The story of the various gun companies that were established and run by Thomas K. Bacon is rather interesting and is a tale that has yet to be fully told in detail. From most accounts it appears that Bacon was a machinist, who seems to have had his first brush with firearms manufacturing in 1840, when he purchased some property in Grafton, Massachusetts from gun maker Ethan Allen. Two years later, both Allen and Bacon relocated to Norwich, Connecticut and it appears that the nearly simultaneous migration was not coincidental. By 1846, Allen factory records show that Bacon was operating as a parts supplier, producing “cones and triggerguards”. Bacon’s work as a “jobber” for Allen probably came to an end when Allen relocated his company to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1847. As a result, it appears that Bacon went into the firearms production business on his own, forming Bacon & Company in Norwich, which he ran until 1857. 

The firearms produced by this early Bacon company were primarily inexpensive single-shot percussion arms such as pocket, bar hammer, ring trigger and under hammer pistols as well as some pepperboxes. In 1857, after an unsuccessful attempt to raise the necessary capital to expand his business into the fairly new, and very lucrative percussion revolver business, Bacon & Company went out of business. Bacon spent the next year working as the plant superintendent for the Manhattan Firearms Company that was also located in Norwich but was very soon operating his own business again. The newly formed Bacon Manufacturing Company was established in Norwich in 1858, and Bacon went into the business of producing revolvers. His product line included pocket percussion revolvers based upon the Colt 1849 “pocket” model and were offered under both the Bacon moniker and under various tradenames, as well as with custom retailer markings. Interestingly, several of the companies that had their trade name stamped on the Bacon guns were also stockholders in the Bacon Manufacturing Company, including Tomes, Son & Melvain and Fitch & Waldo.

In addition to the traditional percussion revolvers, Bacon introduced a line of self-contained cartridge revolvers in .22, .25, .32 and even .38 rimfire. However, the majority of these revolvers were manufactured in violation of the Rollin White patent (#12,648) for the bored-through cylinder, which was held by Smith & Wesson. As a result, Smith & Wesson successfully sued Bacon, resulting in a monetary damages award, as well as requiring all subsequent Bacon revolvers, as well as those unsold and remaining in inventory, that utilized the bored through cylinders to be marked with Rollin White and Smith & Wesson patent information, with royalties paid to Smith & Wesson for each revolver of that pattern subsequently sold. 

In 1863, the chief shareholder of the Bacon Manufacturing Company became displeased with Thomas Bacon’s performance with the company and forced him out of the business. With Bacon gone, the company continued in business through 1868 but with lackluster sales and minimal success. The firm was subsequently reorganized in 1868 and was reestablished as the Hopkins & Allen company, remaining in business through the second decade of the 1900s.  

However, Thomas Bacon was not to be defeated. By 1864 he had started his third firearms company in Norwich, CT; the Bacon Arms Company. His triumph was short lived however, as he sold the assets of his new business in December of 1865. This might have been a financial move due to the sudden changes in the firearms market brought about by the end of the Civil War. With the lucrative government contracts cancelled, the large American arms makers turned their attention to the civilian market and would certainly have been able to out-produce and out-promote any smaller maker. The sudden flood of cheap surplus military arms on the market certainly would not have helped the market share for a small, start-up firearms company either. The result was that Bacon’s final company became little more than a footnote in firearms history. Thomas Bacon worked at various jobs in the gun business for the next few years but died in 1873 and never achieved the level of success that his designs probably warranted.

Offered here is one of Thomas Bacon’s classic designs, the 1^st Model “Excelsior” Pocket Percussion Revolver. These guns were inspired by the Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver and at least some of the design work was done by Bacon and other inventors during his year at the Manhattan Firearms Company. Like the Colt it was a single action percussion pocket revolver with a .31 caliber bore and a five chambered cylinder. The most important feature of the Bacon Pocket Revolvers was the removable side plate on the left side of the frame, which theoretically made it easier to work on the guns if they needed repair. The 1^st Model Bacon Pocket Percussion Revolvers had octagonal barrels like the Colt Pocket, as well as unfluted cylinders that were roll engraved with panel scenes. The biggest external obvious external differences between the early Bacon Pocket revolvers and the Colt were the more elongated frame shape with a removable side plate, two-piece grips secured with a screw through them and a ball detent to secure the loading lever beneath the barrel. Numerous internal design and mechanical differences existed as well. Unlike the very similar Manhattan Pocket Revolver which Bacon had helped to design, the Bacon Pocket Revolver only had five cylinder stop slots on the five chambered cylinder, while the Manhattan revolver had ten. 

