44 Merwin&Hulbert

[bronco45]

Ran across an interesting revolver today. It is a Merwin and Hulbert 5" chambered in 44 Merwin and Hulbert! Owner has no cases for the gun, nor has he ever shot the gun.

Anyone have a clue how to form loads for this old blaster, it's in good mechanical condition and appears solid enough to shoot some loads with a BP substitute.

 

[Buford57]

The dimensions I found for .44 M&H are as follows:

Length 1.16"; Rim 0.500; Base 0.444; Bullet 0.422

Oddly, of all the possible parent cases for this round the likeliest candidate currently available in the US appears to be the .444 Marlin, cut down to 1.16 inches.

The base of the Marlin case is .006 inch larger than the M&H and the rim .008 larger, but not bad, considering.

Bullet diameter for the M&H in my source is shown as 0.422, which equates to any .44 Special/Mag pure lead cast or soft swaged bullet run through an appropriate sizer.


Sounds like the kind of off-beat "can these dead bones rise again?" project I would get involved in. Post a picture of Ezekiel if you get a chance.

 

[2152hq]

The 41 Magnum case shortened to 1.15" was what I read,,but I have no experience with it.
Unfortunetly the 44 M/H cartridge dimensions differ quite a bit depending on the source.

Brandt (Manual of pistol & Revolver cartridges) gives the 44 M/H a bullet dia as betw .410 and .421 (!)
A straight cased cartridge with a mouth and base dia of between .437 & .443 (again,,quite a range).

OAL is 1.15
Rim Dia is .489 to .503.

I can see where the 41 Magnum brass use comes in play,,at least on paper!.
The shortened 41Mag fits into the low range of the 44M/H specs,, if not slightly off the chart in case diameter at .434/5 for the 41Mag.
But loaded w/BP, perhaps the Cowboy Shooters who came up with this didn't find any problems.

I'd hate to have any and wreck a fine M/H revolver. They are quite valuable especially in the 44 caliber. (44-40 also).
Most of the x-spurts say to stay right away from any smokeless loads in them. A good idea in any early cartridge gun I suppose.

That's about all I can offer up on the subject.

 

[Bkreutz]

These threads always fascinate me. I'd never heard of this pistol before today. Thanks.

 

[bronco45]

Thanks for the input. I let the gun walk as it belongs to a friend and I know where to find it. I will pass the info on to him as he is into late 19th century weapons. figure a bullet weight of 180-200grains and can a shooter use Trailboss?

 

[Muley Gil]

I wouldn't use ANY smokeless powder in these early revolvers. You can blowup a valuable gun and last I checked, eyes and fingers are hard to replace.

Black powder is not that hard to clean. Get some Ballistol for cleanup and shoot the Holy Black.

 

[ColbyBruce]

Did Brendan Frasier carry those revolvers in his shoulder holsters in "The Mummy" movies?

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Did Brendan Frasier carry those revolvers in his shoulder holsters in "The Mummy" movies?

Early in the movie he has some sort of French garbage or at least something doctored to look like French pinfire garbage. He went through so many different handguns in the first movie I don't remember M&H's. I shot SASS with a man that used a pair of M&H revolvers in 45 Colt. Many guns were shipped with 2 barrel of different lengths, you'll often find the long Barrel pitted and with a blackened bore,and the short barrel in fine condition. His matched pair was the opposite the 3 or 4" barrels were pitted and the 6" were like new. M&H had a contract with the Czar but Russia defaulted and the company never really recovered. You should check and see if 44 Russian works. If the case is too small in diameter, try a 44-40 and shorten to length. Many 44's used a bullet weight of 246 grains in those days (44 Henry, 44 Russian, and early 44 Special) and went to a hollow base (full of tallow for lube) of 200-205 grains latter for a flatter shooting round. The old balloon head cases held approximately 25 grains of FFFg, a modern case should hold about 20 to 22 grains of the same. Don't forget to get a bunch of lube in there somehow! The vitamin C based BP substitutes will need less lube and are easy to clean with regular bore cleaner or Hot Soapy Water (there is no sulfur, but the residue absorbs water out of the air and needs cleaned almost as promptly). Have fun! Ivan