An example of the gun that I saw.
At a gun show on May 29th I saw a Merwin and Bray cupfire revolver in its original box which included a cartridge box with six original cupfire cartridges.
The revolver that I saw appeared to be in very nice condition as was the box.
I knew nothing about these cupfire revolvers so I started doing some research and this is what I learned.
On April 3, 1855 a gun maker named Rollin White patented a system for breech loading, bored-through cylinders for revolvers. A couple years later Smith & Wesson made an agreement with White to pay him $0.25 for every gun they sold using this design, and that he was responsible for any litigation regarding the defense of infringement of the patent. This jump started Smith & Wesson as a company as they became the exclusive makers of rimfire cartridges and revolvers. Eventually other cartridge and gun makers paid royalties to Smith & Wesson to use their design. This business made Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson the wealthiest men in Springfield, MA.
Not all companies wanted to pay Smith & Wesson licensing fees to make the popular style gun of the day. Some companies blatantly infringed the patent and made guns anyway, and often times were forced through litigation to pay royalties to S&W, or even surrender their company to S&W. Another popular option was to make a gun and cartridge just different enough that it would evade the patent.
Another gun making duo, Willard Ellis and John White, who also lived in Springfield did just that. They, along with backing from Henry Reynolds, Ebenezer and Amzi Plant, and Alfred Hotchkiss patented a gun and cartridge that would load from the front of the cylinder to avoid paying royalties to S&W. This has come to be known as the cupfire system.
They made the cupfire revolver and cartridges in three different sizes; .28, .30, and .42. Many people who know about cupfire cartridges do not know that these sizes are actually based on the base diameter and not the actual bullet caliber. The bullet caliber is actually .26, .28 and .39 respectively. All of the cartridge boxes seem to go by the first set of numbers so those sizes have become the popular designation.
A few manufacturers produced the cartridges, some of which are easy to identify by the headstamp they placed on the base. American Metallic Ammunition Co. placed a raised "A" for the headstamp, while Phoenix Metallic Cartridge Co. places a raised "P”
Cupfire cartridges are loaded from the front of the cylinder. They have a flange at the top of the cartridge that rests on an indentation in the cylinder that keeps them from falling through. The base of the cartridge is still very much like a rimfire cartridge where the fulimate is in the rim of the bottom cup. The hammer hits the inside of that rim.
Another unique portion of the design is that most the revolvers were originally sold with both the cupfire cylinder and a percussion cylinder as well. This allowed the owner to continue to use the gun, even if his supply of self-contained cartridges were to be exhausted. The secondary percussion cylinders are very rarely encountered today."
“Some collectors say these were carried by many Civil War Officers, as personal side arms and that this revolver was adapted for use by the U.S. revenue Service”.
A unique and important phase of American firearms, the cupfire cartridge, relegated to a brief window in the development of metallic cartridge firearms, of the 1860's.
Some other photos that I found.
.30 cupfire revolver by Merwin & Bray
.28 cupfire cartridge, three .30 cupfire cartridges (notice the P and A headstamps,) and a .42 cupfire cartridge.
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This is one of the Smith & Wesson .32 rimfire revolvers that caused the creation of the cupfire cartridge revolvers because of the protected patent. This model was a popular private purchase during the Civil War by officers and enlisted men.
The first chapter of the metallic cartridge revolvers.
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At a gun show on May 29th I saw a Merwin and Bray cupfire revolver in its original box which included a cartridge box with six original cupfire cartridges.
The revolver that I saw appeared to be in very nice condition as was the box.
I knew nothing about these cupfire revolvers so I started doing some research and this is what I learned.
On April 3, 1855 a gun maker named Rollin White patented a system for breech loading, bored-through cylinders for revolvers. A couple years later Smith & Wesson made an agreement with White to pay him $0.25 for every gun they sold using this design, and that he was responsible for any litigation regarding the defense of infringement of the patent. This jump started Smith & Wesson as a company as they became the exclusive makers of rimfire cartridges and revolvers. Eventually other cartridge and gun makers paid royalties to Smith & Wesson to use their design. This business made Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson the wealthiest men in Springfield, MA.
Not all companies wanted to pay Smith & Wesson licensing fees to make the popular style gun of the day. Some companies blatantly infringed the patent and made guns anyway, and often times were forced through litigation to pay royalties to S&W, or even surrender their company to S&W. Another popular option was to make a gun and cartridge just different enough that it would evade the patent.
Another gun making duo, Willard Ellis and John White, who also lived in Springfield did just that. They, along with backing from Henry Reynolds, Ebenezer and Amzi Plant, and Alfred Hotchkiss patented a gun and cartridge that would load from the front of the cylinder to avoid paying royalties to S&W. This has come to be known as the cupfire system.
They made the cupfire revolver and cartridges in three different sizes; .28, .30, and .42. Many people who know about cupfire cartridges do not know that these sizes are actually based on the base diameter and not the actual bullet caliber. The bullet caliber is actually .26, .28 and .39 respectively. All of the cartridge boxes seem to go by the first set of numbers so those sizes have become the popular designation.
A few manufacturers produced the cartridges, some of which are easy to identify by the headstamp they placed on the base. American Metallic Ammunition Co. placed a raised "A" for the headstamp, while Phoenix Metallic Cartridge Co. places a raised "P”
Cupfire cartridges are loaded from the front of the cylinder. They have a flange at the top of the cartridge that rests on an indentation in the cylinder that keeps them from falling through. The base of the cartridge is still very much like a rimfire cartridge where the fulimate is in the rim of the bottom cup. The hammer hits the inside of that rim.
Another unique portion of the design is that most the revolvers were originally sold with both the cupfire cylinder and a percussion cylinder as well. This allowed the owner to continue to use the gun, even if his supply of self-contained cartridges were to be exhausted. The secondary percussion cylinders are very rarely encountered today."
“Some collectors say these were carried by many Civil War Officers, as personal side arms and that this revolver was adapted for use by the U.S. revenue Service”.
A unique and important phase of American firearms, the cupfire cartridge, relegated to a brief window in the development of metallic cartridge firearms, of the 1860's.
Some other photos that I found.
.30 cupfire revolver by Merwin & Bray
.28 cupfire cartridge, three .30 cupfire cartridges (notice the P and A headstamps,) and a .42 cupfire cartridge.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the Smith & Wesson .32 rimfire revolvers that caused the creation of the cupfire cartridge revolvers because of the protected patent. This model was a popular private purchase during the Civil War by officers and enlisted men.
The first chapter of the metallic cartridge revolvers.
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