I have written about the history of the Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Company of New York and later Norwich, CT and Newark, NJ before. In a time when Sam Colt was the most successful and most powerful business tycoon in America – perhaps even the world – one would think it would be foolish to go into business in direct competition to this industrial giant. A group of New York businessmen did just that, however. Manhattan began modestly in 1858 by manufacturing single-shot pistols and pepperboxes. Colt’s 1836 patent for the revolving cylinder had expired after two successive extensions, and the mechanism could be copied by anyone by 1859. Colt and Manhattan co-existed at first, but in 1859 Manhattan employees Augustus Rebetey and Joseph Gruler registered a patent which would put the two companies on a collision course. This patent was for the intermediate cylinder stop slots on a Manhattan revolver which secured the cylinder between loaded chambers, and prevented the hammer from reaching a live percussion cap. Colt revolvers had a small pin protruding from the rear of the cylinder which could be engaged with the face of the hammer to achieve the same safety condition, however these were prone to be sheared off because of their small, delicate nature.
This patent was the beginning of the Manhattan “Navy Model” revolvers. The shape and .36 caliber of the Manhattan is so similar to a Colt M1851 Navy that it is easy to confuse the two when first observed. Only closer inspection will reveal the differences: the Manhattan has a slightly smaller frame, it has the double amount of cylinder stop slots on the periphery of the cylinder, and the roll engraving on the cylinder is a series of vignettes depicting various battle scenes. The Colt depicts the famous navy battle between the Texas and Mexico navies of 1837. The barrel addresses, of course, are the most telling difference between the two.
Manhattan did not stop at copying Colt’s 1851 Navy, but manufactured an almost exact copy of the .31 caliber 1849 Pocket, and S&W’s .22 caliber Model 1 as well. The latter would get Manhattan into trouble with S&W and Rollin White, because this design was protected by the 1855 patent Smith and Wesson owned. Manhattan was sued successfully on two occasions, but this did not prevent them from continuing the production of the .22 caliber revolvers with some modifications, all the while arguing in court that White’s patent was not specific enough to encompass all bored-through cylinder cartridge revolvers.
All this must have come as some irritation to Colt and Smith & Wesson: here were two of America’s biggest firearms manufacturers being encroached upon by some small start-up from New Jersey. Although S&W was successful (at first) to prove infringement, Colt was not so lucky. Legal action against Manhattan was considered, but no concrete violation of any proprietary design could be demonstrated, and the legal department at Colt advised against taking Manhattan to court.
For almost ten years, from 1859 to 1868, Manhattan manufactured as many as 75,000 of their navy model revolvers. The reason for this demand was the civil war, of course. It is interesting to note that Manhattan petitioned the US Ordnance Board repeatedly to purchase their “Navy” revolver for the Union at a time when the government could not procure enough sidearms to fill the need, and was turned down each time. One cannot help but believe that Samuel Colt exercised considerable influence over the decision makers at the US Ordnance Board…
Manhattan “Navy’s” were produced in five series: the first still bears the New York barrel address, and the earliest of them have trapezoid-shaped cylinder stops. They are numbered from 1 to 4200. The second series incorporated the 1859 patent date on the cylinder, a feature which would remain throughout the production run from there on. The differences between the various series are small, except for the “spring plate”, an innovation incorporated for the first time on some Series III revolvers (no. 14500 to 21000), omitted again for a while , and re-introduced in Series IV ( no. 42500 - 69200), and V. This plate was attached to the recoil shield and was designed to prevent sparks from the ignited percussion cap to travel to the next, un-fired chamber and setting off a second shot. This plate met with limited success and was often removed by the guns’ owners. The spring plate was covered two years after its first application by a patent granted to Benjamin Kittredge, an agent acting on behalf of Manhattan.
The Series IV revolvers have an added line on the barrel referring to Kittredge’s 1864 patent. They are the second most common of the Manhattan “Navy’s”, after the Series III. The Series IV for the first time, lists the company address as Newark, NJ (although all Manhattan revolvers were manufactured in Norwich, CT).
