The revolvers of C.S. Pettengill were some of the more unique percussion handguns produced during the mid-19^thcentury in the United States. The pistols were manufactured in three sizes, including a small frame .31 caliber “Pocket” model, a mid-sized frame .34 caliber “Belt” or “Navy” model and the largest pistol, a .44 caliber “Army” model. The guns all had six-chambered cylinders and utilized a unique self-cocking, concealed hammer action, which would be referred to as “double action only” today. The pistols had a unique rounded frame profile with a low bore axis and a centrally mounted internal hammer. All of the revolvers had octagonal barrels and toggle link loading levers under the barrels, similar to those found on Colt revolvers. The Pocket models were made with 1 ½”, 4” and 5” barrels and went through three design variations during their fairly limited production run circa 1859-1862. During that period about 425 were produced. The Belt models were made with 4 ½” barrels and about 900 of them were produced during the same period. Roughly 3,400 of the large frame “Army” models were produced during the early 1860s.

The initial pistol design was conceived by C.S. Pettengill of New Haven, CT and was covered under US patent #15388, which was issued on July 22, 1856. An additional patent, #21054, was granted to Charles Robitaille and Edward A. Raymond of Brooklyn, NY on 27 July 1858 for refinements and improvements to the original Pettengill mechanism. Although the pistols were known as “Pettengills” and the early production guns are marked with the names of all of the patentees, none of the inventors ever produced any of the guns.  Later production guns bear only Pettengill’s name and all of the associated patent dates. The pistols were actually manufactured by Henry S. Rogers of the Rogers & Spencer company.

Rogers & Spencer started producing the “Pocket” and “Navy” sized revolvers in 1859. The production of the “Army” sized revolvers did not commence until early 1862, when the company managed to secure a contract to provide the .44 caliber pistols to the US government. Through some political wrangling and the application of pressure through influential friends and political supporters, Rogers managed to convince Secretary of War Simon Cameron to support an order of Pettengill Army model revolvers. On 26 December 1861 Cameron ordered General Ripley of the Ordnance Department to place an order for 5,000 Pettengill revolvers at a price of $20.00 each, including appendages. However, the sample pistols did not fare well during testing and evaluation at Springfield Armory. The pistols fouled easily after multiple firings, and this prevented the self-cocking mechanism from functioning correctly. Due to these mechanical issues, it was recommended that the contract be canceled. Rogers & Spencer had roughly $25,000 tied up in tooling and machinery for the production of these large frame revolvers and would have been financially ruined if the contact was completely canceled. Through more political wrangling a revised contract was subsequently agreed to on 27 June 1862, which reduced the order to 2,000 revolvers at the reduced rate of $20 each with appendages. Between June 1862 and January 1863 at total of 2,001 Pettengill Army revolvers were delivered to the US Government. The total production for the Army model is estimated at approximately 3,000 guns. These guns were serial numbered sequentially from the previous “Pocket” & “Navy” series revolvers and were not numbered in their own range. 

Rogers & Spencer never completely resolved the mechanical issues that arose during testing at Springfield Arsenal and of the guns delivered to the government approximately 15% were rejected by inspectors. The revolvers did not fare much better in the field than they did in testing, and by late 1863 most Pettengill Army revolvers had been removed from service, having been replaced by more reliable and robust Colt or Remington revolvers. Pettengill Army revolvers were issued to 3^rd Michigan, 3^rd Missouri State Militia, 5^th Missouri State Militia, 1^st Arkansas, 3^rd Illinois, and 3^rdKentucky Volunteer cavalry regiments. 

After the war, the St. Louis arsenal disposed of 196 Pettengill revolvers for $1.75 each on 25 October 1876. In July of 1882 the New York Arsenal sold 525 at an average price of $.27 each. It is not known what happened to the remaining stocks of Pettengill revolvers that were at other arsenals. It is interesting to note that Rogers & Spencer subsequently used much of the tooling and machinery from the Pettengill revolver production to manufacture their own Rogers & Spencer revolvers. A comparison of the two models will reveal that the front of the frame, the barrel and the loading lever assembly are nearly identical. Essentially the Rogers & Spencer design combined this “front end” of the Pettengill with a more conventional and mechanically robust single action mechanism.

