Almost a year ago, I posted about a simple matchstick gun. Click here to refresh your memory.

I was unable to find out where it was made let alone acquire one. However, I recently came across much better made matchstick guns made in China.

These matchstick guns are made of stainless steel. I was able to find places that sell them but unable to find much about these little guns in terms of reviews and videos online.

There are some videos online but they are mostly montages of still images.

Then you have less than stellar cellphone videos from China like this one.

I was curious what these matchstick guns could do so I had a friend help me order one. I went with the folding revolver.

From the pictures above, I was concerned that it would arrive in pieces. While it is a simple device, I do not have the highest confidence in Chinese instructions. Luckily it came assembled.

The quality and weight was surprising. All the corners are rounded and the gun feels much more heavy than one would think for such a small device.

I removed one of the side plates to check out the barrel and cylinder.

One problem with the cylinder is that the side plate encroaches into the gap in the cylinder. This means you need to chop down the matches if you want to load up the cylinder and have it rotate. The cylinder needs to be manually rotated but there is a spring loaded ball detent to index the cylinder properly. With the hammer down, the firing pin/screw protrudes into the chamber of the cylinder and prevents the cylinder from rotating.

The hammer spring is extremely powerful and you need two hands to cock the hammer. Since the matchstick gun is so simple it is single action only. Trigger pull is about 6-7 lbs.

Given the complexity and lack of reliability in the revolver, I think the single shot version of this matchstick gun would be more reliable. I have basically reverted to using my matchstick gun as a single shot. I  load a full-size matchstick in the cylinder rather than waste time trimming down matches, and having to rotate the cylinder for each shot. It is easier to just cock the hammer back and load a single match.

No you cannot fit .22 bullets in it. I suppose one could make a new cylinder and barrel to possibly have it shoot actual bullets but why not just buy a pocket pistol like those NAA revolvers?

How does it do on distance and accuracy? Miserable. The full-length match sticks hardly do much damage at even a short distance.

Ordering this from China was a hassle. I had to enlist the help of my friend Irfan in Malaysia who ended up using a third party proxy buyer. It only cost me $68 shipped to get this. They are available on DHgate and Ebay but for a much higher price. For the cost it is a great little toy.