It is not until the introduction of the Series V that we see notable differences: this is the only series which was made with a six-shot cylinder (the others were all five-shot), a task achieved without increasing the circumference of the cylinder. The chambers were merely moved so much closer to each other as to make room for a sixth chamber. This resulted in much thinner walls between the chambers, but was deemed to be sufficient for safe operation. The Series V was seen as distinctive enough to be given its own serial number range from 1 to about 9000, having been the last of the “Navy’s” made by Manhattan before the company was sold to the American Standard Tool Company in 1868.
Two Manhattan "Navy Type" revolvers: one is a Series III, the other a Series IV
This patent was the beginning of the Manhattan “Navy Model” revolvers. The shape and .36 caliber of the Manhattan is so similar to a Colt M1851 Navy that it is easy to confuse the two when first observed. Only closer inspection will reveal the differences: the Manhattan has a slightly smaller frame, it has the double amount of cylinder stop slots on the periphery of the cylinder, and the roll engraving on the cylinder is a series of vignettes depicting various battle scenes. The Colt depicts the famous navy battle between the Texas and Mexico navies of 1837. The barrel addresses, of course, are the most telling difference between the two.
Manhattan did not stop at copying Colt’s 1851 Navy, but manufactured an almost exact copy of the .31 caliber 1849 Pocket, and S&W’s .22 caliber Model 1 as well. The latter would get Manhattan into trouble with S&W and Rollin White, because this design was protected by the 1855 patent Smith and Wesson owned. Manhattan was sued successfully on two occasions, but this did not prevent them from continuing the production of the .22 caliber revolvers with some modifications, all the while arguing in court that White’s patent was not specific enough to encompass all bored-through cylinder cartridge revolvers.
All this must have come as some irritation to Colt and Smith & Wesson: here were two of America’s biggest firearms manufacturers being encroached upon by some small start-up from New Jersey. Although S&W was successful (at first) to prove infringement, Colt was not so lucky. Legal action against Manhattan was considered, but no concrete violation of any proprietary design could be demonstrated, and the legal department at Colt advised against taking Manhattan to court.
For almost ten years, from 1859 to 1868, Manhattan manufactured as many as 75,000 of their navy model revolvers. The reason for this demand was the civil war, of course. It is interesting to note that Manhattan petitioned the US Ordnance Board repeatedly to purchase their “Navy” revolver for the Union at a time when the government could not procure enough sidearms to fill the need, and was turned down each time. One cannot help but believe that Samuel Colt exercised considerable influence over the decision makers at the US Ordnance Board…
Manhattan “Navy’s” were produced in five series: the first still bears the New York barrel address, and the earliest of them have trapezoid-shaped cylinder stops. They are numbered from 1 to 4200. The second series incorporated the 1859 patent date on the cylinder, a feature which would remain throughout the production run from there on. The differences between the various series are small, except for the “spring plate”, an innovation incorporated for the first time on some Series III revolvers (no. 14500 to 21000), omitted again for a while , and re-introduced in Series IV ( no. 42500 - 69200), and V. This plate was attached to the recoil shield and was designed to prevent sparks from the ignited percussion cap to travel to the next, un-fired chamber and setting off a second shot. This plate met with limited success and was often removed by the guns’ owners. The spring plate was covered two years after its first application by a patent granted to Benjamin Kittredge, an agent acting on behalf of Manhattan.
The Series IV revolvers have an added line on the barrel referring to Kittredge’s 1864 patent. They are the second most common of the Manhattan “Navy’s”, after the Series III. The Series IV for the first time, lists the company address as Newark, NJ (although all Manhattan revolvers were manufactured in Norwich, CT).
It is not until the introduction of the Series V that we see notable differences: this is the only series which was made with a six-shot cylinder (the others were all five-shot), a task achieved without increasing the circumference of the cylinder. The chambers were merely moved so much closer to each other as to make room for a sixth chamber. This resulted in much thinner walls between the chambers, but was deemed to be sufficient for safe operation. The Series V was seen as distinctive enough to be given its own serial number range from 1 to about 9000, having been the last of the “Navy’s” made by Manhattan before the company was sold to the American Standard Tool Company in 1868.
Two Manhattan "Navy Type" revolvers: one is a Series III, the other a Series IV
