Original Item: Only One Available. Starting life between 1863 and 1873 this is a very rare unconverted Merwin & Bray CUP-FIRE brass frame revolver. Similar to the "Teat-Fire" design, it was one of several ways developed to produce a brass cartridge revolver that would not infringe on the Patents of Rollin White. Licensed and vigorously protected by SMITH & WESSON, this patent covered the use of a bored through revolver cylinder loaded through the rear with a cartridge. Even though these had already been in use in Europe, there was no U.S. Patent, which White exploited with his patent, which also utilized a box magazine to load the cylinder, and was in reality a totally unworkable design.

To infringe on the patent, the cylinder needed to be fully bored through, however, so Plant developed the the CUP FIRE system. This has the chambers reduced in size at the rear, with a lip around the edge. This meant that the system required loading from the front of the cylinder, in reverse so to speak. The cartridges used had a cup shaped base, which gave the system it's name, and were interesting in that the cartridge entirely surrounded the bullet as well. When cycled the firing pin goes into holes in the rear of the cylinder, and sets of the primer in the cupped base of the cartridges.

Plant Mfg. Co began making Cup Fire revolvers based on the Merwin & Bray patents in 1863, manufacturing an "Army" model in .42" Cupfire, which was relatively small in size, but packed much more of a punch than the .32 Smith & Wesson pocket revolvers of the time. They also however manufactured revolvers in the smaller .28" and .30" cupfire sizes. This lovely brass framed revolver has bore measuring about .28, which is actually the correct size for a .30" cupfire gun, as the actual bullets for the two smaller sizes were .26" and .28", respectively.

The top of the barrel still shows some past peppering, but is still marked with the correct Merwin & Bray address marking:-

MERWIN & BRAY. FIRE-ARMS CO. N.Y.

As an added treat, the revolver still has a legible patent marking going around the cylinder, though it is a bit hard to read due to past peppering:-

PATENTED JULY 12 1859. & JULY 21 1863.

The bottom of the grip frame is marked with serial number 3000, which is also stamped on the bottom of the barrel, the rear of the cylinder, and on the inside of BOTH grip scales. The only unmatched item is the cylinder arbor pin, which is an unmarked fabricated replacement, which makes this a very nice "Mostly Matching" example.

Overall condition of the revolver is just lovely, with a fantastic patina of age. The barrel and steel components show a lovely light gray patina overall, with evidence of past peppering, now cleaned away. As we usually see, the brass frame has lost almost all of the original plating, which is preserved only under the grips and in a few places around the cylinder. It now displays a lovely matured "mustard" patina. The rosewood grip scales are in very nice shape, though the left scale is missing a large wide chunk close to the bottom, which has exposed the indexing hole on the lower corner. These would originally have had a varnished finish, but it is now completely missing.

Revolver cycles beautifully, with good indexing and a firm cylinder lockup. It has a functional half-cock loading position, and a crisp dry fire. The ejector rod moves correctly, locking into place in the rear by turning the handle down. The revolver cylinder axis pin still pulls out towards the front correctly so that the cylinder can be removed for cleaning. We checked the bore, and it is in very good condition, showing clear three groove rifling with a bright finish and strong lands and grooves. There is just a bit of past oxidation and fouling in the grooves.

A rare revolver seldom seen today, especially in the original "Cup Fire" configuration! Most of these that we have seen were later updated to take standard cartridges in the "Old West". In very nice condition and ready to display!

Specifications:-

Year of Manufacture: circa 1863-1873
Caliber: .30" - 3 groove rifling
Ammunition Type: "Cupfire" cartridge.
Barrel Length: 3 3/8 inches
Overall Length: 7 1/2 inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 5 Shot Revolver

The managing partner in the firm of Merwin & Bray was Joseph Merwin, who would one day go on to produce some of the finest cartridge revolvers in the world, under the name Merwin, Hulbert & Company. Merwin would also go on to be one of the primary shareholders in Hopkins & Allen (formerly the Bacon Firearms Company) and one of the largest investors in the Evans Repeating Firearms Company. Merwin was a firearm visionary and was always on the forefront of repeating cartridge firearms technology during the mid-19th century. Their revolver featured a “cup-primed” and front-loading concept, which was among the best attempts to get around S&W’s 12-1/2 year stronghold on cartridge revolvers. They found relative success with the public rather than with the military.

NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.

These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition, and are not tested for the the ability to feed or load any type of cartridge. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers" not for use, and we make no guarantees regarding functionality aside from what is stated in the description. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.

Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.