A Photo Essay about Merwin and Hulbert Revolvers

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

After hijacking numerous threads about Merwin Hulbert revolvers I thought I should start one of my own. I will attempt to delve into some of the mysteries and mystique of the unique Merwin Hulbert design. I will also attempt to dispel some of the myths that have arisen about Merwin Hulbert revolvers.


First, a bit of history. Joseph Merwin was an arms inventor and a business man. In 1853 he formed a partnership with William Bray, creating the Merwin and Bray company, headquartered in New York City. In 1864 he entered into a new partnership called Merwin and Simpkins, which soon became Merwin, Taylor and Simpkins. In 1868 he formed a new company with William A. Hulbert and M. H. Hulbert. The new company was named Merwin, Hulbert and Company.

It appears the Hulberts' contribution to the enterprise was financing, while Merwin was the inventor and designer. At this time, Merwin, Hulbert and Company owned half interests in the American Cartridge Company, the Phoenix Rifle and Ammunition Company, and The Hopkins and Allen Company. In addition, Mewin had invested $100,000 dollars in the Evans Rifle Company of Mechanics Falls Maine.

By this time Merwin Hulbert were well known importers and exporters of firearms and sporting goods, with an extensive catalog. MH was the exclusive distributor for the above mentioned companies. They also distributed products for many other companies, including Marlin, Winchester, Colt, Charles Daly, Remington, Ithica, and L. C. Smith.

Hopkins and Allen was located in Norwich Connecticut, and was known as a manufacturer of inexpensive firearms. Having a major firearms manufacturer at his disposal allowed Joseph Merwin to begin manufacturing the revolvers of his unique design.

Merwin died in 1879 and the company went into receivership in 1880. The Evans Rifle Company also went into bankruptcy, representing another major financial loss. The company appears to have continued manufacturing revolvers, the last model was developed in 1887 and appeared in the 1889 catalog. I believe Merwin, Hulbert and Company continued operating until sometime in the 1890s, but a major fire destroyed all the company records.

Merwin Hulbert revolvers were made in a variety of sizes, small 32 and 38 caliber pocket pistols as well as large 44 caliber belt pistols.

Lastly, somewhat of a myth has arisen about Merwin Hulbert revolvers, with many gun writers claiming it was the most perfect revolver design ever manufactured, built with a precision no other company was capable of producing. I will reserve my comments about this myth until later in this essay.


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Like many others, I had read about Merwin Hulbert revolvers in many books and magazines, and just like many others I was fascinated by them. A number of years ago I had an opportunity to buy a pair of Merwins for a very reasonable price, and I jumped at the opportunity.

This pair of Frontier Models are not museum pieces, they have been heavily reworked by their former owner to return them to shooting condition. They are Third Model Frontier Merwins. The Top Strap and lack of a barrel rib makes them Third Models. The grips are imitation ivory. If you look closely you will see the one at the top of the photos has a longer cylinder than the other one. This one was originally chambered for 44-40, the one with the shorter cylinder was chambered for 44 Russian. It is in fact marked on the frame below the cylinder 'Russian Model'.







The 44-40 revolver had a problem at one point.






The previous owner is a highly skilled gunsmith and machinist. He fabricated two new cylinders, both chambered for 44 Russian and he made a new top strap which he welded onto the frame of the damaged revolver. That is the condition they are in today, both have new cylinders chambered for 44 Russian.

More to follow.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

This is my Merwin Hulbert Pocket Army, Second Model. It has a seven inch barrel. Notice that it is an open top revolver, without a top strap, as opposed to my Frontier Models which have top straps. There is only one joint between the barrel assembly and the frame. Also notice the unusual cylinder flutes. These were known as 'scoop flutes'. The Third Model of this revolver added a top strap and the The Fourth Model had a rib on top of the barrel, but Second models lacked the barrel rib and top strap. The Third and Fourth Models also did away with the scoop flutes, having conventional flutes that ran to the end of the cylinder.

This model was produced from 1880 until 1883. This one is a single action revolver, but this model was also available as a double action revolver.










Do not be confused by the term 'Pocket Army'. This is a full sized, six shot, belt pistol chambered for the 44-40 cartridge. This model was also available with a 3 1/2" barrel, which may have given rise to the term Pocket being included in the description.





Merwin Hulbert used an unusual method to call out the caliber or this revolver. The left side of the frame was marked CALIBRE WINCHESTER 1873. This referred to the 44-40 (44WCF) cartridge because it was the earliest cartridge the Winchester Model 1873 rifle had been chambered for.





The unusual bird's head grip of this model is popularly known as the Skull Crusher grip. The hard rubber grips are fastened to both sides of the frame, but the metal grip frame extends down further to form the unique 'Skull Crusher' shape. No, that is not the Serial Number, it is an assembly number.






The Merwin Hulbert markings are on the top of the barrel.





On the left side of the barrel is the marking for Hopkins and Allen, where the guns were actually manufactured.




More to follow.

 

[the Black Spot]

Lovin it!

 

[VA27]

Excellent! Thanks!

