The guns produced The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company are extremely important in the history of repeating firearms development in the United States. The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company had been formed in July of 1855 as a joint stock company by Horace Smith, Daniel Wesson, and Courtland Palmer, with a number of investors, including Oliver Winchester, a shirt manufacturer from New Haven, CT. The Volcanic Company had been built upon an earlier failure, the original Smith & Wesson partnership. 

Both the Smith & Wesson and Volcanic companies were established with the goal to manufacture and sell repeating firearms based upon the designs and patents of Walter Hunt and Lewis Jennings. Hunt had developed the “Rocket Ball” ammunition, which was a crude predecessor to modern fixed ammunition. The “Rocket Ball” placed propellant in the recessed cavity of a conventional lead bullet and used an external source for ignition. This was an improvement over the traditional system of loading firearms, in which all the components of the ammunition were separate. While Hunt’s “Rocket Ball” was underpowered and somewhat unreliable, it was the first somewhat successful American attempt to create a self-contained cartridge that was potentially useable in a repeating firearm. Hunt subsequently patented a crude repeating rifle design that utilized his ammunition. Hunt’s design was further improved upon by Lewis Jennings. Jennings modified and refined it, with the result being the Volition repeating rifle. As none of the designers had the capital or manufacturing capability to proceed with the venture, the patents were assigned to George Arrowsmith, who found the same difficulties, and subsequently sold the patent rights to Courtland Palmer. 

Palmer was a successful New York hardware merchant and budding industrialist. In 1850, Palmer contracted with Robbins and Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont to manufacture Jennings patent rifles using Hunt’s patent ammunition. It was there that the stars aligned, and a group of men that would revolutionize the firearms industry came to work together on the same project. They were Horace Smith, Daniel Wesson and B. Tyler Henry. All three worked on the Jennings rifle project at Robbins & Lawrence and started to come up with improvements and refinements to the design. The group realized that the single biggest issue with the Jennings design was the shortcomings in the ammunition, so the group went to work on that problem. They also set their minds to developing what would become the basic design for modern lever action firearms for the next two decades. Their efforts resulted in the Smith-Jennings rifle, but the complicated action and underpowered Hunt patent ammunition kept the design from being a commercial success. In 1852, at the completion of the contract with Robbins & Lawrence, Palmer left the endeavor. However, he appears to have remained in contact with both Smith and Wesson. Over the next two years Smith and Wesson worked on improving the ammunition and the firearm designs. Their improvements received US patents in 1854. One was for a new, improved self-contained ammunition design. The other was for a repeating firearm with a toggle link action, the basis for all the Volcanic, Henry and early Winchester firearms designs. I

n 1854, with Courtland as their financier, and the holder of the Jennings and Hunt patents, the first incarnation of Smith & Wesson was born. The firm lasted for only a year, but produced the first of the lever action, toggle link firearms that would revolutionize the American arms industry. Some 1,700 guns were produced between 1854 and 1855. The models were a small frame .31 pistol, a larger frame .41 pistol and a handful of .50 rifles. The repeating guns received the nickname “Volcanics” from a review of the arms in the magazine Scientific American, which noted the rate of fire from the guns was like the eruption of a volcano. As with their previous ventures, the shortcoming in the design was the Hunt based ammunition that they chose to use. Smith & Wesson did not use their patented ammunition in the guns, but only an improved Hunt “Rocket Ball” design that now no longer required an external ignition system. The company soon fell on hard times and Smith & Wesson sold the company assets to an investment group that included, among others, Oliver Winchester. However, they stayed on to work with the company. 

This group set up the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company in 1855. The group initially concentrated on assembling .31 caliber lever action pistols that were made up from left over parts from the failed Smith & Wesson venture. Later, the firm also produced brass-framed lever-action “Navy” pistols in .41 caliber with both 6-inch and 8-inch barrels, which were considered the “belt” and “holster” models, respectively. The firm also produced lever action pistol carbines with 16-inch barrels and detachable shoulder stocks. Both the pistols and pistol carbines were numbered in the same serial number range. The company also offered lever action carbines with 16, 20 and 24-inch barrels, but it appears none were actually manufactured during the roughly two years they were in business. During the brief time that the Volcanic company was in business, they supposedly produced some 3,000 of the .41 caliber “Navy” sized pistols, although it is unclear how many of these were sold during that period.

