The story of Merwin, Hulbert & Company is a somewhat confusing one, which may one day be more clearly delineated through additional research. The firm is probably the most famous and successful “gun making company” that never actually manufactured a single gun, and whose principles appear to have had no design input into the revolutionary arms that they sold. The firm had its genesis in 1859, when Joseph Merwin and his partner Edward Bray started a firearms and sporting goods store in New York City. Merwin was certainly a shrewd businessman and a visionary when it came to new and innovative firearms designs. Very quickly, Merwin became the primary, and in some cases the sole, distributor for a variety of new, metallic cartridge firearms, including those produced by Plant’s Manufacturing Company, Eagle Arms, Daniel Moore, Ballard patent firearms (as produced by Dwight, Chapman & Company and Ball & Williams), Bacon Manufacturing Company (later Hopkins & Allen), and eventually the Evans Repeating Rifle Company, just to name a few. Merwin also worked as a sales agent for such major firearms manufacturers as Colt, Winchester and Remington, and imported and distributed high-quality English arms as well. Merwin succeeded in securing several US federal and state military contracts during the American Civil War (primarily for Ballard rifles & carbines) and continued to expand his retail and wholesale distribution business during the course of the war. 

By 1866 Edward Bray left the company and Charles Simkins became a partner, leading the company to change its name to Merwin & Simkins, and later that year Merwin, Taylor & Simkins, when Charles Taylor also joined the venture. By 1869 this short-lived partnership was dissolved, and a new partner, William Hulbert, joined Merwin, forming Merwin & Hulbert. About three years later the half-brother of Hulbert joined the partnership, and sometime around 1872 the name of the company changed again to Merwin, Hulbert & Company. The firm would continue to operate under that name for the next 20 years, even though Joseph Merwin would die in 1879. 

During his first decade in the firearms business Merwin became an investor, partial owner and eventually controlling partner of what would become the Hopkins & Allen Company (formerly the Bacon Manufacturing Company) of Norwich, CT. He would also invest some $100,000 dollars (a significant sum at that time) in the Evans Repeating Rifle Company of Mechanic Falls, ME. Merwin’s goal appears to have been to bring revolutionary firearms to market, which offered superior fit, finish and operation to those of his competitors. The first products brought to market by Merwin, Hulbert & Company were a series of large bore, large frame revolvers, initially in single action, and eventually in double action as well. These guns were introduced in 1876 and were produced well into the 1880s. They large bore guns were produced in a variety of frame and action configurations, but always in a .44 caliber format, including the .44 Merwin & Hulbert cartridge, .44 Smith & Wesson Russian and .44-40 (.44 Winchester Center Fire). Merwin’s hope for these large frame revolvers was to secure lucrative US or foreign military contracts, which were an essential part of any major 19^th century firearms manufacturer’s business plan. 

The revolvers that Merwin brought to market were probably the most technologically advanced and possibly the finest made revolvers of their time, but Merwin, Hulbert & Company did not make them. Rather the Hopkins & Allen Company manufactured them all under Merwin’s watchful eye. This very fact is probably responsible for the lackluster success of what was a truly impressive product. The Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers utilized a revolutionary system for loading and unloading. After placing the revolver on half cock, the action was opened by pulling a spring-loaded catch under the frame to the rear, unlocking the action of the revolver. This allowed the user to rotate the cylinder, forward portion of the frame and the barrel to the right and push it forward. This caused any spent cases to be ejected automatically, leaving the unfired ones in the cylinder chambers. Fresh cartridges could then be inserted in the empty chambers. The tight mechanical tolerances of the design actually made the action of the large frame guns “suck” itself back together, and with a simple twist, the gun was closed and locked up and ready to be put back into service. The unique design also made it possible for users of the revolvers to swap barrels in a matter of seconds, with no tools or mechanical skill necessary. A small spring-loaded catch on the left side of the barrel web could be depressed when the action was open, and the barrel could then be removed from the arbor pin. The ability to quickly and easily swap barrels on the revolvers means that Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers were often sold with both short and long barrels. This allowed the owner to use a longer, more accurate 7” barrel for holster carry, but swap to a concealable 3 ¼” barrel for situations where a more discretely carried weapon was appropriate. 