 

[bannockburn]

Driftwood Johnson

Great historical photo essay! Keep them coming!

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Here is how you open a Merwin Hulbert.

There is a button on the underside of the frame in front of the trigger guard. Pushing it backwards unlatches the barrel assembly.






The barrel is then rotated 90 degrees. I normally perform all the following operations with my left hand on the barrel and my right hand holding the frame, but I don't have a third hand to hold the camera, so I am cheating a bit just showing one hand on the barrel.






Once the barrel has been rotated 90 degrees, the barrel is then pulled forward along the arbor until it reaches a stop. The cylinder comes along with the barrel. That is as much as you have to do to dump out the empty brass. Merwin Hulbert revolvers were built during the Black Powder era. The helical groove on the arbor is similar to the helical groove around the arbor of a Colt Cap & Ball revolver. It provides clearance for Black Powder fouling to gather in without binding the cylinder.






There is another latch on the left side of the barrel. The latch is spring loaded.






To further dismantle the revolver for cleaning, this latch is pushed in.







Once this latch is pushed in, the barrel and cylinder can be pulled forward completely off of the arbor. The deep slot guides a wedge in the barrel and keeps things lined up.







The bushing at the front of the cylinder is retained by a recess under the cylinder. That is what pulls the cylinder forward with the barrel. Once the barrel and cylinder clear the arbor, it is important to hold onto the cylinder so it does not fall onto the floor. I usually try to pull the barrel and cylinder off over a table, just in case I lose my grip on the cylinder.






With the cylinder separated from the barrel, the detail of the cylinder bushing and its retaining groove in the underside of the barrel can be seen.






The revolver has now been field stripped for cleaning. The steps are reversed to reassemble it.





More to follow.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Another interesting read Driftwood. Thanks for sharing. Two questions for you, when convenient to answer.

Obviously there is no ejector rod or star on this type of gun. Is there a catch on the blast shield of some kind that extracted all the spent cases at the same time? If not, did this firearm simply rely on gravity to drop spent cases out? This could be a real problem if sticky extraction came up for any reason.

And on that note, do you think that issue, if in fact it is an issue, had any bearing on the design of Galand revolvers with their self extracting disc that ejected spent cases when the trigger guard lever was used? The telescoping disassembly of the Merwin you have depicted made me think of Galands right away, but in a quick internet search, I see both companies were in business concurrently, though in different countries, and with very different mechanical operation for disassembly and reloading.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

460Kodiak: In order to answer your questions I am reposting some information and photos I originally posted on another thread.

There is an 'extractor ring' at the base of the recoil shield. Notice it is rebated and there is a space under it. The ring is actually a feature machined onto the cylinder arbor.







There is a loading gate on the right side of the frame. Unlike a Colt loading gate, which swivels, the MH loading gate slides down for loading. You have to load rounds one at a time through the loading gate, the design does not allow you to load the gun when it is open.







To open the gun to dump out the empties you push the knob in front of the trigger backwards.







This allows the barrel assembly to rotate.







When the barrel has rotated 90 degrees, you pull the barrel forward. The cylinder comes along for the ride. The gun has no ammo in it in this photo for clarity.







In this view there are some rounds in the cylinder. This shows how the rims of the ammo are retained by the the rebate under the extractor ring. The ring is discontinued where the loading gate is, but the ring is 'continued' on the underside of the loading gate. So that when the loading gate is closed, the rims of all the rounds ride under the extractor gate as the cylinder turns.






As you keep pulling the barrel and cylinder forward, the empties will eventually clear the cylinder and will fall out.









The barrel and cylinder only pull forward so far until they reach a stop. The idea was if there were unfired rounds in the cylinder, their bullets would retain them in the chambers, and the gun could be closed again with those rounds still in the cylinder.



That is the theory.

I have found in practice that all the empties do not always fall out, some of them need to be flicked out with a finger.

And the bit about closing the mechanism up on live rounds is a bit problematic too. Usually the live rounds will have shifted enough so that the cylinder will not move back and 'swallow' them. Some fiddling is usually involved to close the gun again with live rounds in it.

Then, in order to reload, you still have to reload one at a time through the loading gate, no different than a Colt. The configuration of the extractor ring prevents slipping new loaded rounds in while the gun is open.

**************

I cannot comment on the Galand revolver, I had never heard of it until you mentioned it.

 

[gbran]

I just love top breaks. I wish there were more new offerings. I used to have a couple Harrington & Richardson top breaks, 1 in .22lr and the other .32 S&W.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

The Merwin Hulbert is NOT a Top Break.

Top Breaks have a hinge under the barrel and the barrel swings down to load and unload.

This is a Top Break.





I will be discussing Top Breaks, and their advantages, later.

 

[gbran]

Oops, sure put my foot in my mouth over that.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Ah, I see. Interesting design, and totally different than a Galand. Thanks for answering and sorry if my question made you jump ahead at all.

 

[lewwallace]

M&H

Thot I'd add these pics. Just recently sold. It never fit in w/the Webleys. 1873 medium frame, spur trigger, 38s&w, rare 5" barrel

 

[J-Bar]

Sticky!!

