GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
SCARCE FACTORY ENGRAVED MERWIN & HULBERT EARLY OPEN TOP ARMY MODEL SQUARE BUTT SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER.MERWIN & HULBERTEARLY ARMY MODEL OPEN TOP W/SQ BUTT839044 MERWIN & HULBERTCal. 44 Merwin & Hulbert. Nickel finish with 7" rnd bbl that has integral front sight with groove rear sight on top of frame. Frame is open top with 6-shot scooped flute cylinder. Frame, bbl and cylinder are factory engraved in foliate and dot patterns with about full coverage on sides of the frame, full length on right side of bbl and cylinder pin housing with matching patterns on the left side leaving the Hopkins & Allen marking completely legible. Cylinder has matching patterns on lands between flutes. Left side plate has a small rnd vignette depicting a sailing vessel with building and mountains in background. Right side is engraved with a shield shaped pattern with flower blossom and foliate patterns. Mounted with smooth 2-pc pearl grips. Buttstrap is mounted with a factory lanyard loop. Left side of the grip frame is marked with assembly number "5761" which is also found on the cylinder pin, cylinder and rear face of the bbl lug. Note: a 44 American cartridge will also chamber in this cylinder. Merwin & Hulbert were themselves not manufacturers, but entrepreneurs who either designed or bought patents which they had manufactured by established manufacturers such as Hopkins & Allen. They then distributed the product themselves. One of the Merwin & Hulbert design, in some instances, is superior to other revolvers of the same era. The product was late on the market after Colt had already established contracts with the government. In addition, the early Army size revolvers were in a proprietary cartridge, as found here, which was not readily available throughout the buying market. They later chambered these large frame revolvers in Cal. 44-40 which was compatible with Winchester and other repeating rifles. CONDITION: Fine to very fine, all matching except grips which are un-numbered. Bbl retains about 60-70% orig nickel showing holster wear to grey metal on both sides. Frame retains about 60-70% orig nickel with the front and backstraps worn to grey metal. Trigger and hammer retain faint case colors. Grips show minor chips around the edges with a larger chip near the left toe, otherwise are sound with great fire and color. The frame screws and one front strap screw are slightly battered. Mechanics are fine. Strong bright bore with some minor orange peel pitting. 51935-2 JRL (5,000-8,000)