Merwin Hulbert .44

oldiron

oldiron

CGN Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
77   0   0
Location
central Alberta
I have a Merwin Hulbert Army in .44 MH cal. on it's way. Any ideas on what to feed this gun? Maybe I could have something ready when it arrives.
Thanks for now..
 
rgbai said:
.44 MH is a non antique caliber 44-40 or 44 wcf
Click to expand...

No thats not true !
44 M&H is its own 44 cartridge and is not on the list if the gun is in fact chambered in 44 M&H then 44 colt cases should work wait till the gun gets here bill some chamber 44 sp cases to but it wont chamber a 44 40.
Not unless its been reamed to take a 44 40.

44 Merwin and Hulbert is not on the No list.
Try finding some 44 Colt cases they should work.
 
Last edited:
M&H made revolvers in both .44 M&H and .44-40. They are different cartridges. 44M&H is a straight wall cartridge. .44 colt or .44 remington brass is supposed to be similar to .44M&H. I have not loaded these.

I saw a M&H revolver that was stamped ".44 Winchester", which made me scratch my head for a minute until i realised it is just the other name for the 44/40: .44 WCF (Winchester Center Fire).
 
Last edited:
dingus said:
No thats not true !
44 M&H is its own 44 cartridge and is not on the list if the gun is in fact chambered in 44 M&H then 44 colt cases should work wait till the gun gets here bill some chamber 44 sp cases to but it wont chamber a 44 40.
Not unless its been reamed to take a 44 40.

44 Merwin and Hulbert is not on the No list.
Try finding some 44 Colt cases they should work.
Click to expand...

well thats good news I've always wanted a m&h pistol but always thought 44 m&h and 38 m&h were on the no go list.
 
rgbai said:
well thats good news I've always wanted a m&h pistol but always thought 44 m&h and 38 m&h were on the no go list.
Click to expand...

Well the RCMP Wont letter a 38 M&H but they will a 44 M&H
They used to letter 38 M&H but found out the 38 caliber M&H were listed as useing 38 S&W Ammo in the M*H catalogs and so that was it for the 38 CF M&H letters.
The 44 M&H is a cartridge all on its own tho.
most 44 MH caliber guns are marked 44 M&H
There are some M&H that are 44 Russian to.
 
I have one in 44 MH; I use 44 Colt cases. The bullets are around .440 and I couldn't find any so I bought a box of 45 cal round balls [.440], use a light charge of unique powder and just press the round ball in by hand. Works fine. If you try it let us know how you made out. Cheers.
 
This is my MH .44, but the dealer's photo. Can't afford one with a lot of bling, and would just make my other brown guns feel bad. This one will have to do. Seller says should be a better shooter than a looker.
Thanks for your help. Bill..



TMrightMH.jpg
 
http://www.armchairgunshow.com/MH-info.html

Merwin Hulbert was a major manufacturer of quality revolvers during the 1870’s and 1880’s. Gun writer and black powder cartridge expert Mike Venturino states that "no revolver ever made exhibits more craftsmanship and precision machine work in its manufacture." During the late 1800’s the Merwin company was certainly among the top four large frame revolver makers in the U.S., the others being Colt, S&W, and Remington. Most casual observers suppose that Colt was the leading manufacturer of large frame cartridge revolvers in the 1800’s, and may be aware that Remington and S&W made revolvers then, and few are aware of Merwin. However if you look at factory production, you’ll find that S&W actually made more large frame cartridge revolvers than Colt during the 1800’s, and, based on the frequency of surviving examples encountered, I often wonder if Merwin didn’t produce more than Remington!

The Merwin design is unique and required extremely precise machining and hand fitting. The twist open design allows for selective, simultaneous ejection of empty cases while leaving loaded rounds in the cylinder. To open a Merwin Hulbert, the gun is held in the right hand with fingers of left hand wrapping around top of the barrel,. The left thumb pushes the button on the front bottom of the frame backwards towards the trigger guard. The barrel is then twisted towards the left, (which would be clockwise as viewed from the rear of the gun) and pulled forward. This allows ejection of empties. If disassembly is desired at this point, the button on left side of barrel is pushed in and barrel and cylinder slide forward off of the frame.

One feature unique to Merwin design and evidence of the remarkable machining, which is highly prized by collectors, is "suction." On particularly nice examples of Merwins you will find that when you have gun open and barrel pulled forward, if you release the barrel, the barrel and cylinder will pull backwards towards frame as if spring loaded. No springs are involved; it is simply that the close machining of the parts creates a suction which tends to pull the gun back together.

Merwin Model terminology can be a bit confusing at first. We will try to sort it out here:

"Frontier" Models are large frame square butt Models.


"Pocket Army" Models have a birds head grip which comes to a "skullcrusher" type point on the bottom with a large lanyard ring hole drilled through the point. Many of the Pocket Army Models have shorter 3 ½" barrels, although they were also made with the long 7" barrel, most commonly encountered on Frontier Models. Both Frontier and Pocket Army Models can be found in single action or double action configuration.

The evolution of large frame Merwin revolvers went through 4 distinct phases which are called, First through Fourth Models, by collectors. The First and Second Models were made in single action configuration only, and are quickly identified by an open top (no top strap extending from the rear of barrel to frame) and "scoop flutes" on cylinder. First and Second Models are very similar - quickest way to tell them apart is to notice there are two small screws going into the First Model frame above trigger guard where as only one screw there on Second Model. First Models were made in Frontier configuration only, while Second Models were made in both Pocket Army and Frontier configuration.

The Third Model added a top strap from the rear of barrel to frame above hammer, providing an additional locking point for additional strength. Also the flutes of cylinder were changed from scoop flutes to standard type fluting we’re familiar with on most revolvers today. Third Model was the first to be offered in both Single Action and Double Action types and again was offered in both Pocket Army and Frontier style. The Fourth Model is probably the most scarce - it’s nearly identical to Third Model, but with a rib added to the barrel, (the barrel is round on all the other three Models.)

The large frame Merwins were offered in three chamberings – 44 Merwin Hulbert, 44-40 (the most common chambering, designated by the marking "Calibre Winchester 1873"), and 44 Russian.

The Merwin collector has to be careful, in that many Spanish copies from the same era are found. Some of these are of good quality while others are lesser guns. An original Merwin will usually have both Merwin Hulbert company markings and Hopkins & Allen (although the Merwin guns were made to a consistently higher standard than the H&A guns.) The foreign copies, while interesting and colorful, were worth less than U.S. made Merwins, and may have the words Merwin Hulbert appearing in their markings.

Merwin also made SA and DA small frame revolvers, in two frame sizes chambered for 32 and 38 cartridges; along with a tip up 22 spur trigger resembling the S&W Model One.

Given the quality and historical interest of these revolvers, regretably little has been published on them. The single best reference is Art Phelps book, The Story of Merwin Hulbert and Co. Firearms.

Merwin collectors hungry for additional info can rejoice - 2 articles have recently been published. Mike Venturino’s article "The Merwin and Hulbert 44’s" appears in the August 9, 1999 issue of Shotgun News. "The Merwin Hulbert Army Revolver and it’s 44 MH & Co. Cartridge" by Robert John Rayzak appears in the July/August 1999 issue of Man at Arms. It includes an interesting discussion of whether or not the selective ejection system worked as advertised, and info on the rare 44 MH cartridge.
Click to expand...
 
This old gal is the first batch of the third model. Top strap, but still the scoop flute cyl. All numbers match, they were just using up the second model parts. Making this a Transition model single action. I hear a couple hundred came out like this. The grips are marked too, but are left-over second models also. ???
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom