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.
[Illustration: 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 5-1/2 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
3-1/2-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
5-1/2-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.
[Illustration: 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 5-1/2-in. and the other 3 or 3-1/2-in. barrel.
The .32 and .38 calibre revolvers with 5-1/2-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 11-1/2
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.