The C.O.P. 357 is quite robust in design and construction. It is made of solid stainless steel components.

The pistol actually has a unique 4-into-1 barrel. Each of the four chambers has its own dedicated firing pin.

It uses an internal hammer, which is activated by depressing the trigger to hit a ratcheting/rotating striker that in turn strikes one firing pin at a time.

The COP 357 weighs one pound 10 ounces unloaded

Cartridges are loaded into the four separate chambers by sliding a latch that "pops-up" the barrel for loading purposes, similar to top-break shotguns.

The four shot .357 mag

Older "pepperboxes" also used multiple barrels, but the barrels were the part that rotated. The COP 357 is unique in that it uses the ratcheting/rotating striker, which is completely internal, to fire each chamber in sequence.

A modified version of the COP 357 was used in the movie Blade Runner. In addition to some minor cosmetic changes to the gun, the ratcheting striker was modified to fire two cartridges at a time. Using two blanks fired simultaneously created a huge flash for dramatic effect. It should be noted that modifying the striker to fire two (or more) bullets at a time would violate the National Firearms Act and could be categorized as an unlawful machine gun by BATFE. Furthermore, such modifications could create too much chamber pressure and cause the barrel to explode seriously injuring the shooter and bystanders. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia