Merwin & Hulbert Update

[Ray Newman]

Rec'd. this e-mail today:

"If you haven't been keeping up with the far more frequent updates in www.merwinhulbertco.com's Forum section, here's the facts:

"1. The Merwin 2nd Model Open-Top (1876-1880) Pocket Army and Frontier Army are completely designed in SolidWorks CAD (same program S&W and Ruger use for their pistols) by the engineering team, have had plastic prototypes run from the CAD to test their fit with the original revolvers we laser-scanned and hand-measured, and are being checked over by our West Point-educated Weapons System Engineer of 40 years gunmaking/ammunitionmaking experience. The parts can start running from that CAD at the team of shops (mostly in Montana) in our supply chain across March-May with the revolvers assembled, finished and tested at our riflemaking plant in Wyoming this summer.

"2. The Third Model top-strap double action Merwin Pocket Army & Frontier Army are mostly designed (we standardized on the best Merwin solutions across the models so there's really not a lot of changes) and CAD will wrap up in March so we expect those to be finished guns in the Fall. Not sure when or if we'll make the 4th Model TopStrap, that'll depend on sales and serious requests.

"3. The website is getting a long awaited overhaul including the order form which has driven us nuts even more than it's bothered you. We assumed too much Merwin Hulbert knowledge of customers and gave too many confusing options. It'll be a lot clearer. We're also adding more Merwin history and other useful content as well as making it far easier to update (it was taking 6-12 months for no good reason.)

"4. While we'll be adding video down the road, there's a good intro to Merwins already on www.YouTube.com from the NRA Museum's Curators Corner with longtime collector/auctioneer/Museum Director Jim Supica lucidly explaining and demonstrating the Merwins.

"5. It's taken way longer than folks that have never manufactured anything seem to think it should take (or assume manufacturers fill up a warehouse or two with finished products before trying to sell any, assuming there's a real and ready demand.) In real terms it's gone pretty fast as we're bringing back a proven design made in the hundreds of thousands for roughly 20 years. Which leaves us puzzled at the demand for working prototypes as though this was a new untried design. We are prototyping for assuring measurement errors didn't creep in from the originals (a few did, 2/1,000ths of an inch for fit of the grip panels) but are going straight to final parts from the CAD. We've made some subtle strengthening choices to a few parts but it's all original Merwin designs...the 9 designers or more who came up with this series of big .44 revolvers were very smart guys we're not going to second-guess. Metallurgy and precision are of course better given this era's choices. We make the
proof ammunition for many of the large gunmakers as well as some of the biggest rounds in the world for rifles (up through .700 Nitro Express which has a 1,000 grain slug) so we're more obsessive than most about strength and reliability.

"6. Calibers (this has changed between feedback and engineering): .38 Special, .44 Special, .44-40 Winchester, .45 ACP, and we're still debating how to chamber for .45 Long Colt but not allow the smallest version of the .454 Casull to be used (while the top strap would likely be strong enough, we don't want to stress the open-top design with magnum loads since we assume you'll shoot these a lot.)

"7. Barrels have been designed so all of our models can have a set of 3 interchangeable barrels (or just 1 or 2, your choice) at 3.5", 5", and 7" lengths. Those were both historically accurate (well 5.5" is actually more historical for Merwins, but more of you wanted shorter than longer barrels so we went to 5"). You really can change the barrels in a few seconds and without a tool, a feature still basically unknown with only a few semi-automatics like the SIG and Glock offering barrel switches or the long out of production Dan Wesson revolvers. Barrels have been one of the most significant challenges to this since a Merwin barrel isn't just a steel pipe with 5 lands and grooves threaded on one end but part of the whole front of the gun and rifling revolver barrels is a mostly lost art. That's a step we're having revolver barrel rifling experts do (you already probably own some of their pistols) even though we have our own Pratt & Whitney cut rifling and button rifling inhouse
for rifles.

"8. When the new order form on the website goes up in the next few weeks, I urge you to place your orders (we'll honor your place for what you sent in already but want to confirm with the new specifications and your own interest.) Like anything ordered over the web (shipped to the FFL dealer you use), you'll pay by credit card for it, satisfaction is guaranteed (as you know Mastercard and Visa help you on that too) and we're offering a 5 year warranty on parts and workmanship. Service and repair will be available at our factory in Wyoming (but Merwin parts vary so much even within the original series of big .44's that new parts fitting your originals will be more varied than any of us expected, even with all of the parts on the new Merwins coming from original parts.

