THE MERWIN, HULBERT, & CO.’S REVOLVERS.

The Merwin, Hulbert, & Co.’s Automatic revolver is manufactured at Norwich, Conn. The mechanism of this arm is entirely different from any other make of American revolvers. It is well constructed, the parts being made with great care and with a nicety of fitting which is highly creditable to the manufacturers. The material from which they are constructed is forged steel.

The mode of operating the arm is as follows:—

To Load.—Place the hammer at half-cock, press the loading gate downward, and insert the cartridges.

To Eject the Shells.—Take the revolver in the right hand, place the left hand on the barrel with the thumb on the button under the frame, push the button toward the guard, turn the barrel outward and draw forward, when the shells will fall out.

To Take the Arm Apart.—When the barrel and cylinder are drawn forward, as above described, press the barrel-catch down and draw forward. No screw-driver is needed to take the arm apart or interchange the barrels.

Opening the Merwin, Hulbert, & Co. Revolver.

There are a number of different models manufactured with and without the folding hammer. In .32, .38, and .44 calibre there are barrels from 3 inches to 5½ inches in length, with five and seven chambers, with the regular hammer, the .38 and .44 calibre. This firm also makes a solid frame revolver of cheap grade.

In inspecting the revolvers made by this firm, there will be found a number which are not adapted to fine shooting, but would be classed as short-range weapons of defence, or pocket-revolvers. Those with the 3½-inch barrels would never be selected by the person desiring accuracy at any distance beyond a few yards. But the .32 and .38 calibres, with a 5½-inch barrel, are considered by many as very fine shooting weapons. Cuts 3 and 4 .32 target revolvers, with extra barrel for converting into a pocket-revolver.

It is evident that Merwin, Hulbert, & Co.’s action possesses greater strength than most of the revolver-actions on the market. It also permits of being taken apart with ease and despatch, which enables the user to clean the barrel and cylinder in the most thorough manner, as it is known by all who have shot revolvers for fine results that this operation is absolutely necessary, with the present ammunition on the market, to secure fine work.

Revolver open, showing manner of ejecting shells.

After cleaning, the arm can be quickly assembled; more so, it is thought, than any American revolver. It can be loaded very quickly by pressing the button under the frame towards the guard, turning the barrel outward, and drawing forward, when the shell falls out, the action rapidly closed, the gate pushed downward, and fresh cartridges inserted. The rapidity of operation of this arm can hardly be credited until one witnesses the revolver manipulated by a person familiar with its operation.

A very noticeable point about this weapon is the ability to combine a target-revolver with a pocket-revolver, as with a number of the models two barrels are supplied: one 5½-in. and the other 3 or 3½-in. barrel.

The .32 and .38 calibre revolvers with 5½-in. barrels and folding hammer are nicely balanced arms, and when properly sighted are capable of doing fine work; but, unfortunately, they are double action, and while this feature may be a desirable point in revolvers for defence, for target-practice, or fine shooting, it is a detriment rather than an advantage; but this firm also makes a single action with a regular hammer in .38 calibre, in which the trigger-pull can be brought to a state of smoothness and firmness which, if the arm is handled by a good shot, will show excellent work.

The Army revolver is made in single and double action, with and without the folding hammer. Most of the army models are chambered to take the Winchester rifle cartridge, .44 calibre, holding 40 grains of powder and 200 grains of lead, although a special cartridge, specially prepared for the Mexican trade, is supplied.

Each American revolver described in this paper has special points of excellence which commend themselves to the investigator, and are appreciated by revolver-shooters; and there are a number of excellent features in the Merwin, Hulbert, & Co.’s revolver not found in other arms, which make it, in many cases, the favorite revolver of fine marksmen.

The Merwin, Hulbert, & Co.’s revolver has been thoroughly tested by the Government Ordnance Board, which reports as follows on its tests of a six-shot, .42-calibre, 7-inch barrel revolver, weight, 2 pounds 11½ ounces, using a charge of 23 grains of powder and a 252-grain bullet:—

Regular Tests.—One round was fired from each chamber by the exhibitor. The revolver worked satisfactorily.

Dismounting and Assembling.—The time required to completely dismount the revolver was 8 minutes 15 seconds, and that for assembling, 14 minutes.

Initial Velocities.—Ten shots were fired, and the initial velocities determined by the BoulengÉ chronograph: Extreme variation, 77; mean, 20.'3.

Penetration and Recoil.—Mean of five shots: Penetration, 45; recoil, 74.

