Description
Probably the best example outside of the USA & no license required!
The name Merwin & Holbert is not a highly recognised name when you think of guns of the wild west. This is despite the fact it was an excellently designed & manufactured handgun with some extremely important & highly useful features. These were a revolver favored by both sides of the law & were known to be carried by Pat Garret & Jesse James.
Joseph Merwin was the main designer of the Merwin Hulbert revolver & he got into the firearms business in 1856 in partnership with another man named Bray. In 1874 Joseph Merwin folded that company & joined forces with brothers William & Milan Hulbert who were half owners of the gun-making business Hopkins & Allen (H&A). The Merwin Hulbert & Company thus formed began production of revolvers but as they were made at the H&A factory they were marked as Hopkins & Allen revolvers. This is the reason the Jesse James revolver is marked as a Hopkins & Allen although it is actually a Merwin Hulbert & Co. revolver.
The best known among collectors & historians is the Frontier Model, which is what this revolver is. The Frontier Model began life in 1876 as an open top single action revolver intended to compete directly with the Colt 1873. This model was chambered for the .44 Russian in the hope of securing a contract with the Russian Government. The revolver moved through to the 2nd model in 1878 which was similar but in the pursuit of sales (which required a common calibre), it was chambered for the 44-40 WCF (known as the “Caliber Winchester 1873″).
During the frontier era of the second half of the nineteenth century the Merwin Hulbert revolvers were not just the equal of the revolvers from Colt and Smith & Wesson but some regarded them as superior due to their build quality & innovations. It was around this time that handloading became more popular & to protect their customers from overzealous hot loads destroying their guns, Merwin & Hulbert revolvers incorporated a design which all but eliminated the possibility of a hot load causing problems. Check out the video below showing this in detail.
All too often it is the better firearm that seems to become the rare one that few have heard of & this was certainly the case for Merwin Hulbert who encountered the same problem as Smith & Wesson when they obtained a large contract to supply revolvers to the Russian government to discover after they had supplied the guns that the Tzar was not going to pay them. Smith & Wesson managed to survive the financial loss & Merwin Hulbert managed to continue until 1916 but never fully recovered.
The design & quality of manufacture set the Merwin Hulbert apart. Although the design used a conventional fixed cylinder with side loading gate so the user needed to load cartridges one at a time, ejection of spent cartridges was a very different story. The revolver was put on half-cock & then a button under the action was slid rearwards to release the barrel/cylinder assembly allowing it to be pulled forwards ejecting the fired cases but leaving any longer loaded cartridges in the cylinder. See the video below if you are interested in how it actually works.
From the video you’ve been able to see the reasons the Merwin Hulbert revolvers were favored by Pat Garret, Jesse James & by the Russian Army. It was not only the ejection of fired cases & reloading a quicker operation, but the Merwin Hulbert revolvers featured an enclosed shroud around the rear of the cylinder to keep dust & grime out of the action rather better than their competitors.
The fact that Merwin Hulbert marked their revolvers as being Hopkins & Allen did not contribute well to their sales appeal. H & A were not known for producing high quality firearms so when buyers were purchasing a revolver (that their life may well depend on) they were not likely to choose what was thought to be an inferior product. In hindsight, Hopkins & Allen’s name on the revolvers was not a good selling point despite the fact that the Merwin Hulbert revolvers were excellent. H&A were however very good at nickel plating firearms & as a result the majority of Merwin Hulbert revolvers found are nickel plated, similar to the H&A guns. It is believed among some historians that if Merwin & Hulbert had not marked the revolvers with the manufacturers name ‘Hopkins and Allen’ (known for inexpensive & poor quality weapons), the Merwin Hulbert would be as well known as Colt, Smith & Wesson and Remington.
According to data supplied by the Merwin-Hulbert Association in the US who have identified this revolver as an early model produced around 1877, it is a first model Frontier Army Single action with the early humpback hammer.
This revolver presents very well with the original nickel plating being among the best we have seen while researching this revolver, including guns in the US. The grips are not cracked although there is a small chip on the left side & the internals are in very good working order, with a tight lock up & no play.
These are achieving high prices in the US where Rock Island Auction house has expressed interest in having it for their next auction, due to the rarity & condition of this revolver.
This original condition revolver is extremely rare & highly collectable so would make an excellent addition to any serious collection.
Do your own research & you will know if this is for you. Please view the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information. Ask for more if desired.
We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional & are happy for feedback from people who know more than we do.
Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.
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