During the mid-19^th century, the evolution of self-contained cartridge firearms was beginning to accelerate rapidly in the United States. However, the fact that Smith & Wesson controlled the Rollin White patent for the bore through cylinder significantly impaired the ability of other manufacturers to produce successful and practical cartridge revolvers. Numerous unique and often dubious designs were introduced to the market in an attempt to evade the White patent and still compete with Smith & Wesson and their series of Model No. 1 .22 RF and No. 2 .32 RF revolvers. 

One of the more successful competitors was Moore’s Patent Firearms of Brooklyn New York. The company was a partnership between Daniel Moore and David Williamson, with Williamson appearing to be the primary designer. The firm’s first offering in the handgun line was a single shot, all metal pocket pistol (derringer) chambered for .41 RF Short, a cartridge that the pair developed. The gun was introduced in 1860 and was officially named the No. 1 Deringer. It was moderately successful with some 6,000 of the pistols being produced between 1860 and 1870. The importance of the gun was that it was the first successful “large caliber” self-contained cartridge pistol manufactured in the United Sates. The next offering from the company was a seven-shot, single action pocket revolver that was chambered for the Smith & Wesson .32 Rimfire cartridge. The gun was introduced in 1861 and was a clear violation of the Rollin White bored through cylinder patent. Smith & Wesson brought suit to end the production of the revolver and won a settlement that required Moore to pay patent royalties on the guns already produced and sold and to mark the guns remaining in inventory as being produced on the behalf of Smith & Wesson. In all, only a few thousand of the Moore “7-shooters” were produced between 1861 and 1863, with estimates on total production ranging from 5,000 to 8,000. 

The next Moore offering was a smaller, spur-trigger pocket revolver that was designed by David Williamson and was brought to market during 1864. The 5-shot, single action revolver was chambered for Williamson’s newly designed “Teat Fire” cartridge that was loaded from the front of the cylinder. It was hoped that this minor change would be sufficient to avoid running afoul of Smith & Wesson and their legal team again. The .32 Teat Fire cartridge has a “teat” shaped projection on the rear of the casing that contained the primer, and which passed through a small hole at the rear of the cylinder to allow the hammer nose to contact it when the pistol was fired. The fact that hole in the rear of the cylinder was so much smaller than the one in the front was the difference that Moore & Williamson hoped would allow their design to remain in production. The diminutive revolver has a 3 ¼” round barrel, an open top frame and a bird’s head grip. The brass frame was silver plated, while the cylinder and barrel were brightly blued. The frame featured light scroll engraving that was of the “New York” style, with flowing floral splays and punch-dot style background shading. The smooth two-piece wood grips were of walnut, and the hammer and spur trigger were color casehardened. Initial production was rather successful, with some 20,000 being produced over the next year or so and eventually about 30,000-32,000 being produced by 1870. The front-loading design used a small, hinged plate on the right front of the frame, forward of the cylinder to serve as a rudimentary loading gate, but no system for extraction of spent cartridges was provided. A notch in the rear of the frame allowed for the empty cartridges to be pushed out of the chambers with a small rod. During 1865, the company was reorganized as the National Arms Company, and production of the No. 1 Deringer and Front-Loading Revolver continued, but now with the new National Arms Company name on the guns rather than the Moore’s Patent Firearms Company name. The next 5,000 Front Loading Revolvers were identical to the original variant, with only the name on the barrel changing. Towards the end of production, a design change was implemented, and the loading gate was modified to include a hook shaped extractor at the rear of the cylinder. When the gate was opened, the hook extractor entered the rear of the chamber and pushed out the empty cartridge case. This was a significant improvement over the original design. It is believed that about the last 7,000 Moore’s Patent Front Loading Revolvers produced included this design upgrade. In 1871, the firm was purchased by the famous Colt’s Patent Firearms Company, and the Front-Loading Revolver was discontinued. However, Colt continued to produce the No. 1 Deringer for several more years.

Offered here is an attractive and complete example of the Moore’s Patent “Teat Fire” Front Loading Revolver. This is the one of the earlier production variations produced by the original Moore’s company and before the introduction of the “Hook Extractor”. The gun is in about VERY GOOD+ overall condition and is much nicer than most of the examples encountered today. The gun is a was probably produced circa 1864-65 and prior to the company’s name change. The revolver’s serial number is 6675, which is stamped on the lower web of the barrel. The alphanumeric assembly mark BM/75 is found throughout the gun. It appears on the inner rear face of the barrel web, on the left side of the grip frame (under the grip) on the rear face of the cylinder, on the face of the recoil shield and stamped inside both of the grips. The barrel is roll stamped: 

MOORE’S PAT. FIRE ARMS Co. BROOKLYN, N.Y.

The rear edge of the cylinder is roll marked with the Daniel Williamson patent marking that reads:

D. WILLIAMSON’S PATENT  JANUARY 5, 1864

As with all of the revolvers of this pattern, the gun features an engraved, silver-plated brass frame, which retains crisp light foliate scrolls behind the cylinder, and on the backstrap behind the hammer. The frame retains bout 65%+ of its original silver plating, which shows moderate thinning and wear. The largest areas of plating loss are on the backstrap and along the sharp edges and contact points of the frame. The small areas of exposed brass have an attractive, untouched butterscotch patina. The gun retains about 35%+ of the original bright blued finish on the cylinder and shows some scattered traces of blue on the barrel. The balance of the blued parts have a rich, plum brown patina that is mostly smooth with some scattered surface oxidation, some minor surface roughness and some small areas of pinpricking. The markings on the barrel are slightly weak but do remain legible and the markings on the cylinder remain clear and crisp. The casehardened hammer has dulled and faded to retain only traces of the mottled colors and has an otherwise dusky blue-black patina. The action of the revolver is mechanically FINE and times, indexes and locks up exactly as it should. The bore of the revolver is in about VERY GOOD condition. It is moderately oxidized, with a dark appearance, evenly scattered pitting and retaining decent rifling along its entire length. The original walnut grips are in VERY GOOD+ condition. They are solid, complete and original, with no breaks, cracks or repairs noted. The grips show light to moderate wear with scattered bumps, dings and mars, but show no abuse. The high and sharp edges of the grips show the most wear and finish loss.

Overall, this is a very nice example of the Moore’s Patent Firearms Front Loading Revolver produced right around the end of the American Civil War. Rarely do these guns appear with any original finish and most show significant wear from pocket carry. This one has lots of original silver on the frame and blue on the cylinder and is very attractive, displaying very nicely. These are interesting little guns in that they bridge the historic gap between the early patent cartridge revolvers and the successes of the later center fire pistols. This is a great condition little pistol that would look great in any antique revolver collection and certainly has a lot of attractive condition and eye appeal for the price.

SOLD