The Forehand & Wadsworth company was a better firearms manufacturer than most people tend to give them credit for. It evolved from Allen & Wheelock, with Sullivan Forehand and Henry Wadsworth both having married daughters of Ethan Allen. When Wheelock died in 1863, the two were made partners in the firm, which became Ethan Allen & Co. Forehand was a particularly hard worker, and when Allen also passed away in 1871, the company again changed names to Forehand & Wadsworth. Their main business was .32 and .38 pocket revolvers, which they made a quiet large number of. In 1873 they decided to compete in the service revolver arena, releasing the Army model we see here today. It was a 2.5 lb gun with a 7.5 inch barrel, chambered for the .44 Russian cartridge. Single action only, with a 6-shot cylinder and a rather weak and clumsy manual ejector rod. Ultimately, the gun simply could not compete with the superior Colt and Smith & Wesson offerings, and less than a thousand would be made in total. A slightly improved version chambered for .44-40 was introduced in 1878, but this also failed to gain any significant traction in the market.
Forehand Arms Co Revolver Serial Numbers Doreen
A Hopkins & Allen Arms Co. 'Vest Pocket'.22 caliber revolver. Serial number 467676.
Forehand Arms Co Revolver Serial Numbers Explained
- Forehand Arms Company Serial Numbers. Production about 1.000 in the 1870s.22 r.f. Claiber, 7 shot single action revolver, hammer centered in the flat frame.
- It has a stamp saying 'Pant'd June 1 1891' The serial number is 6178, does anyone know what year tha. Here is a look at my Forehand Arms Co. 5 shot Revolver. It has a stamp saying 'Pant'd June 1.
- Forehand & Wadsworth (later known as Forehand Arms) was an American firearms manufacturing company based in Worcester, Massachusetts.It was formed in 1871 by Sullivan Forehand and Henry C. Wadsworth after the death of their father-in-law, Ethan Allen of Ethan Allen & Company, and was acquired in 1902 by Hopkins & Allen, a firearms company based in Connecticut.
- The revolver has the early production serial number 193 and has the early production feature of the shorter 1 7/16” long cylinder, rather than the more commonly encountered 1 5/8” long cylinder found on the majority of the production examples. The.44 American cartridge was introduced in 1869 by Smith & Wesson for use in their Model 3 revolver.