Tests for Accuracy.—Ten rounds were fired for accuracy, at 25 yards, and also at 100 yards. A fixed rest was used. The results were as follows for ten shots: Mean horizontal deviation, 2.9; mean vertical deviation, 4.2; mean absolute deviation, 5.1.

Rapidity of Loading and Ejecting.—Time required to fire 18 shots, commencing and ending with chambers empty: 1 minute 45 seconds.

Endurance.—Two hundred and fifty rounds were fired, the revolver working without difficulty throughout. It was allowed five minutes to cool after each 50 rounds.

Fouling.—The revolver remained uncleaned forty-eight hours, after which it was fired 50 rounds. It was allowed five minutes to cool after the 12th, 24th, and 36th rounds. Though badly fouled at the rear of the cylinder, by the escape of gas at the primer (the ammunition being outside priming) the arm worked satisfactorily.

Dusting Test.—The revolver was next cleaned and thoroughly dusted with fine sand. It was then wiped off with the hands alone. Twelve rounds were fired. The revolver was then dusted as before, to ascertain the combined effects of dusting and fouling. Six rounds were fired. The revolver worked freely throughout.

Rusting Test.—The revolver was cleaned—all oil being carefully removed—and dipped for ten minutes in a solution of sal-ammoniac, after which it was exposed in the open air for forty-eight hours. At the expiration of this time it was considerably rusted, but still operated quite freely. It was fired 12 rounds, loaded without cleaning, and again immersed for ten minutes in the sal-ammoniac solution. It was then exposed in the open air for another period of forty-eight hours.

In order to prevent the rusting of the rifling, both ends of the barrel were closed with cork, and in the first dipping the cylinder chambers were protected in a similar manner.

At the end of the prescribed time the revolver was found very badly rusted. The rust was so thick on the sides of the hammer that it could not be cocked without the rust first being scraped off with a screw-driver. The trigger was rusted in a similar manner, and had to be scraped and forced back and forth in order to operate it. The locking-bolt slide was rusted so that it could not be started by hand. It was driven back by tapping on the thumb-screw with a hammer. The barrel was then partly turned to the left by hand, but the base-pin was so much rusted that the barrel had to be secured in a vise in order to complete the turning and draw it to the front along the pin.

About twenty minutes were consumed in getting the pistol in condition to fire the remaining rounds required by the prescribed test.

Considering how badly the pistol was rusted, it worked very satisfactorily.The claims made for this revolver by the exhibitors are:—

1. Beauty of outline.

2. No salient points which will prevent its ready insertion in the holster.

3. Non-liability to tear the hands, since nearly all surfaces are neatly rounded. Cleaning is also facilitated by the smooth surfaces.

4. The fluting on the cylinder do not run out at the front, thus increasing the strength and neatness of the whole.

5. Safety, owing to the fact that the locking-device cannot be opened, permitting of dismounting the barrel without the piece being at half-cock. If the piece be not at half-cock, the cylinder and barrel cannot be assembled to the frame.

6. Front sight solid with the barrel.

7. The extractor-ring prevents the interior of the lock and the ratchet from fouling by escape of gas about the primer when using outside primed ammunition.

8. The hood on the front of the cylinder, about the base-pin hole, prevents fouling of base-pin.

9. The recoil-plate protects the head of the cartridge from exposure or abrasion; it also prevents sand, etc., getting in between the cylinder and recoil-plate, checking-rotation.

10. The cylinder and barrel can be dismounted without the use of a screw-driver.Other claims, since made, are appended, marked “B.” It is not thought that they require special comment.

This Board assents generally to claims 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. No particular advantage is thought to be found in the 4th; and the 5th, so far from being advantageous, is regarded as unnecessary and hurtful, hampering one, as it does, in the use of the pistol.

On the whole, the Board regards this as a very good pistol, it having endured the tests in a fairly satisfactory manner. It should be bored up to cal. .45, in order that it may use service ammunition, when it may be more intelligently compared with other arms now in service.

Stocks of walnut and hard rubber were furnished with this pistol. The rubber appears to be fully equal, if not superior, to the walnut in hardness and tenacity. To ascertain the effect of heat, it was placed in a covered tin cup, which was in turn placed in a vessel of water slowly heated to 150°. The rubber did not soften in the slightest degree. It was then placed between two blocks of ice until thoroughly chilled, when it was repeatedly struck with a hammer. It was not at all brittle. The rubber admits of a very neat finish.