Original Item: Only One Available. Well THIS is a real peach! This is a very nice condition Civil War revolver, made by the MANHATTAN FIREARMS COMPANY of NEWARK, N.J.. The company was originally founded in 1856, mainly to make Colt-style revolvers once their patent ran out in 1857. This revolver looks just like a Colt Navy and is in the same .36cal percussion, but it has a five shot cylinder, instead of the Colt's six.

This lovely lightly patinated example features the shorter 5" barrel and matching serial number 1666, which is found on the barrel, frame, trigger guard, cylinder arbor pin, rear of the cylinder, barrel wedge, and the bottom of the grip. That makes this a very desirable "ALL MATCHING" example, and it's a great one! As a real rarity, the revolver has most of the original cylinder engraving present, which consists of five different scenes, one for each chamber, all of which are still discernable. All cap nipple cones are still present with four of the five clear, with most showing wear. The clogged cone looks to be a replacement with a much smaller aperture. As this is a Series I revolver, there was never a patent date stamped on the cylinder.

From internet research, we know that the Series I revolvers have serial numbers from 1 to around 4200, and were manufactured from early 1859 to January 1860. This makes this a pre Civil War produced gun, probably made in mid 1859, so it almost certainly saw service during the conflict. Top of the barrel still has the correct Series I manufacturer engraving from before the company moved to Newark:

The revolver has a lovely lightly worn patina of age, showing it was well cared for during its service life. The Walnut grips are solid, with a lovely color, looking to have been refinished at some point with a modern varnish. The metal finish has been worn to a lovely light gray patina from years of use and cleaning, with some past powder burn peppering around the cylinder, as is common. As with most we see, the original nickel plating is almost completely worn away from the trigger guard and grip frame, really only retained on the bottom of the grip.

Functionally, the revolver indexes well with a strong cylinder lockup and crisp dry fire. We did not notice any of the usual finicky behavior we often see with early revolvers. The bore is in very good condition, showing a mostly bright finish with three groove rifling, which has clear lands and grooves. There is some evidence of past oxidation and fouling, now cleaned away, but this is well above most examples that we see.

This is definitely one of the best examples we have had of a Manhattan revolver in some time, as well as one of the earliest! Just a very nice honest used civil war percussion revolver with a great look, ready to add to your collection and display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: c.1859-60
Caliber: .36cal
Ammunition Type: Cap and Ball
Barrel Length: 5 inches
Overall Length: 10 1/2 inches
Action: Single Action
Feed System: 5 Shot Revolver

History of Manhattan Firearms:

The Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. was founded by a group of New Jersey businessmen in 1856. Their goal was to take advantage of Colt’s patent for revolving firearms that was due to expire in 1857. The founders hired Thomas Bacon to became the Superintendent of Manufacturing.

Manufacturing began in Norwich, Connecticut and in 1859 moved to Newark, New Jersey. Thomas Bacon remained in Norwich and started his own firearms company. During their existence, Manhattan Firearms produced approximately 175,000 pistols. Only Colt, Remington, and Winchester produced more guns during this era in which included the Civil War.

While waiting for Colt’s patent to expire, Manhattan first made copies of American firearms that no longer had patent protection. These included pepperboxes and various single-shot designs. Shortly thereafter, they turned their attention to making Colt-style revolvers in both the .31 caliber Pocket and .36 caliber Navy styles. Manhattan patented an extra set of cylinder safety notches on these models. Manhattans can be easily identified by the many notches on their cylinders.

After the Civil War, Manhattan production primarily consisted of a copy of the Smith & Wesson .22 caliber cartridge revolver and a single-shot boot pistol under the name "HERO". Manhattan changed it's name in 1868 to American Standard Tool Company and began to market industrial tools as well as firearms. American Standard Tool closed during the financial panic of 1873.

Manhattan Firearms also manufactured guns under the trade names “Hero”, “London Pistol Company”, and “American Standard Tool”.

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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.

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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.