In its traditional configuration, Volta's pistol consists of a metal recipient in the form of a cylinder. In the exemplar presented here the recipient is brass in the form of a truncated cone (diameters 5.5 and 2.5 cm, height 12 cm) and terminates with a narrow cylindrical neck which can be sealed with a cork.
A small brass rod, insulated on the inside by a small glass tube, puttied and having two small balls at the ends, penetrates into the recipient near the bottom, with the ball inside near the opposite side.