 

[bannockburn]

Driftwood johnson

I seem to recall that there was a British service revolver, the .476 Enfield Mk.I that used a similar cartridge extraction system to that of the Merwin Hulbert.

 

[chicharrones]

This is very educational and impressive, Driftwood. Thank you for the thread.

 

[mravery]

Great pics and very cool guns..... Just picked up one in 38 with three barrels (two numbered to the gun, third barrel is off by 85).

 

[bannockburn]

mravery

Very cool; never knew the Merwin Hulbert revolver came with extra barrels numbered to the gun. They definitely were way ahead of their time when you consider that it was like a century later that Dan Wesson came out with the multi-barrel Pistol Pack.

 

[mravery]

From what I've read, there are only a few known examples of all three barrels numbered to the gun. What I'm not sure of is if the larger frame guns had the matching barrel sets or only the smaller calibers.

So, based on what Driftwood mentioned earlier in his thread about his not fitting due to the caliber differences. Perhaps they did fit as long as the caliber was the same. I'm sure that the ones that are sold as sets are fitted at the factory, but my third barrel being off by 85, would lead me to believe that it was added later over the counter and not fitted by the factory.

 

[Jim K]

I recall reading (I don't know where) that M&H never intended that grip shape to be used as a "skull crusher". It was simply a way to make a lanyard attachment that was part of the gun and wouldn't rattle or bend as lanyard loops had a tendency to do.

I do not know the actual rationale, but I do know that using a revolver to beat on someone's head often damages the revolver (not to mention the head) and is usually not recommended by the manufacturer (of the revolver, not the head).

Jim

 

[kBob]

"...but I do know that using a revolver to beat on someone's head often damages the revolver (not to mention the head) and is usually not recommended by the manufacturer (of the revolver, not the head)."

Story time.....

I own a former Georgia State Patrol M28 S&W. The GSP trooper that had it said the Model 19 he was being forced to replace it with had less "knock down power" than the big old N frame. When it was pointed out that both fired the same ammo from the same length barrel he explained. "Yep but when you come out of the holster and lay that M28 up side someone's head they go down right then and with these little Model 19s you do that and then you got to back hand them as well and sometimes even hit 'em again!"

"Ow, ow, ow....clunk"

This is why I never speed in Georgia.

Some where I have a reprint of an M&H sales brochure. I seem to recall that "Army" models WERE offered with additional barrels.

-kBob

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I have more information to add to this thread when I get a chance, but I will add a quick note here.

In the back pages of Art Phelps' book about Merwin Hulbert revolvers he has reproduced some pages from various catalogs. The John P Lovell Arms Co of Boston catalog of 1890 shows several Merwin Hulbert models available with more than one barrel. Indeed, that was part of the MH marketing strategy, to promote quickly changing barrel lengths without needing any tools.

A five shot revolver chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge with a 5 1/2" barrel cost $13, blue or nickel plated. An extra 3" barrel was available for $4.

A large 44 caliber Pocket Army like mine with a 3 1/2" or 7" barrel cost $13. An extra barrel also cost $4. The double action version cost another $2.

Mailing them cost an extra 50 cents for the 38, 60 cents for the 44.

Here is a quote from the catalog about the interchangeable barrels:

"The great advantage claimed for these Revolvers over all others is that they have interchangeable barrels, by means of which one can have a pocket revolver with a 3 inch barrel, or a belt revolver with a 5 1/2 inch barrel, as desired. One barrel can be removed and the other attached in an instant. This is an advantage which is meeting with great favor. The workmanship is strictly first class in every respect, and we take great pleasure in recommending them to our customers"

Very typical flowery advertising copy from the Victorian age.

 

[mravery]

Driftwood, do you know how the arbor pin is attached? I've seen some diagrams and part schematics and it looks like it just screws in. What I'm wondering is if there is a locking screw to hold it in place.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Yes, I just learned this recently on another board.

The arbor is screwed into the frame. The 'extractor ring' actually part of the arbor. This photo is of another Merwin Hulbert, but you can see where the 'extractor ring' bottoms against the frame. The slots in it are for the hand to protrude through to reach the cylinder.





In this photo of my Pocket Army, we are looking at the rear of the arbor where it emerges from the threaded hole in the frame. A small hole is drilled and tapped at the seam between the arbor and the frame. The arrow points to a headless screw that is screwed into the hole, preventing the arbor from backing out. A screw used like this to prevent another threaded part from moving is called a bug screw.

 

[mravery]

Cool, thank you for that. My arbor pin has just a tad of a wiggle and was hoping that there might be a way to snug it up. I've had my 38 looked at by a gunsmith and he states that it is safe to shoot. I find that each of the barrels have a little wiggle to them, the longest barrel with the most. I've never owned a multi piece framed pistol before so I was never sure just how the feel should be and the if any wiggle was acceptable.

Do any of your Merwins have wiggle or are they very tight?

I tend to be over cautious and always expect things to some times be overly snug. You would hate to go with me to Lowes to pick up lumber. When I'm Done lashing it down, the truck could roll 10 times and the wood would not move