My acquisition at the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show

[duelist1954]

I picked up a Merwin Hulbert open top old model army revolver with a seven inch barrel, chambered in .44-40.

It isn't pristine, but it is in good working order, and I think it will make a good shooter with B-P loads.

[Doc Hoy]

I remember you eyeballing the MH in your video of the firearm museum.

Congrats on the new pistol.

[sltm1]

One of my favorite revolvers...."Good Trade"....green bits of paper for a piece of history !!!

[James K]

I have several of the smaller M&H revolvers, but have not been able to find one of the large models that I can afford. Congrats on the acquisition.

Jim

[Sarge]

Very slick... congratulations!

[Kappe]

Oooh! I can't wait to see that baby in action

[bedbugbilly]

You do realize that we all expect a video on this . . .

Nice fine - congrats!

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

How old do you suppose it is?

[Jim Watson]

Open top with scoop flutes, probably 1870s.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I suspect you will be pleased at how well it shoots with Black Powder. The cylinder bushing is massive on those and will keep all the BP fouling away from the cylinder pin. I have a couple of the Frontier models in 44 Russian. I have not had a chance to shoot one of them yet, it needed a little bit of work, but I have shot the other one in several cowboy matches and it is a hoot.



Just a tip, if you haven't shot one yet. Unlike a Colt, where you load one, skip one, then load four more, with the MH, because of the position of the loading gate, you load two, skip one, then load three more.

P.S. Oooooops...........didn't realize who you were. Yeah, hope to see the video soon.

[PetahW]

.

What a neat revolver !

I like the .44-40 chambering, too.


.

[indy1919]

That is a cool looking gun, So many nice lines on that gun..

Anyone know how many they made??? I think the company was a float for like 35+ years or so...

How does one reload this little beastie??? Does the Cylinder cover rotate down??? Or would you have to take the Cylinder off???

And it looks like you ejected the shells out of the cylinder by using ones fingers????

[Driftwood Johnson]

How does one reload this little beastie??? Does the Cylinder cover rotate down??? Or would you have to take the Cylinder off???

And it looks like you ejected the shells out of the cylinder by using ones fingers????

Howdy

Not duelist1954 but I can answer those questions.

You load a Merwin Hulbert from the rear through the sliding loading gate. You load in one cartridge at a time, not much different than a Colt SAA, except because of the location of the loading gate you load in two, skip one, then load three more, unlike a Colt where you load in one, skip one, and load four more. Like any revolver of this period, they should only be loaded with five rounds and the hammer should be down on an empty chamber.





To unload you set the hammer back a tiny bit to the 'safety cock' notch, then you push the knob in front of the triggerguard back towards the trigger. That releases the barrel/cylinder assembly. You grasp the cylinder and barrel and rotate them 90 degrees clockwise as seen from the rear, and then pull the barrel and cylinder straight forward. The barrel will retain the cylinder, it will come along for the ride. There is a stop that keeps the barrel and cylinder from coming off the cylinder pin.





When you pull the barrel and cylinder forward, the cartridges in the cylinder will be retained by a ring at the base of the frame. So as you pull the barrel and cylinder forward, the rounds in the chamber will be left behind. In theory, the empties will fall free while the bullets in any live rounds will still be in their chambers. The idea is you can close the gun up again and the live rounds will be retained and you only need to load fresh rounds through the loading gate.





That's the theory anyway. In practice I find that usually a couple of empties hang up under the retaining ring on the frame and do not fall free, they have to be flicked away with a finger. Frankly, although it is a very clever system, a Top Break revolver is actually simpler to operate. With a Top Break you load and unload while the gun is open. With the MH you cannot reload while the gun is open, the shells will not clear the retaining ring. So you must close the gun and reload one at a time through the loading gate, no faster really than a SAA.

But they are really cool to fool around with, particularly when you show up at the unloading table at a CAS match and get to explain what it is and how it works.

To remove the barrel and cylinder you push in the spring loaded latch on the side. This allows you to pull the barrel and cylinder straight off the cylinder pin. A tip though, be sure you do this with the barrel and cylinder upside down, preferably over a table. There is nothing retaining the cylinder to the barrel but a semi-circular hollow. Hold the barrel and cylinder right side up and the cylinder will fall out.

[duelist1954]

Very nice looking guns Driftwood. Thanks for posting the pictures.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Hey Mike

Be sure to let us know when you post a video of you shooting your new MH. You're gonna love how well it shoots with BP, no fouling at all will get past the cylinder bushing and onto the cylinder pin.

