Guns International #: 102880420
Seller's Inventory #: 230428

Category - Whitney Revolvers - Antique Revolvers - Percussion

Category
Whitney Revolvers
Antique Revolvers - Percussion

RARE Antique WHITNEY ARMS TWO-TRIGGER POCKET Revolver - 1 of 650 MADE SERIAL NUMBER “78” Made Between 1852 and 1854

Description:
RARE Antique WHITNEY ARMS TWO-TRIGGER POCKET Revolver - 1 of 650 MADE

SERIAL NUMBER “78” Made Between 1852 and 1854

Here we present an antique Whitney Arms Company Navy Revolver, made circa 1852 in New Haven, Connecticut. This revolver was manufactured from 1852 to 1854 with a total quantity of around 650, making this an extremely rare firearm. This five shot revolver, with its hand turned cylinder and no partitions between the nipples, was designed to evade Colt’s basic revolver patent. The novel feature of this revolver was the forward trigger’s use as a release and lock for the manually turned cylinder. This revolver is the standard model with the brass frame and iron trigger guard. The top of the barrel flat is marked “E. WHITNEY N. HAVEN CT”. The frame has “PATENT APPLIED FOR”.

Eli Whitney Sr. established his Whitneyville Armory in1798 and produced firearms (among other things) by contract for the young U.S. government. Just prior to this, in 1793, Whitney invented the mechanical cotton gin, which dramatically changed the economic landscape in the U.S., namely in the South. While his invention was a labor-saving device, making the processing of harvested cotton extremely efficient and requiring fewer laborers, his machine caused the market for cotton to explode and more laborers were needed to plant, grow and harvest the crop. This resulted in a corresponding boom in the Southern slave trade. Great fortunes were created, and the population of the South became such that one in three Southerners were slaves. All this provided the fuel that would become the raze that was the American Civil War. Despite its formal name involving “Navy”, the Whitney Arms Navy Revolver received the generic name from the Colt standard for .36 caliber revolvers evolving from the original Colt Model 1851 Navy.

Eli Whitney Sr. died in 1825, and his son, Eli Whitney Jr., began running the family business in 1841. Whitney Jr. seized the opportunity in 1847 to manufacture 1,000 of Samuel Colt’s latest revolver, the Colt Walker revolver. Production of this revolver helped both parties immensely as it kept Colt in business, and it allowed Whitney Jr. to tool up and gain experience making revolvers. With the expiration of Colt’s patents in 1857, Whitney began production of percussion revolvers based on Colt’s patents, some of them very closely copied.

The overall condition is good. Gray patina on the steel parts and a bright coppery sheen on the brass frame. The action of the hammer and trigger are strong. The cylinder is turned by hand, of course. The cylinder stop spring is weak. The grips show much use and remain solid. An interesting revolver from Whitney!

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 6 inches.

Caliber: .32 percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$3200

#230428
 

Price: $3,200.00                     Buy Now

Antique: Yes