These are scarce revolvers and few are known to have been purchased by the U.S. government, but they were available for commercial purchase and are secondary martial pistols worthy of a place in any Civil War arms collection. This one is particularly notable as having been  crudely modified in the field for carrying on a lanyard by cutting a square out either side of the grips at the very bottom so that a cord could be passed through, over the buttstrap, and looped around the body or neck to prevent loss of the pistol in action- certainly an alteration for military use. These holes were just as crudely plugged, the whole operation having a very Confederate feel to it and one that at the very least would have drawn some unwanted attention from any company First Sergeant in the Union Army, who would be responsible for damage to government property by the men under his command. Needless to say, some northern arms merchants were less than careful in choosing their clientele, but as a commercially available pistol it could have been purchased, captured, seized, or simply taken from any gun or hardware merchant.

Manufactured ca. 1861-1862, these six-shot, .44 caliber revolvers were intended to be improvements on the Allen and Wheelock side-hammer revolvers. They use a 7-1/2” octagon-to-round barrel and an ingenious combination triggerguard and rachet loading lever. This is an early version with the hammer secured by a screw entering the sideplate on the right and the cylinder using nipples screwed in from the inside of the chambers. The grips and frame are numbered “455.” Flayderman estimated total production at just 700 revolvers, but noted the pistol seemed more common than that and guessed that numbers on them were more likely batch or assembly numbers rather than serial numbers.

Most collectors and dealers now assume the production was three or four times Flayderman’s initial estimate, but only 536 Allen and Wheelocks are known to have been purchased by the US Army, which were all bought on the open market and not all which seem to have been this Army version. McAulay has looked at the recorded cost of those pistols, and concluded that only 198, purchased at the end of December 1861, were these .44 caliber center-hammer Army pistols and the remainder were .36 cal. side-hammer Allen and Wheelocks, with small numbers of those .44 caliber revolvers going to the 2^nd and 3^rd Michigan, and the 8^th Pennsylvania Cavalry regiments. Very few of those numbers are recorded and being subject to repetition as batch numbers may not be very meaningful.

This shows smooth metal overall, with the barrel and frame showing plum brown, but with some faint blue showing on the flats of the octagonal portion of the barrel, with rubbing to lighter color along the edges. The back and grip strap show brown as well, but there are some faint hints of blue mixed in on the lower portions and rear of the frame, and stronger though still faint on the hammer. The cylinder is brown, showing just a light drag line over the stops. The triggerguard and loading mechanism, case hardened, show mostly gray. The buttstrap shows silver gray. The nipples are a little crusty but not battered. The cylinder pin shows a little crustiness. The mechanics are good. The markings are very good. The left side flat of the barrel is stamped, “ALLEN & WHEELOCK. WORCESTER, MASS. U.S. / ALLEN’S PT’S. JAN. 13. 1857. DEC. 15, 1857, SEPT. 7, 1858” with the very right edge of the marking obscured by the frame, a typical bit of sloppiness by Allen, where using the right size of die for stamping was less important than getting the most use out of it.

These are interesting pistols deserving a place in any collection or display focused on Allen’s work or, in this case, concentrating on Civil War martial arms. Did we mention that we really like that modification for a lanyard? Please see our photos.  [sr][ph:L]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!