Merwin & Bray .42 Caliber Cupfire Revolver

Failed to sell at auction.

One of the many revolver systems designed to work around the Rollin White patent was the Pant's Patent cupfire revolver, made by Merwin & Bray in several calibers (.28, .30, and .42). This particular example is a nice on in .42 (which is the diameter of the cartridge case; the projectile is actually .39 caliber). The cupfire system was similar technically to rimfire, but with the priming compound in the base of the hollow cup at the end of the cartridge case. This allowed it to be loaded from the front of the cylinder, and fired by a hammer striking through a smaller hole in the rear of the cylinder.