other revolvers. The barrel is alligned with the bottom of the cylinder instead of the top. This brings the barrel closer to the grib of the handgun, reducing the upward recoil of the gun and increasing accuracy.

There is a modified Mateba Autorevolver called the Mateba Grifone, which is nothing more than a Mateba Autorevolver with an 18 inch barrel, forward stock, and rifle butt.

The character Togusa in the various incarnations of Ghost in the Shell carries two different Matebas. Both of Togusa's Matebas are fictional models (models M-2008, the longer version, and M-2006, according to the Stand Alone Complex Visual Book), and have given rise to the belief that reloading a Mateba is more difficult than a normal revolver because the cylinder swings out from the top, so the cylinder can't be emptied of spent rounds with the same hand that holds the gun. However, current production Mateba autorevolvers swing out from the bottom like most modern revolvers, albeit on a hinge that is offset from the vertical. However, only a slight modification in stance can correct this. In addition, the gun belonging to popular manga and anime character Vash the Stampede from the series Trigun (identified as an "Angel Arms .45 long revolver") is similar to the Mateba's lower alligned barrel, though Vash's gun is a conventional double action revolver, not an autorevolver, and in many other respects resembles a Webley revolver, most noteably the tip-action reload.