Merwin Hulbert Third Model Pocket Army DA

Sometime after 1883 Merwin & Hulbert developed a double-action revolver design for its Third Model Pocket Army revolver. The Third Model was the first Merwin & Hulbert design to feature a topstrap, but it operated in the same manner as all Merwin & Hulbert revolvers. What separates the Merwin & Hulbert design from all other revolvers is the way the cartridges are extracted from the cylinder. It takes both hands to operate, and after pulling the hammer to halfcock but while holding the grip in the strong hand, the shooter grasps the barrel forward of the cylinder and with his thumb pushes a button on the bottom of the frame forward of the trigger guard. Then he twists the barrel and topstrap assembly to the right. Once the topstrap clears the frame, the entire barrel, topstrap, and cylinder assembly are pulled forward. The cartridges appear to be sucked out of the cylinder and left in the open space created between the back of the cylinder and the recoil shield. The top three empties fall away quite easily, and with a quick shake the remaining spent cases fall away as well. To close the action, push the entire barrel, topstrap, and cylinder assembly to the rear and rotate it to the left, locking it all back in place. It is quick and easy and far faster than systems that rely on ejector rods to push out each individual case. The Merwin & Hulbert design is probably the easiest revolver in the world to disassemble for cleaning. All you have to do after opening the action is depress the latch on the left side of the barrel/topstrap assembly and the whole affair slides off the center pin. The cylinder comes with it and more or less drops free of the assembly, leaving you with three main components: the barrel/topstrap assembly, the cylinder, and the remainder of the revolver. Cleaning from this point is pretty straightforward as is the gun's reassembly.