[indy1919]

Moocho thanks Driftwood, the close up photos really showed the detailed design of the gun... That is an amazing little system..

Just a dumb question.. Can a empty case be extracted backwards via the loading gate also????? Or is it Impractical ???

And any Idea of the cost of one of these back in the day??? Was it more expensive to a SAA or less.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Just a dumb question.. Can a empty case be extracted backwards via the loading gate also????? Or is it Impractical ???

And any Idea of the cost of one of these back in the day??? Was it more expensive to a SAA or less.

You can unload an empty shell or a live round back through the loading gate, but it is not practical. I just tried it. There is no ejector rod on the gun like there is with a SAA. So if you open the loading gate to remove a round, if it does not fall out by gravity you would have to poke it out from the front with a stick. Chances are after a bit of firing with Black Powder rounds, which these guns were designed to shoot, the chambers would have enough fouling on them that you would need the stick. The whole selling point of the Merwin Hulbert was the unique way it opened for unloading all the chambers, and it is quicker and simpler to do it that way than to try to poke out rounds one at a time through the loading gate.

I have a reprint of a Merwin Hulbert catalog from 1887. It shows a basic Frontier Model like mine selling for $14.00 with hard rubber grips. With pearl the price goes up to $21. By the 1887 catalog the Pocket Army model that Mike bought had been upgraded with a top strap. The 44-40 version with a 3 1/2" barrel and hard rubber grips was $12.75. $15 for Ivory and $18 for pearl. The same gun with 2 barrels, 3 1/2" AND 7", sold for $16.75 with hard rubber grips, $19.00 for ivory grips, and $22.00 with pearl grips.

The only reference I have to the price of a Colt SAA is a reprint of a Sears Roebuck catalog from 1897, showing Colt Single Action Army revolvers selling for $12.95. But bear in mind, that by 1897 the SAA was already considered an obsolete weapon in some circles and the Sears price may have reflected that.

[indy1919]

Driftwood, I want to thank you for those photos.. They really show the detailed precision engineering design work put into that gun..

Love how the pearl Grips drives up the cost of the gun..

I think in the 1870s & 80 the SAA was in the 13 to 20 dollar range so this gun was priced in that ball park

Hate to ask more, but does anyone any idea how many guns Merwin Hulbert produced???.. And anyone know how durable these guns were.???

[brazosdave]

awesome guns and awesome pics! Thanks guys, and thank you Driftwood for the detailed pics and explanations on one of the more unique guns of the old West!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Hate to ask more, but does anyone any idea how many guns Merwin Hulbert produced???.. And anyone know how durable these guns were.???

Howdy

I do not have figures for how many guns they produced, but they made many different models. They made both double action and single action revolvers. My guns are the so called 'Frontier Model'. Mike's is the Pocket Army model. These were both large caliber guns. They also made midsized 38 caliber revolvers, both double action and single action. Some of the smaller models had no trigger guards, just spur triggers. Sorry, I have no numbers, but they made a lot of different models.

As for how durable they were, they were just as durable as any other quality revolver of the time. Treat them well and they would last a lifetime.

Surprisingly, the lockwork of the single action MHs is pretty identical to the lockwork of a S&W Top Break. Not that the parts are interchangeable, but they have the same design and function.

Here are photos the lockwork of a MH and a S&W Russian, with the hammers all the way down, at the so called 'safety cock' position, and at full cock.


Merwin Hulbert:








Russian:








Lastly, I must add, a great deal gets made about the tolerances required to build the Merwin Hulbert. This is partially because Art Phelps stated it so many times in his book The Story of Merwin Hulbert & Company Firearms. He makes the case that the MH design required precision that other manufacturers were not capable of producing. That is hype. I can tell you, other than how unusual the MH barrel and cylinder design is, there is absolutely nothing about it that requires closer tolerances than S&W was capable of producing at the same time. The design is unusual, but if S&W had wanted to, they could have done it too.

[Kappe]

I had a feeling the Merwin Hulberts were influenced by S&W revolvers. The grip of the Frontier model looks like a pretty close copy of the S&W American model's grip. Thanks for sharing the internal pics.

[Driftwood Johnson]

It may have actually been a patent issue that caused Merwin Hulbert to come up with their unique design. S&W may have held patents on the Top Break system that prevented MH from making a Top Break. I don't really know, I am still researching that question.