The earliest versions of the large frame “Army” pattern revolvers were manufactured with a squared butt profile, in single action, with an open top frame and with “scooped” cylinder flutes. As production continued and improvements were made, a top strap was added to the frame for strength, and the cylinder flutes were changed to the more traditional flutes that ran from the face of the cylinder back towards the rear, without the scooped-out profile. The guns were also made available with a more concealable “bird’s head” butt with a metal “skull cracker” projection on it. These “bird’s head” guns with short barrels were marketed as “Pocket Army” revolvers. Merwin also introduced an inexpensive “punch dot” engraving system that made embellished and highly decorated guns less costly and more easily within the reach of average customer. The standard finish for Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers was full nickel with color casehardened hammers, triggerguards and triggers and checkered hard rubber grips. Early production guns often had mottled orange and brown colored grips, but later in production dark brown to black colored hard rubber became standard. Blued finishes were exceptionally rare, and upgraded grips of exotic woods, mother of pearl or ivory were available for an additional cost. Sights were a simple notch at the upper rear of the frame and a pinned half-moon front blade, mounted in a slot in the barrel rib, near the muzzle.

Despite the revolutionary designs and meticulous attention to fit and finish, Merwin, Hulbert & Co had only moderate success with their large frame handguns. This appears to be due to the fact that not only were the guns were fairly expensive for the time, but were marked not only with the Merwin, Hulbert & Co. name, but also with the name of the actual manufacturer, Hopkins & Allen. Had the source of production remained a secret, the Merwin, Hulbert & Co. Frontier Army revolvers may well have eclipsed the Colt Single Action Army as the most successful handgun in the west. The problem was that Hopkins & Allen had made a name for themselves in the manufacture of inexpensive, low to mid quality firearms, and even though the Merwin, Hulbert & Company arms were anything but low to mid quality, the association with Hopkins & Allen severely hampered sales success. As Art Phelps opined in his book, The Story of Merwin Hulbert & Co. Firearms, “if Merwin would have insisted and prevailed upon the Hopkins and Allen Co. partners to keep their cheap name off his most perfect guns ever made”, things would have worked out much differently for Merwin, Hulbert & Company. 

Examples of the Merwin, Hulbert & Company Frontier Army revolvers were even tested by the US Ordnance Bureau and found to be superior to the Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army, then in service, on a number of points. However, no US contracts were forthcoming. Joseph Merwin did eventually manage to obtain a Russian military contract for “three ship loads” of his Army revolvers, but the Russian’s defaulted and never paid, resulting in not only the loss of the cash, but also of the revolvers that had already been shipped. In the end, as Merwin, Hulbert & Co historian and author Art Phelps notes, Joseph Merwin “died of a broken heart”. Between Merwin’s failure to make his guns the success they should have been, the duplicity of the Russians in their dealings with him and the loss of his $100,000.00 investment in the Evans Repeating Rifle Company, Merwin appears to have finally succumbed. Even though his partners continued to operate the company until 1892, their success was limited, although they appear to have achieved greater acceptance and success with their less expensive line of .38 and .32 caliber “Pocket Model” revolvers. 

The revolvers were initially offered in 1878 as “medium” frame, spur trigger, single action .38 caliber guns. However, they soon evolved into double action revolvers and by the early 1880s were offered in two frame sizes and two calibers. The double action pocket revolvers were sold in “Medium” and “Small” frame sizes, with the medium being available as a 5-shot .38 or a 7-shot .32. The small frame was only available as a 5-shot .32. The double action pocket revolvers soon became popular with city and municipal police departments, many of which were just starting to arm their patrolmen during that era. According to research by Art Phelps, the December 31, 1886, annual report for the Cincinnati Police Department showed some 365 medium frame Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers were purchased that year for a total expenditure of $2,998.35, or just under $8.22 per revolver. His research indicates that the medium frame Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers saw use with the police departments of the cities of Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Charleston, and Boston, just to name a few of the larger ones, as well as with the police departments of a significant number of smaller New England towns and cities. It is interesting to note that Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, who ambushed and killed Bonnie & Clyde, privately purchased and carried a medium frame, seven-shot, .32 Merwin, Hulbert & Co.  Additionally, famous western sheriff Pat Garrett, who killed Billy the Kid, was presented with a .38 caliber Medium Frame Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolver in September of 1881, inscribed “from the grateful citizens of Lincoln County”. 

