GUN SPRING 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
FABULOUS AND HISTORIC WHITE-MERRILL 1907 US TEST TRIAL PISTOL. WHITE-MERRILL M1906 NSN 45CAL MODERN; C&R Cal. 45. The 1907 White-Merrill was an extraordinary pistol designed through the collaboration of Joseph White and his partner Samuel Merrill, of Massachusetts. This massive single action blowback pistol, fitted with a deeply checkered spur hammer, could be cocked and loaded in the usual manner or with a single hand by means of a cocking lever, that the inventor called a a "loading spur", located below the trigger guard. Feeding could be through the top, via stripper clip or more conventionally by way of a detachable 10-shot magazine. The left side of the frame is fitted with a hold-open/slide release, and one example had a left grip made of plexiglass, numbered "1,2,3", to allow visual inspection of the loaded status. The magazine, made to hold a staggered column of cartridges, with open walls, was released by depressing a push button at the bottom of the backstrap. At least one White-Merrill pistol was submitted for formal military trial pistol competition and fired 211 rnds. Unfortunately, the number of malfunctions and failures to fire were such that testing was discontinued and the gun disqualified from consideration. This exact pistol is illustrated as plate VI in The War Dept Annual Report, Vol. 6, 1907. One example is pictured in Small Arms of the World by Ezell (pgs 326-327). This exact pistol is also pictured in U.S. Military Automatic Pistols by Meadows (pgs 273-274) has a 6" bbl fitted with a half-moon front sight and a fixed rear sight. The top of the heavy slide is marked "PAT. APP'D FOR" and serrated at the rear for grasping. The frame is fitted with a hold-open, whose function is unreliable and separate grip panels. The left panel is made of clear, numbered plexiglass; the right panel, made of smooth brown Bakelite, is secured by two small screws. The heavy duty, open bodied magazine has a reinforcing plate on the back spine secured with six separate screws and a floorplate secured by an additional two screws. Accompanied by an archive of material on the M1906 pistol incl. rare original patent drawings, operation manual and blue prints. Also included with this gun is a hang tag from early owner, Alex Montgomery. Montgomery was one of the very first major collectors of early experimental pistols. This exact pistol is illustrated in a display article by Montgomery on pp.53-62 of World's Guns and Other Weapons, 1958. Also included is a very rare White-Merrill stripper clip and 5 rnds orig ammo. Note: An extensive archive of related White-Merrill drawings, notes and patent related documents is being offered for sale as a separate lot in this auction. PROVENANCE: The Frank H. Wheaton, III Collection. CONDITION: Approximately 70% orig blue with most areas of contact subjected to handling having faded to grey, particularly the front of the trigger guard and the grooved surface of the cocking lever. The grip panels are in excellent condition with fewer scratches and mars than one might expect from a test gun. The magazine remains in-the-white without suggestion of polishing or enhancement. Mirror bright bore. Excellent manual mechanics with unreliable hold-open as previously mentioned. Truly an extraordinary, charismatic, one-of-a-kind test pistol that should be familiar to every enthusiast of military small arms. 51516-2 LMA (30,000-60,000)