A pair of Volcanic pistols from the collection of King Farouk of Egypt rightfully sets a new record at Greg Martin Auctions’ November 15-17, 2004, sale in San Francisco, California.
The only known cased pair of No. 1 Pocket Model Volcanic breech-loading repeating pistols by New Haven Arms Co. hammered in at $110,000. “I don’t know of any Volcanic pistols that have sold for over $40,000,” Greg Martin says.
Volcanic pistols owe their creation to Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson, who started the Volcanic Repeating Arms Co.
in 1854.
Smith and Wesson produced the first magazine fed, lever action pistol, nicknamed the Volcanic due to its caseless “rocket ball” ammunition. The duo eventually left Volcanic to start up another gun manufacturing company with a revolver and cartridge combo. When Volcanic’s offices moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1856, the company’s name was changed to New Haven Arms Co. Four years later, B. Tyler Henry redesigned the Volcanic rifle to use a large caliber rimfire metallic cartridge, giving birth to the Henry rifle. In 1866, stockholder Oliver Winchester bought control of the company, which then became the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. The company’s first model, the 1866 Winchester (also known as the Yellowboy), was basically a Henry rifle with two improvements: a wooden forestock and a side loading gate.
The guns shown herein are a visual time line of the Volcanic repeating pistol’s evolution to the Winchester sporting rifle. Also included is one of the guns manufactured by the company that Smith and Wesson built after their foray in Volcanic Arms. The total bids for the auction exceeded $4 million.
Photo Gallery
After leaving the Volcanic Repeating Arms Co., Smith and Wesson went on to make numerous weapons. Their company, Smith & Wesson, made what is popularly known as the .38 Military and Police Special (shown here is serial #13083). The duo called their U.S. Army 1899 double-action Smith & Wesson revolver a hand ejector to differentiate it from break-top ejector arms; $3,250.
A Colt Paterson No. 5 Holster pistol (serial #33 of 1,000 produced during 1838-1840) was not only the top-selling item at Greg Martin’s November 2004 auction, but all of its $150,000 proceeds were donated to the NRA National Firearms Museum and the NRA’s endowment foundation. The other 249 lots from the Duane Shook Collection brought a combined total of over $500,000 in sales to the NRA.
The Colt’s cylinder is engraved with a stagecoach holdup scene, one of many designs produced on Colt weapons. When the Republic of Texas commissioned the .36 caliber Holster model for its navy in August 1839, Samuel Colt showed his gratitude by engraving the victorious May 16, 1843, naval battle on the cylinders of his 1851 and 1861 Navy, and 1860 Army Colts. (See “Shooting from the Hip,” January/February 2005 issue for more on Colt’s engraved cylinder scenes.)
The Paterson comes in an original case, which includes a combination gunpowder flask and ball dispenser, as well as a small capper that automatically releases percussion caps onto the cylinder’s nipples. The capper is worth $20,000 by itself.
B. Tyler Henry redesigned the Volcanic rifle into the lever action, repeating Henry rifle (shown here is serial #1461); $135,000.
Winchester’s 1866 lever action sporting rifle (shown here is serial #362918) was the company’s first model. Many gun experts think the rifle was produced concurrently with the phase-out of the Henry rifle, hence the Winchester’s nickname, Improved Henry; $34,000.
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