It was the medium frame Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers that were often made as presentation and showpiece guns, with extensive engraving and high-quality grips. While the top engravers of the era like Nimschke, Ulrich, and Young are known to have enhanced Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers; this was typically on a one-off, contract basis for a retailer like Hartley & Graham of New York. Factory engraved Merwin & Hulberts were typically enhanced with a type of “punch dot” engraving that was simpler to render and less time consuming than traditional European cut engraving. This allowed Merwin, Hulbert & Co. to offer these decorated guns at a much lower price than their competition. Engraving motifs included geometric and floral designs as well as game scenes and even the likenesses of people, such as Calamity Jane. The cardboard boxes for these punch dot engraved guns were sometimes marked “Intaglio Floral” in reference to the engraving. Sometimes the engraving was further enhanced by the addition of red, and more rarely green, lacquered dots within the engraving, to make it appear that the gun was inlaid with rubies and emeralds. These enhanced guns often had upgraded grips as well, including mother of pearl or ivory, and the grips were sometimes decorated with carving as well. While Merwin, Hulbert & Company engraved revolvers are scarce and highly collectible, it is the simple blued finish revolvers that are the rarest. The large majority of Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers were produced with nickel plated finishes. It is believed that only 5% of all Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers were produced with factory blued finishes.

Offered here is an about EXCELLENT condition example of a Merwin, Hulbert & Company “Automatic” Medium Frame .32 Caliber Double Action 7-Shot Revolver. These medium frame double action revolvers were introduced in 1879 or 1880 and remained in production through the late 1880s and probably until the company’s demise around 1892. As with all Merwin, Hulbert & Co revolvers, it is not clear exactly how many were produced, due to an erratic serial numbering system and an 1891 fire that destroyed all of the Merwin, Hulbert & Company records. It is believed that only a few thousand of these revolvers were produced, but probably more than of the larger Pocket Army handguns. The term “automatic” in the official Merwin, Hulbert & Co. product name for the revolver refers to the automatic extraction mechanism, the same as found on the larger “Frontier Army” models. In fact, Merwin, Hulbert & Co. used the “automatic” term to describe all of its automatic extraction revolvers. As noted, the pocket-sized guns were available in .38 or .32 caliber. These were the proprietary Merwin, Hulbert & Co cartridges of .38 Merwin & Hulbert and .32 Merwin & Hulbert. For all practical purposes, there was little difference between .38 M&H and .38 Short Colt or .38 S&W Short, nor was there a reasonable difference between the .32 M&H and .32 Short Colt or .38 S&W Short, and the ammunition appears to have been used somewhat interchangeably during the 1880s and 1890s, with any of the .38s or .32s having been used in a gun of that caliber. The guns were available with 5 ½”, 3 ½” and 2 ¾” ribbed barrels, as well as with multi-barrel sets, just like the larger frame guns. The same mechanical system allowed for the barrels of the pocket-sized guns to be as easily exchanged as they could be on the large frame revolvers.

This Merwin, Hulbert & Company DA “Automatic” .32 is one of the 7 chamber examples built on the same medium sized frame as the .38 caliber guns. It has the standard full nickel finish with a color casehardened hammer and trigger and a checkered blued barrel release catch under the frame. The gun has a 3 ½” ribbed barrel, has a lanyard ring on the bottom of the square butt, and has a folding hammer spur. This feature was made available on many of the later production Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers as it made the gun less likely to hang up when being drawn from a pocket, a problem that could occur with a conventional hammer spur. The spur could be unfolded to allow the gun to be cocked manually and fired in single action mode, and upon firing, the spur folded back to its resting position automatically. The gun has the mid production era hard rubber grips with a checkerboard motif at the frame juncture, rather than a dog’s head motif that was found on the earliest production pocket handguns. The top of the 3 ½” ribbed round barrel is clearly marked in two lines: 

MERWIN HULBERT & CO. NEW YORK U.S.A.

PAT. APR. 17. 77. JUNE 15. 80. MAR. 14. 82. JAN. 9. 83.