In 1857, the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company declared “insolvency” and went out of business. At this point, Smith & Wesson went off to pursue their own careers, and soon patented their self-contained rimfire metallic cartridge, and with the acquisition of Rollin White’s “bored through” cylinder patent were soon producing the revolutionary Smith & Wesson #1 revolver. The remaining assets of the Volcanic company were assigned to Oliver Winchester, and he formed the New Haven Arms Company on May 1, 1857. One of Winchester’s first moves was to hire B. Tyler Henry to be the manager for the factory. Henry was a brilliant and innovative designer and machinist and probably contributed as much to modern lever action rifle designs as later firearms genius John Browning. Under Winchester’s leadership and with Henry running the factory and workforce, the design of the lever action firearm came into its own. The company produced two frame sizes, the No. 1 in .31 caliber and the No. 2 in .41 caliber. The No. 1 was manufactured as a 4” pocket pistol and a 6” target pistol, and the No. 2 was produced as a 6” or 8” “Navy” pistol, as well as a carbine with a 16”, 20” or 24” barrel. All of the guns were available with either a plain, polished brass frame or with a silver plated and engraved frame. The plating and engraving cost an extra $1.50 on the No. 1 pistols and $2.00 on the No. 2 pistols, with the carbines varying between $2.00 and $3.00 more over their unadorned brethren. Over the next few years, some 3,370 pistols and carbines would be manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company.  The guns were serial numbered from 1 upwards, in sequence of manufacture, without regard to model. Thus a 4” pocket pistol could be #32 and a 16” carbine could be #33, and so on. The New Haven Arms Company also introduced the Henry Rifle in .44 Rimfire Henry Flat in 1860. The “Henry”, both the gun and the ammunition, was the result of B. Tyler Henry’s constant efforts to improve upon the basic Volcanic gun designs and Hunt’s ammunition designs. The success of the Henry rifle and its subsequent improvements lead to the development of the classic Model 1866 “Yellow Boy” rifle, and in 1867, the New Haven Arms Company ceased to exist and was replaced by one of the most famous firearms companies in history, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

The Volcanic “Navy” Pistol, like all of the Volcanic, New Haven Arms and early Winchester firearms designs, were a lever action repeating firearms that utilized a toggle link action. After cocking the hammer, lowering the lever under the receiver to its “open” position pushed the bolt back against the hammer spur. While with the carbine and rifle designs the longer lever had sufficient torque to cock the hammer, the pistols and their shorter, ring levers, could not reliably cock the hammers of the pistol. Opening the lever further ejected any spent cartridge in the chamber and raised the cartridge lifter. Pulling the lever back to its “closed” position closed the bolt and shoved the fresh cartridge from the lifter into the breech. It also returned the lifter to its resting position at the bottom of the receiver, where it was aligned with the magazine tube and would receive a fresh cartridge. The magazine tube under the barrel was spring-loaded and held eight cartridges for the 6-inch Navy pistols and ten cartridges for the 8-inch barreled pistols. A brass follower pushed the cartridges from the muzzle towards the receiver and the cartridge lifter. To load the pistol, the follower was pulled towards the muzzle, until it had passed a split in the magazine tube. The front 2 ¼-inch section of the tube could then be rotated about 45-degrees to the right, exposing the magazine tube for loading, or unloading. After inserting the cartridges, the front portion of the magazine was rotated back to the closed position and the follower was released. This system fed the improved, self-primed Hunt’s patent “Rocket Ball” ammunition onto the cartridge lifter to allow the pistol to function.  While the prices for the Volcanic-made pistols are not readily available, the same pistol was sold by the New Haven Arms Company (after Volcanic failed) for $18.00 with a plain brass frame and $20 for a pistol with a plated and engraved frame.

This example of a Volcanic Repeating Arms Company Navy Pistol remains in about FINE condition. It is the most desirable variant as it is the engraved frame, 8-inch barreled pistol and retains extremely crisp and clear markings, as well as some nice original finish. This pistol is serial number 1407 and is so marked on the left side of the grip frame, under the grip and on the right side of the lever. The grip panels are not numbered on their interiors. The side plate, bolt and other internal parts should be numbered as well, but the side plate was not removed to check the numbers as reassembly of these pistols can be tricky.

