Eli Whitney 3rd Model Revolver

Eli Whitney 3rd Model Revolver - Inventory Number:  HAN 320

Whitney Pocket Revolver (Second Model, Third Type), made circa 1860 in New Haven, Connecticut. Eli Whitney established his Whitneyville Armory 1798 and produced firearms by contract for the young U.S. government among other things. Just prior to this, in 1793, Whitney invented the mechanical cotton gin, which dramatically changed the economic landscape in the U.S., namely in the South. While his invention was a labor-saving device, making the processing of harvested cotton extremely efficient and requiring fewer laborers, his machine caused the market for cotton to explode and more laborers were needed to plant, grow and harvest the crop. This resulted in a corresponding boom in the Southern slave trade. Great fortunes were created, and the population of the South became such that one in three Southerners were slaves. All this provided the fuel that would raze the United States during the American Civil War.  

Eli Whitney died in 1825, and his son, Eli Whitney Jr., began running the family business in 1841. Whitney Jr. seized the opportunity in 1847 to manufacture 1,000 of Samuel Colt’s latest revolvers the Colt Walker revolver. Production of this revolver helped both parties immensely as it kept Colt in business, and it allowed Whitney Jr. to tool up and gain experience making revolvers. With the expiration of Colt’s patents in 1857, Whitney began production of percussion revolvers based on Colt’s patents, some of them very closely copied.          

 This specimen would have competed directly against Samuel Colt’s most popular civilian revolver, the 1849 Pocket.    

 The overall condition is good. The metal surfaces are covered in a smooth, dark plum patina. Legible barrel marking of “E. Whitney New Haven”. The checkered grips are very good. The bore is dark with distinct rifling. The action is tight and very good.

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Inventory Number:  HAN 320