Can you ID this pistol?

S

Southern_guy

New member
I was given a small .38 revolver last year. I know that it is pre-1900, but I don't know much about the model or value. It has the following markings:
-.Meriden Fire Arms Co.
Meriden Conn,USA(topside of barrel)
-Entire front side of gun flips forward for loading/unloading.
-Similar in appearence to a Nagant revolver, but all black.
-Looks very similar to this:http://www.oldwestgunsmith.com/guns/sw165833thumb.JPG

Any help would be appreciated.
 
J

joab

New member
It's one of the many many top break revolvers made at that time
I have some from H&R and Iver Johnson
Usually either in .32 or .38 Smith&Wesson

At best they're worth about $100 in excellent condition
I paid $25 a piece for mine about three years ago

Here's all I could find for now on Meriden
The Meriden Firearms Company was formed when Sears Roebuck purchased the Andrew Fryberg & Sons firearms manufacturing plant in 1903 and moved the plant and machinery to Meriden, Connecticut, circa 1904. The company started manufacturing firearms circa early 1905. Around 1906 Sears acquired a Savage-held patent for the Model 15 slide-action .22 rifle that was not introduced until 1913. During 1918 Sears announced that the Meriden Firearms Company would discontinue the manufacture of sporting firearms.
Click to expand...
 
P

Prof. A. Wickwire

New member
Southern_guy,

According to my information, Meriden Fire Arms Co. manufactured a Pocket Pistol in .32 S&W and .38 S&W from approximately 1895 to 1915.

There is some confusion as to whether Meriden Firearms Co. (also Meriden Fire Arms Co.) was a descendant of the A.J. Aubrey company or was started by Sears and Roebuck to produce low cost revolvers and shotguns for catalog sales.

The common name for this type of revolver is a Break-Top Pocket Pistol (some were also "auto-ejecting" as well).

Most pocket pistols have little collectors value as there were so many made by a variety of manufactures including, but not limited to: Forehand & Wadsworth (later Forehand Arms Company); Harrington & Richardson; Iver Johnson; Merwin-Hulbert; Smith & Wesson; and a number of off brands.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Prof. A. Wickwire
 
R

Rimrod

New member
Oh, that's real great. My family has been maintaining a piece of junk for 100+ years?!?
Click to expand...

Just because a firearm isn't collectible doesn't mean it's junk. Especially if it has some history associtated with it or has been kept in the family for 100 years.

Just my opinon.
 
H

HammerBite

New member
Question for joab . . .

Did Andrew Fyrberg ever work for Iver Johnson? The reason I ask is that his 1896 transfer bar patent was assigned to Iver Johnson and became the basis of Iver Johnson's "Hammer the Hammer" advertising slogan.

Notice that you and I have differed on the spelling of the name. Is it the same person?
 
J

joab

New member
The piece I quoted was from a Guns and Ammo answer site ( I lost the link, thought I included it)
The misspeling was probably a typo

Apparently yes he did
He also worked for many other companies the last was Warner which eventually was absorbed by Stevens
At some point around 1900 he started his own company Andrew Fyrberg & Co. and later Andrew Fyrberg and Sons
He is also responsible for the design of the revolver that this thread is about

from what I can find it was ,most likely sold by Sears
Their Eastern Arms subsidiary funded Meridan, who Fyrberg went to work for as designer and plant manager after IJ


That gun is a piece of Americana from a time when you could mail order a handgun and definitely a worthy family heirloom, just not worth a lot of money

I have what I think is an Ithica lever action single shot shotgun. Ican't tell because any markings were long ago worn off
Value is probably somewhere around $75 to someone who collected this kind of gun
To the family it's priceless
 
D

dogngun

New member
The Meridan and similar revolvers were what the average person carried or used to defend their homes. They worked, even if they just gave the owners a sense of security. They were not the most expensive gun made, but they were effective and very popluar. They top-break design small revolvers were made from the 1880's till WWII.
H&R made top berak .22 revolvers untill the 1980's.
They are a small part of American history, but they did the job for a lot of people.

