Merwin Hulbert & Co. New York U.S.A.

[Jonah71]

OK, can somebody tell me what I got yesterday? I can't do pics but will describe as best as possible. I have a 5 shot .38 revolver with the following stamped on the rib....Merwin Hulbert & Co. New York U.S.A.
PAT. APR 17.77 JUNE 15.80 MAR. 14.89 JAN. 9.83
38 CAL on frame just above trigger. The pistol breaks down into 3 parts by first cocking a 2 piece hinged hammer and pushing to the rear a latch at the bottom of the frame in front of the trigger guard. Then rotating the barrel clockwise to the side, allowing the barrel and cylinder to be pulled forward on a center rod. Barrel can then be removed by depressing a vertical latch at the rear of the barrel and pushing the barrel and cylinder forward. Cylinder then can be easily removed from a small slot. Due to the fact that my success at breaking the gun down was due to "accidental luck" I had difficulty reassembling it. I kept trying to fit the barrel and cylinder back on the center rod and frame without first putting the cylinder back into the slot on the frame. My friend who gave me the pistol got a big kick out of how long it took me to figure out. The gun has a very small butt with black plastic grips with screw holes in a diamond center pattern. 3 digit serial # on inside back of cylinder also stamped on the inside rear of barrel assembly. Looks like very old stainless steel. I was told that the gun was originally owned by his Dad's uncle who was a LEO in Chicago a long time ago. My friend is in his late 70's. This may true as I've seen some of their old pics and the gun has C.P.D. stamped on the butt along with what looks like a badge or issue #. Wish I had equipment to post pics.

 

[Jim Watson]

Merwin and Hulbert revolvers were guns of that odd design built by a division of Hopkins and Allen only from 1876 through the 1880s. Therefore it was an old gun when Greatuncle got it, interesting the PD would approve and mark it. It is not stainless steel, not from 120 years ago, it is high quality nickel plating.

There were numerous models from little .32s to big .44s. There is an outfit trying to bring back some of the models, read company history and see some of the other guns at:
http://www.merwinhulbertco.com/history.php

 

[Jim K]

M&H was a marketing company. As Jim says, the guns were made by H&A and are of good quality. The idea was to make a gun that could be opened in such a way that fired cases would be extracted and fall out, while unfired cases would be retained. The idea must have had some appeal (or a lot of hype), because the guns were fairly popular.

The barrel is not normally removed for loading or unloading. Starting with an empty gun, the loading gate on the right is pushed down, exposing the chambers. Cartridges are inserted into the chambers in the normal manner but their rims are caught by a ring that is part of the frame.

After all or some of the rounds have been fired, and the user wants to reload, the barrel is unlatched, turned and pulled forward. The correct* cartridges will be the right length so that fired cases will drop free while unfired cartridges are retained by the bullet still being in the chamber.

Then the barrel is closed up again, and the empty chambers loaded as before, from the rear. The system sounds good on paper, but is actually almost as slow as an ejector rod gun, and a lot slower than the typical top-break revolver.

It is interesting to know that someone would even consider reproducing the quite complex M&H.

*Some special M&H cartridges were made because of the need for a definite case length; while "regular" cartridges will fire in those guns, they may not extract - a common problem with the .32 M&H using .32 S&W cartridges is that all the rounds of the shorter cartridges will fall clear, not just the fired ones.

Jim

 

[Jonah71]

M&H was a marketing company. As Jim says, the guns were made by H&A and are of good quality. The idea was to make a gun that could be opened in such a way that fired cases would be extracted and fall out, while unfired cases would be retained. The idea must have had some appeal (or a lot of hype), because the guns were fairly popular.

The barrel is not normally removed for loading or unloading. Starting with an empty gun, the loading gate on the right is pushed down, exposing the chambers. Cartridges are inserted into the chambers in the normal manner but their rims are caught by a ring that is part of the frame.

After all or some of the rounds have been fired, and the user wants to reload, the barrel is unlatched, turned and pulled forward. The correct* cartridges will be the right length so that fired cases will drop free while unfired cartridges are retained by the bullet still being in the chamber.

Then the barrel is closed up again, and the empty chambers loaded as before, from the rear. The system sounds good on paper, but is actually almost as slow as an ejector rod gun, and a lot slower than the typical top-break revolver.

It is interesting to know that someone would even consider reproducing the quite complex M&H.

*Some special M&H cartridges were made because of the need for a definite case length; while "regular" cartridges will fire in those guns, they may not extract - a common problem with the .32 M&H using .32 S&W cartridges is that all the rounds of the shorter cartridges will fall clear, not just the fired ones.

Jim

I found what I needed on the site. After more careful examination I see that the last date is 88 not 83. It was not produced after that. I'm positive this gun is not a "modern" reproduction, but I do see what you mean about it's complexity. On one of the Merwin Hulbert Co. websites, it has info that Merwin Police Mod. was beleived to be the first standard City Policemans pistols in America. I think my friend was mistaken about the gun being issued by the Chicago Police, because according to the records available the C.P.D. stamped on the back of the butt plate (along with the officers badge #) was for Chelsea, Mass., Cleveland, Cincinnati, Oh., or Charleston, S. Car. They were never issued in Chicago, according to the records. But most of the records were lost in a fire in the late 1800's. There's a small chip on the edge of the pistol grip along with a little surface rust where the plating has worn through, but it's in fairly good condition for a gun made during that period. I think this is one I won't even be tempted to sell. (or fire) Thanks for the help.

 

[justashooter in pa]

the value of this gun is considerable. research your variation thoroughly before establishing a value for sale or insurance.

 

[Jim K]

The M&H "Frontier" models in .44 bring fair money, some running up to $10k, but the pocket models in .38 and 32 are more reasonable. They were made in single action and double action, with most of the SA models having spur triggers. Average good condition prices run in the $300-400 range with some like new guns ranging well over $1200.

The folding hammer spur was an option, also available on Hopkins and Allen revolvers.

Jim