The 1^st Model Bacon Pocket Revolver was produced circa 1859 to 1862 or 1863 with an estimated production of somewhat less than1,000 guns. The revolvers were typically blued with engraved frames and a variety of Bacon barrel addresses as well as retailer marks are known. These first pattern revolvers are known as “Excelsior” models. They were subsequently replaced by the 2^nd Model Bacon Pocket Percussion Revolver that appears to have been introduced with the discontinuation of 1^st Model production, and this may have coincided with Bacon’s exit from the company. The primary difference between the 1^st Model and 2^nd Model revolvers was the introduction of partially fluted cylinder and a round barrel for the 2^nd Model guns. The production of 2^nd Model Pocket Revolvers is estimated at about 3,000 guns, with the revolvers produced through about 1866 or 1867. Production numbers are difficult to ascertain, as it believes the serial numbers are really batch or assembly numbers and probably started over at “1” when production reached four-digit numbers. Both patterns of Bacon Percussion Pocket Revolvers were typically engraved with the “rose vine” pattern on their frames. The guns were blued, with color casehardened hammers and loading levers with two-piece walnut grips. Standard barrel lengths for the 1^st Model revolvers were 4” and 5”, with 2^nd Model guns available with 4”, 5” and 6” barrels.

Offered here is a FINE condition example of a 1^st Model Bacon “Excelsior” Percussion Pocket Revolver. The revolver is a 4” barreled example and is serial, or “assembly” numbered, 280. The matching numbers appears on the left side of the frame under the grips, under the barrel, on the rear face of the cylinder, on the wedge, on the loading lever, inside the triggerguard and on the face of the loading lever catch. The left grip panel is also stamp numbered 280on its interior. The octagonal barrel is roll marked in two lines:

BACON MANUF’G. CO. 

NORWICH, CT.

which is considered the “standard” barrel mark for this version of the revolver. As is typical of the Bacon pocket revolvers, the frame is engraved with the simple open flowing rose vine pattern. The round cylinder is roll engraved with five oval panel scenes similar to Manhattan cylinders. These depict hunting and game scenes. Like the Colt Pocket and most similar percussion revolvers of the period, the sights are rudimentary at best, consisting of a notch in the hammer nose for a rear sight and a brass cone for a front sight. 

As noted, the revolver remains in FINE condition. The barrel retains 70%+ of the original bright blue finish, showing some moderate amounts of fading and loss, as well as high edge wear. The balance of the barrel is a smoky bluish-gray patina that shows some scattered oxidized freckling and discoloration. The frame retains essentially none of its finish and has a mostly medium pewter gray patina with some freckled oxidized discoloration, particularly on the backstrap. The cylinder retains about 20%+ thinning blue with a noticeable turn ring through the cylinder stop slots. It retains about 90%+ of the roll engraved panel scenes and is very attractive. The loading lever retains about 20% of its faded and dulled color casehardened finish, most of which is on the loading lever’s web. The balance of the loading lever is mostly a dull pewter gray with freckled oxidized discoloration. The grips remain in FINE, crisp condition and retain most of their original varnish some high edge wear and some lightly scattered handling marks and minor mars. The revolver remains mostly mechanically functional, but the mainspring does feel a little soft and spongey. Despite this, the revolver times, indexes and locks up exactly as it should. The only condition issue worth noting is that the one side of the hammer nose is chipped and missing, so the v-notch rear sight in the hammer nose is no longer present. The bore of the revolver is in about FINE condition and is mostly bright with fine rifling and some scattered oxidation.

Overall, this is an attractive and all matching example of one of the less common pocket revolvers to complete with the Colt Pocket Revolver during the early-1860s. This would be a nice addition to any collection of Civil War era pocket revolvers and since only about 1,000 of these guns were produced, it can be hard to find an example with this much of the original finish still intact.