Cal. About 41 or 42. Rare 1st type with hinged top strap for rapid exchange of cylinders. Pistol has a 4-7/8″ octagonal to round barrel with brass pin front sight and V-notch rear sight screwed into top frame which also acts as a rotating latch for the top strap. Rotating the rear sight parallel with the axis of the bore allows the top strap to be raised which then permits the 7-shot cylinder to be removed, reloaded and replaced. The top strap is marked “COCHRANS / PATENT” and “C.B. ALLEN / SPRINGFIELD / MASS”. Cylinder is hand rotated once the locking lever in top strap is depressed. Releasing the locking lever allows the locking pin to drop into a recess which aligns the chamber with the bore. Main pistol frame, top strap and front grip strap are of iron with the top rear of frame and integral blast shields of German silver. Grip is smooth 1-pc walnut, saw-handle & bag-shaped with an oval German silver plate in rear edge.

According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms only about 150 of these rare pistols were ever produced in the late 1830s and although functional & effective never gained popularity with the buying public or the military. John Webster Cochran was born in Enfield, NH in 1814, the same year as Samuel Colt’s birth. Cochran & Colt were very similar with their ideas & intelligence and when Cochran was only 18 years old he had invented a cannon with a revolving multi-chamber and in 1834 obtained a patent for a cannon with rotary-cylinder breech. In 1835 he took the cannon to Europe where he exhibited to the French & British and to the Turkish minister who happened to be present. The Turkish minister was so impressed that he persuaded Cochran to accompany him to Constantinople to exhibit his cannon to the Sultan of Turkey. In February 1836 Cochran demonstrated his cannon to the Sultan who was so impressed that he appointed him “Master of Cannon” and ordered a full size 12-pounder gun to be constructed. Cochran completed his project by September of that year and in a demonstration to the sultan, fired this cannon 100 times in 15 minutes. Cochran was handsomely rewarded with a large purse of gold, after which he returned to the United States to resume his experimenting & invention of the turret rifle & pistol. In 1837 he was issued two patents for the revolving rifle and began production at the C.B. Allen factory in Springfield, Mass. With the lack of acceptance of his designs, apparently Mr. Cochran ceased production after only about 150 were produced.

CONDITION: Good. No original finish remains on metal with the iron parts being a mottled silver/brown patina with fine pin prick pitting. Grip is sound with a few scattered light handling & use marks and retains a hand worn patina. Mechanics are fine, strong bore with moderate pitting

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