There are very few other markings on the gun. The left side of the frame, below the cylinder, is marked in a single line: 

32 CAL. 7 SHOT

The folding hammer spur is marked PAT’D over Jan. 27. 85 in two lines. The bottom of the butt is marked with the assembly number 30 / 049. While this is typically where you expect to find the serial number, on some Merwin, Hulbert & Company revolvers this is the assembly number, and the serial number is concealed by the grips. On this revolver, the matching assembly number 30049 appears on the rear face of the cylinder and on the rear face of the barrel web. The serial number 3624 is located on the left side of the grip frame, under the grip panel. In typical Merwin, Hulbert & Co. fashion, the same serial number, 3624 is scratched into the inside of the right grip panel as well. 

As noted, the gun remains in EXCELLENT condition, a term I rarely use to describe the condition of antique firearms as few guns that are more than 100 years survive with nearly all of their original finish intact. In this case, the term is absolutely appropriate. The gun retains about 93%+ of its original bright factory nickel finish, with only some very minor flaked loss and a light turn ring through the stop notches of the cylinder. The most noticeable areas of thinned and flaked loss in on the frontstrap and backstrap, along the edges where the frame meets the grip. There are also a couple of tiny areas of flaked loss on the frame, with a small patch on the right of the barrel web, forward of the cylinder, being the most noticeable one. There is also some minor flaked loss along the right side of the barrel, near the muzzle. However, taken all together the gun retains nearly all of its original factory nickel finish with minimal wear or loss. The hammer and trigger both retain about 40%+ of their case colors, which have dulled and faded but still retain some mottled coloring. The folding hammer spur is nickeled and retains most of that finish as well. The two-piece checkered hard rubber grips are in equally wonderful condition, rating about EXCELELNT as well. The grips are solid and complete with no breaks, chips or repairs noted and with crisp checkering. The grips show only the most minor wear and very light, minor handling marks. The grips have faded slightly to a deep chocolate brown color, which is typical of hard rubber grips of the era that often started out very dark brown to black and would fade towards brown with age and exposure to sunlight. The revolver is also in EXCELLENT mechanical condition and functions correctly in both single and double action modes. The revolver cycles, indexes, times and locks up perfectly, as crisply and tightly as the day it was made. The frame locking system of the revolver works flawlessly, with the forward portion of the frame, barrel and the cylinder unlocking, rotating and sliding smoothly forward as they should. The medium frame revolver mechanisms are not known for having the “suction” of the large frame mechanism, and none is noted in this example. The mechanism locks the gun up securely, exactly as it should. All of the screws remain relatively crisp and sharp with only a couple showing some minor slot wear. The innovative sliding loading gate functions smoothly and opens and closes exactly as it should. The bore of the gun is in equally wonderful condition. It is mostly bright with fine, crisp rifling and shows only some scattered oxidation and some very lightly scattered minor pitting.

Overall, this is a really EXCELLENT condition example of a Merwin, Hulbert & Company “Automatic” Medium Frame 7-Shot .32 Caliber Double Action Revolver. The gun is very attractive, with nearly all of the original bright nickel finish intact and with wonderfully crisp hard rubber grips. The condition of the gun made photography rather difficult as the highly reflective surfaces ended up showing some aberrations in color due to reflections from my photo studio. The gun looks even better in person than it does in the photos. Over the last two to three decades, the guns of Merwin, Hulbert & Company have really come into their own and have finally achieved a notable place in realm of historic and collectible firearms. Today’s collectors appreciate the quality craftsmanship and mechanical engineering of what quite possibly were the finest made revolvers of the late 19^th century. As a result, Merwin, Hulbert & Company prices have climbed steadily over the last few years and are continuing to increase. The desirability for extremely high condition examples, oddities and factory engraved specimens have driven the prices for those guns at an even greater rate. This has resulted in some rare Merwin, Hulbert & Company guns, like engraved or blued ones, selling for as much as three to four times the price of a comparable condition revolver without the factory enhancements. This is a really outstanding example of a fairly scarce and desirable Merwin, Hulbert & Company “Automatic” Medium Frame 7-Shot .32 Caliber Double Action Revolver, in a great state of preservation, and at a very reasonable price. This gun will be a wonderful addition to any collection of Merwin, Hulbert & Co. revolvers, a collection of high condition old west revolvers, or as an adjunct to a collection that revolves around the criminals of the 1920s and 1930s, as Texas Ranger Frank Hamer carried a gun like this personally.