If it came down through your family,it should have value- treasure it.

Mark
 
D

DrLaw

New member
Value

Value is in the eye of the beholder and whoever wants to be beholding.

Many of those guns like that outlived their time just because people like your relatives kept them. The Top-breaks were manufactured by a lot of companies, but Meridian is not as well known a name as say, Smith & Wesson or Harrington and Richardson or Iver Johnson. However, that does not mean that it is worthless piece of junk. Meridians are not that common. I have been involved with guns for many years and this is the first I heard of that name. As dogngun said, many people had such guns because it was their security blanket. Your folks may not have been any different.

Personally, I would keep it around. I would not try to shoot it, but I would keep it around none the less.

The Doc is out now. :cool:
 
E

enrrique_01

New member
hello! I also need help I.D´ing a gun!

I know bery littel about guns, but I have in my possecion a rare piece; half of it is made in some tipe of gold. on the top it read ´CONNEICUT LIBERTY INC.´or so i believe "it is old" the shape of the barrel is octagonal, on the other side it reads ASM BLACK POWDER ONLY; on the gold piece, it has a mark that looks like that of the firing mechanism when they had a stone passing/hiting another stone to create fire all in a semi-circle, under this circle is another semi-circle smaller, yet as if both were one complete circle, inside the bottom circle are the letters CVT.
This gun thoes not brake in half, however, it features a smaller, solid cilinder under the barrell that folds and the only thing that I can think of is that they used this lower cilinder to load the gun.
Any ideas! I am at a ciber cafe right now, perhaps I´ll load a photo later.
 
J

joab

New member
Please load the pic

It is probably old but not that old

If it were an original it would not have "Black Powder Only" stamped on it because black powder was the only thing available at the time

ASM is Armi Sam Marcos
It is an Italian made reproduction of

The gold is brass
It is probably an 1851 Colt in 36 caliber
The Cylinder under the barrel activates a plunger that loads powder and bullet into the cylinder

Also not really very rare
Value would be, if I am correct, between $100 and $200
 
S

Southern_guy

New member
I suppose you are right about the family treasure status. My grandmother says it belonged to my great-uncle, who she described as "a rather shady character". The truly scary thing is that I shot it shortly after I recieved it without it exploding on me. Thank you for the info.
 
S

Southern_guy

New member
I do not know if I'd consider a semi-criminal ancestor as a "cherished" family root, but the gun does still have a story. Now if I could only inherit a BAR from my other criminal ancestors.(Bonnie and Clyde)
 
J

joab

New member
there is a family picture with my grandfather standing next to Al Capone
He is holding a sawed off shotgun and has a small pistol tucked in his belt

A cousin has the pistol and my father got scared and got rid of the shotgun many years ago
I still have the hat he was wearing and the sap that was in his coat pocket

The shotgun was an old Warner, a few years ago I found one at a show and cut it down as far as I could. I doesn't have thee same outlaw feel as I remember with the original but it's close

The little pistol was an Iver Johnson .32 and is the reason I collect them
I have one with a badge number and the date it came into contact with the police scratched in it's side
I'm still hoping to get the pistol from my cousin someday

Some times it's the dubious nature of the object that endears it to us
 
B

Boomer 100

New member
I also have one of these Meriden 32 cal pocket pistol that was my Grandfathers. I need to get it repaired and have not had any luck with the last two smith's that looked at it. They both just say, it's not worth repairing...
I'm not looking for the value of the gun, I just want it repaired for sentimental value. I'm pretty sure all it needs is a trigger spring and a new firing pin on the hammer and refinshed.
What is the finish on these guns?

New to this forum and would welcome any help. I'm located in Oklahoma City
Thansk in advance for your help
 
S

Singlesix1954

New member
I have one in Iver Lohnson. The cowboy that carried it wore it out. He gave it to my father in the 1930's (without a firing pin). It would make a good decoy anchor if it had no story. Collectable stuff is not always about cash. I hope that you will print a providence list for future members of your family. Someone may not inherit a goldmine, but they can learn cool stuff about thier kin.
 
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