The serial number makes this a mid-production Volcanic pistol, placing it in roughly the middle of production, and suggesting that it was probably manufactured circa 1856, during the second year of company’s operation. The pistol remains in crisp and sharp condition throughout and is extremely attractive. The pistol retains about 25%+ of its original blue on the barrel and magazine, most of which has faded, oxidized and blended with a rich plum brown patina that makes the gun appear to have more finish than it really does. The metal of the barrel and magazine tube is mostly smooth, with only a handful of small patches of minor surface oxidation and pinpricking, and some lightly oxidized surface roughness.

The top of the barrel is very clearly and deeply marked in three lines: 

THE VOLCANIC

REPEATING ARMS CO.

PATENT             NEW HAVEN CONN.       PAT. FEB 14, 1854.

The markings were applied with five separate dies, so placement, spacing and the depth of the markings is often erratic. This pistol shows clear and completely legible markings, with only the top “THE VOLCANIC” marking being slightly weak. 

The frame has a wonderfully rich butterscotch patina that is very attractive. It retains some strong traces of heavily tarnished silver plating, and the lovely flowing factory foliate scroll engraving remains clear and crisp. The hammer retains some nice blue and purple mottled case colors on the left side, maybe as much as 30% vivid color overall. The balance of the hammer shows a more muted plum brown patina. The ring lever shows some dark, muted traces of case colored mottling and is mostly a rich plum brown color. The trigger shows some freckled traces of blue, with much of the trigger also having a rich, plum brown patina. The magazine tube retains its original follower and what appears to be the original (or certainly very old) magazine spring is in place. The follower moves with some degree of effort due to wear long the open edges of the magazine tube, and the spring retains very good tension. As it typical of these guns, as well as Henry Rifles, which have an open bottomed magazine tube, there is some wear and denting along the edge of the tube along the channel where the follower moves. The front of the magazine tube rotates smoothly and opens and closes as it should, once the follower has been moved to the correct position. The bore of the .41 pistol is in NEAR FINE condition and remains mostly bright, with strong rifling and only some frosting and lightly scattered pinpricking along its length, with slightly more oxidation present closer to the muzzle. The action of the pistol works perfectly and is mechanically excellent. The ring lever operates smoothly, the cartridge lifter raises and lowers as it should and the hammer cocks crisply and releases when the trigger is pulled. The pistol has a German silver cone front sight on the top of the octagonal barrel, near the muzzle, that appears to be original. The pistol retains its original notched rear sight, dovetailed into the top of the brass frame. Even the screws of the pistol remain in relatively crisp condition, with only minimal slot wear and no abuse noted, although one of the screws in the bottom of the frame appears to be period of use replacement. The two-piece grips are in VERY GOOD+ condition. They are free of any breaks, cracks, or repairs and remain solid. There are a couple of small old chips at the lower leading and trailing sharp edges, where the grips flair, and there is small sliver missing from the lower rear of the left grip. The grips retain about 50%+ of their original varnished finished, and other than the expected assortment of handling bumps, dings and mars, remain very nice condition.

Overall, this is a really attractive, very nice condition and unmolested example of an Engraved 8-Inch Volcanic Navy Pistol. The gun has fantastic eye appeal and is in very crisp condition with fine markings, attractive grips and an a mechanically excellent action. Only about 3,000 of these Volcanic produced Navy pistols were manufactured before the company went out of business. While it is unclear how many were sold prior to the New Haven Arms reorganization, these guns were essentially all sold during the late 1850s and early 1860s. By contrast, many of the New Haven Arms produced Navy pistols were never sold during the Civil War era but were acquired by workmen at Winchester during the 20^th century. This accounts for the number of high condition, later production New Haven “Volcanics” in collections. However, high condition Volcanic produced Volcanic Navy pistols are rather scarce. This wonderful pistol would be a great addition to any collection of Civil War era pistols and is an essential bookend to a collection of 19^thcentury American cartridge pistols. It is also a wonderful addition to any collection that focuses on early cartridge and repeating handguns and would display perfectly next to the European produced Colette pistols that used a similar “Rocket Ball” type ammunition. At least some of these innovative pistols went off to battle in the early days of the American Civil War in the hands of young soldiers and officers, and this gun would be equally at home in a collection that represents the many early weapons that went to the Civil War from home. One way or another, this is a scare and desirable pistol that was the direct predecessor to the famous Henry Rifle and deserves a place in a collection of fine antique arms.