"9. We've lined up a few dealers that really focus on the CAS market in the U.S. and Europe but we expect that 98% of the Merwins will be sold directly from the website and then shipped to your favorite FFL dealer for whatever transfer fee he charges for that service and in compliance with local and federal laws since these are fully functional modern guns that happen to be 1876-1886 designs unlike say cap and ball revolvers.

"We appreciate your continuing interest and helping us figure out what to make. Let us know if you still want one or two, what you want (from what we're making above, we're past wish lists but those were quite helpful early on.) You'll be seeing these in a lot of magazine and television coverage (far more than we expected early on) but not a lot of ads-this is a small, craftsmanship project of one of our divisions rather than the next major handgun maker in the world roll-out. We expect to sell 1000-2000 of these a year and would rather make them right than often and durable rather than cheap. This confuses a lot of folks but not you. If you're ready for the revolver that most police chose back then as well as the one many of the West's top pistoleers adopted after years of shooting everything else in mortal combat, let us know. "

Al Jones
VP Marketing & Sales
Merwin Hulbert & Co.
al@merwinhulbertco.com
This message was sent by: Merwin, Hulbery & Co., 6209 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, 315, Saint Charles, Missouri 63304

[nemhed]

http://www.merwinhulbertco.com/

Your link didn't work because of the 's. These certainly look interesting!

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Your link needs the apostrophe "s" removed from the end ... it doesn't work with that attached.

Interesting letter, but I have to ask ... who are these people? I saw the website and all of that last year when they first started talking about making these guns. Based on the contents of the letter, it seems that I'm supposed to know that these people undertaking this revival are a rifle and ammunition manufacturer of some note. Unfortunately, I have no idea at all who they are nor can I even hazard a guess. The fact that they make rifles and ammo already looks like it's supposed to give them some credibility in this endeavor ... just not with me, because I have no idea who they're talking about.

Here's the direct video link for those who don't want to go searching for it.

It's unfortunate that I don't see 32-20 as a listed offering yet. That would be one that would drive me to buy.

[Leverluver]

I just lost interest after deciphering that Alpin was involved.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Ok, who's Alpin?

[Leverluver]

Art "A-Square" Alpin

[Buck Elliott]

Reading in the HISTORY section of the website, I was underwhelmed by the list of municipalities who chose the M&H as their police sidearm.

Maybe they're tryin' to tell us something...

[Bob]

Thanks for posting that link! Wish I could put an order in. I'll be interested in hearing reviews of how they do. I've always thought they were good looking guns and using modern material and manufacturing techniques they could be great shooters.
Bob

[olyinaz]

I wonder, Buck, if it was a price issue? Was the gun over priced in the market as compared to the excellent Colt and S&W products of the time?

Oly

[Hobie]

They are so well put together that BP (at least the modern stuff) is problematic.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

From what I've read, its big problem was that its tolerances were too close for black powder. Had it come out when smokeless was in predominant use, it would have faired better in the reliability department. I've never seen one though, let alone fired one so I'm operating on hearsay. I do like some of the features and would like to own one of the new ones if the planets align and it comes in a chambering in which I'm interested.

Edit: Looks like Hobie beat me to the BP note by a few seconds.

[Buck Elliott]

I wonder, Buck, if it was a price issue? Was the gun over priced in the market as compared to the excellent Colt and S&W products of the time?

Oly

Not what I was referring to.. it isn't the sparcity of departments, but the fact that almost EVERY one of the cities mentioned has come to be numbered among the most firearm-unfriendly locations on the American Continent...

""Police Forces Who Bought the Merwin .38:
New York City, The City of Brooklyn, Boston & Chelsea, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Detroit, Miami, Toronto, ONT, Galveston, TX, Charleston, SC, Portland, ME, Rochester, NY, St. Paul, MN, Buffalo, NY, Augusta, GA, Pawtucket, RI
Woonsocket RI, and others ""

Seems that the more knowledgeable city fathers chose something other than the M&H for their officers.

Coincidence...? Not too sure..........

[fatoldfool]

I have held, examined and fired an original. It is a big revolver, designed for bigger bores. Well designed grips and felt good. I would like to have one just for the novelty of it.