Original U.S. Civil War Era Lucius W. Pond Front Loading Revolver .22cal Revolver with Removable Chambers - Serial 550

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice interesting .22cal "Pocket" Revolver made by Lucius W. Pond of Worcester, Mass. He was one of many small producers located in the City, which was a hotbed of firearms development and production. As with many makers of the time, he was involved with various designs meant to circumvent Rollin White's patent on revolvers with bored through cylinders, which was licensed exclusively to Smith & Wesson at the time. Similar to the "teat fire" designs, it was basically a way to load a cylinder with a cartridge or similar round, but in a way that did not require a fully bored through cylinder.

Pond had previously designed a very nice "Tip Up" design in .32 rimfire, hoping that with the confusion at the beginning of the Civil War, Smith & Wesson would be too busy to track patent infringements, and he would make a good sum prior to any litigation. This however proved to be overly optimistic, as S&W quickly brought suit, resulting in confiscation of the offending revolvers. Pond, a machinist by trade, did not give up, and worked with Freeman W. Hood and John H. Vickers to develop a system that would be able to front load a rimfire cartridge into a cylinder that was not bored through, thereby circumventing the Rollin White patent. Of the designs that were fielded, it is by far the most over engineered and complicated, but definitely got the job done!

The main design element was a cylinder that was loaded from the front with rimfire cartridges, and then had sleeves inserted into the front of each chamber, which centered the cartridge in the chamber and held it in place. The rear of the cylinder itself was not bored through, and just had an aperture for the hammer to strike the rimfire cartridge. The inserts had an extension on the end that would provide a relatively good gas seal with the forcing cone. One of the items that is overed by the patents is the somewhat unique cylinder arbor pin, which has an extension on the bottom, as well as two different detents on the side, which engaged with the lock engaged by the button on the right side. There is also a small projection on the side of the arbor pin that goes through the bottom of the frame, allowing the pin to either be in "operation" and "loading positions".

In the regular position, the projection is directly under the barrel, and the arbor pin lock keeps the cylinder inserts from falling out by protruding slightly. When the button is pushed and the arbor pin rotated to the left, the sleeves can then be removed by sliding them forward into the ejector rod, which then would remove the spend cartridge, allowing the pistol to be reloaded, one chamber at a time. The arbor pin could also be completely removed, but this seems to not be necessary unless cleaning is desired. Definitely a very complicated design full of possibilities for mechanical malfunction.

The top and top left facet of the octagonal barrel on this example is marked with information for two of the patents that the revolver was covered under:

L.W. POND WORCESTER, MASS. PAT'D SEPT. 8. 1863

PAT'D NOV. 8 1864

In .22cal rimfire, the revolver is 7 inches long with a 3 3/8 inch octagonal barrel. Removal of the walnut grip scales shows serial number 550 stamped on the frame and mainspring, as well as on the inside of the left grip scale, while the right side looks to be an unmarked replacement. It is also marked with 550 on the cylinder arbor pin and on the bottom of the cylinder, so it looks to be all original except for the replaced grip.

Condition is quite nice considering the age and amount of service this revolver must have seen, and the metalwork now has a lovely lightly oxidized patina overall. We did notice however that there are a lot of dents on the top of the cylinder, almost like the revolver was used as a hammer for some reason. The brass components display a lovely mellow mustard patina. The grips are quite nice, and look to be made of walnut, with just a bit of chipping around the edges and intact original varnish.

The revolver functions well, with the action indexing properly with a solid cylinder lock up and a crisp dry fire. We also noted that the back of the cylinder has a "safety slot" in the back between two cylinders, so it has a true safety position, unlike many early revolvers. The bore is in very good condition, showing a mostly bright finish with strong lands and grooves. There is just a bit of past oxidation and fouling, now cleaned away.

In very good used condition, a very nice example of a rare Pond "Front loading" revolver, ready to research and display!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: circa 1864-70
Caliber: .22cal
Ammunition Type: Rimfire Cartridge - front loaded
Barrel Length: 3 3/8 inches
Overall Length: 7 inches
Action: Single Only
Feed System: 6 Shot Revolver

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