No doubt the same mechanical and reliability issues that plagued the military contract revolvers also hampered the success of the smaller Pocket and Belt models. Additionally, the somewhat unconventional concealed hammer, double action only mechanism was probably too strange and complicated an idea at a time when the American revolver market was very much rooted in conventional single action revolvers designs. The standard finish for all of the Pettengill models was blued frames, barrels and cylinders with color casehardened loading levers and smooth two-piece walnut grips that tended to be varnished for the commercial market. 

The Pettengill Belt Revolver offered here is in about FINE overall condition and remains very crisp throughout. Most Pettengill revolvers encountered today have mechanical issues, particularly with the timing, indexing and lock up of the cylinder. Amazingly, after some adjustments to the stop spring tension by a highly qualified restoration gunsmith, this revolver is operating correctly. The revolver currently times, indexes and locks up as it should. However, due to the finicky nature of the action and mechanism, I would not recommend dry firing the gun very much. 

The revolver is marked on the topstrap in two lines in the standard fashion for the early production guns and reads:

PETTENGILLS

PATENT 1856

The markings remain clear and legible and are clearly struck. The pistol is additionally marked in two lines, on the bottom of the frame, forward of the triggerguard:  

RAYMOND & ROBITAILLE

PATENTED 1858

This mark is partially covered by the forward portion of the triggerguard bow. The butt of the revolver is serial numbered 667. This same serial number is also present throughout the gun and is found on the inside the triggerguard, side of the cylinder, under the barrel, on the upper surfaces of the loading lever and cylinder arbor pin and stamped inside both grips.

The pistol retains about  40%+ of its original blued finish, with most of the surviving finish found on the 4.675” octagonal barrel and the cylinder. The frame retains only some traces of finish in protected areas. The majority of the frame has a smooth, moderately oxidized brownish gray patina that is toning towards plum, which is mostly smooth and shows only some freckled patches of very minor oxidized roughness. As noted, the markings remain clear. The barrel and cylinder retain much of their thinning and fading blue, with the most obvious wear and loss at the high and sharp edges, as well as points of repeated contact. The loading lever has a dull mottled bluish gray patina with some hints of dulled and faded mottled color with the arbor pin retaining some strong traces of bright blue. The bore of the pistol is in about VERY GOOD+ overall condition, with strong rifling that remains very crisp. The bore is mostly bright with scattered light pitting along its entire length and showing scattered patches of freckled oxidation and discoloration. The original loading lever is in place under the barrel, and it functions smoothly and correctly, locking securely into place when it is not in use. The original tall, narrow brass cone shaped front sight is in place at the end of the barrel as well. As noted, the revolver is currently operating correctly, after a tune up by a qualified restoration gunsmith. The grips have scattered bumps, dings, and mars, as well as some small chips of wood missing. The flared shape of the grips makes them very susceptible to chipping and wear along the sharp lower edges and this is where the chips are located. As noted, the grips are numbered to the gun. The grips retain much of their original varnish with moderate thinning, wear and loss and remain solid and free of repairs. The right grip does have a hairline grain crack on its interior that runs through the grip screw ferrule, but this is basically only on the interior. Only the most minute and barely visible grain crack is visible above the escutcheon of the right grip, and this less than ½” crack is so tight it is barely visible.

Overall, this is a very solid, complete and crisp example of a scarce Pettengill Belt Revolver in a very nice state of preservation. The revolver is in FINE overall condition, crisply marked and very attractive and most important for any Pettengill revolver, it is mechanically functional. This would be a fine addition to any collection of secondary martial or commercial Civil War era American percussion revolvers and with only about 900 produced, is a difficult revolver to find for sale on the market, especially with this much original finish remaining on it.