hopkins and allen xl derringer 41 rimfire

Antique Hopkins & Allen XL Spur Trigger Derringer chambered in .41 Caliber Rimfire, made in Norwich, Connecticut circa 1875 with a production run between 1870 and 1879 with total production numbers being less than 2,000. The 2-1/2 inch barrel is marked on the top "XL Derringer” and “Pat. Apr 5. 1870”. This nifty little pistol utilizes a fixed blade front sight, spur trigger and nickel plating. To load, the hammer is brought back to half-cock, the barrel release button on the bottom of the frame is pressed and the barrel will then pivot exposing the breech for loading a single cartridge. Once loaded, the barrel is swung back into firing position, the hammer pulled to full-cock and the trigger pulled to fire.

Hopkins & Allen Manufacturing Company was a major manufacturer of rifles, shotguns, and inexpensive cartridge handguns between 1868 and 1915. After an initial investment of $2000, H & A began operations as a producer of firearms, machinery, tools, and hardware. After the expiration of the Rollin White Patent in 1869, they began converting  percussion revolvers to accept cartridge ammunition. In addition, they started producing a line of spur-trigger cartridge revolvers in .22 and .32 calibers. From its humble beginnings, Hopkins and Allen had grown from a small shop with 30 employees to become a major producer of firearms and an employer of 600 workers. In a state known for firearm production, H & A ranked third only behind Colt and Winchester. Hopkins & Allen continued to manufacture a variety of revolvers and small arms until 1915.

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The Colt M1877 was a double action revolver manufactured by Colt from January 1877 to 1909 for a total of 166,849 revolvers. The Model 1877 was offered in three calibers, which lent them three unofficial names: the "Lightning", the "Thunderer", and the "Rainmaker". The principal difference between the models was the cartridge in which they were chambered: the "Lightning" being chambered in .38 Long Colt; the "Thunderer" in .41 Long Colt. Both models had a six-round ammunition capacity.  An earlier model in .32 Long Colt known as the "Rainmaker" was offered in 1877.

The M1877 was designed by one of the inventors of the Colt single action army (M1873), William Mason, as Colt's first attempt at manufacturing a double-action revolver. It was the first successful US-made double-action cartridge revolver, and was offered from the factory in two basic finishes: nickel-plated or a blued with a case-coloured frame. The revolver was available in barrel lengths from 2.5 to 7.5 in (64 to 191 mm) and was available with or without the ejector rod and housing. The shorter barrel versions without the ejector rod were marketed as "shopkeeper's specials" for use as a concealable pocket pistol.

Neither "Lightning" nor "Thunderer" were Colt designations, nor used by the factory in any reference materials. Both terms were coined by Benjamin Kittredge, one of Colt's major distributors. Kittredge was responsible for the terms "Peacemaker" for the Single Action Army, "Omnipotent" for the Colt Model 1878 double-action (often known as the "Frontier" model), and nicknames for the various chambering's of the New Line models.

The M1877's early double-action mechanism proved to be both intricate and delicate, thus it was vulnerable to failure of self cocking. The design had a reputation for failure and earned the nickname "the gunsmith's favourite". Because of the intricate design and difficulty of repair,  gunsmiths to this day dislike working on them. it has been referred to it as "the worst double-action trigger mechanism ever made". Typically, the trigger spring would fail and this would reduce the revolver to single-action fire only. Outwardly, the Model 1877 shows a striking resemblance to the Colt Single Action Army revolver, however, it is scaled down slightly and much thinner in dimension. The bird's head grips were of checkered rosewood on the early guns and hard rubber on the majority of later-production guns.

The "Lightning" was the favoured personal weapon of famous Manchester (UK)  Victorian  detective, and then head of CID, Jerome Caminada. Old West outlaw John Wesley Harden frequently used both "Lightning" and "Thunderer" versions, and the "Thunderer" was the preferred weapon of Billy the Kid, even carried by him when he was killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. Doc Holliday was also known to carry a nickel-plated "Thunderer" in his waistband as an accompanying gun to his nickel-plated Colt 1873. Both had ivory or pearl grips.

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One of many firearms developed for Remington by Joseph Rider was the Remington Rider Magazine Pistol– a manually operated 5-shot repeater chambered for the .32 extra-short rimfire cartridge (the same round used by the Chicago Palm Protector). It used a tube magazine under the barrel and a simple but clever vertically shifting breechblock to give an impressive amount of firepower in small (and particularly flat and narrow) package. About 15,000 of these were made between 1871 and 1888, and they represent one of the few American uses of a tube magazine in a handgun.  

The low powered cartridge and the overall design of the pistol were certainly intended for up close and personal work at contact distances, or across a card table at most. These were certainly not intended to be target pistols. The Magazine Pistol was loaded by twisting the brass magazine follower tube cap 45-degrees, which released the spring loaded catch from the detent under the muzzle. The spring-loaded follower tube could then be withdrawn from the magazine. The bullets were loaded into the magazine tube, and then the magazine follower tube was replaced, and twisted back into its locked position. The tube functioned in much the same way as the Spencer magazine follower tube, by providing an enclosed follower mechanism that applied pressure to the cartridges in the actual magazine tube. 

There appear to be two hammers on this pistol, but the forward one is in fact the cocking lever. Thumbing this lever works the ejection and loading mechanism and cocks the true hammer. The cocking lever then returns under spring action, and serves as the breech block. It is interesting to speculate whether with a more powerful cartridge this mechanism might auto-load, cycling the cocking lever with the force of the recoil. I imagine it could work, but probably the cocking lever pivot would not hold up for long.  Unusually, but fortunately, most of the model pistols were engraved at the factory.

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Thomas Fowler of Dublin was listed as Gunmaker on Capel Street in Dublin from 1796 to 1825. 

A British East India Company New Land Pattern Flintlock Pistol 1802. The flat butt-plate and lanyard ring are unique to the East India Company pattern and this style of stock remained the basis of all subsequent pistols in Company service. During the Napoleonic Wars the British Government began to rely heavily upon the British privately owned gun trade and between 1804 and 1817 a total of 1,827,889 muskets, rifles, carbines, and pistols were manufactured for the Government alone. 3,037,644 barrels and 2,879,203 locks were made and delivered to London for assembly, and around 1,000,000 items were also delivered to the East India Company, who fought alongside the British forces. This type of pistol is known to have been carried by officers of the East India Company.  The flat butt-plate and lanyard ring are unique to the East India Company pattern and this style of stock remained the basis of all subsequent pistols in Company service.  This pistol is missing the East India Company rampant lion and instead has an oval stamp on the lock.  I identified this once before but now cannot remember it's significance.

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