Original U.S. Civil War Era Plant Mfg. Co. Third Model Army Revolver in .42 Cupfire Named to Inspector A.F. Baker - Serial 2937

Original Item: Only One Available. Starting life between 1863 and 1873 this is a very rare unconverted Plant's Manufacturing Company CUP-FIRE brass frame revolver. Similar to the "Teat-Fire" design, it was one of several ways developed to produce a brass cartridge revolver that would not infringe on the Patents of Rollin White. Licensed and vigorously protected by SMITH & WESSON, this patent covered the use of a bored through revolver cylinder loaded through the rear with a cartridge. Even though these had already been in use in Europe, there was no U.S. Patent, which White exploited with his patent, which also utilized a box magazine to load the cylinder, and was in reality a totally unworkable design. To infringe on the patent, the cylinder needed to be fully bored through, however, so Plant developed the the CUP FIRE system. This has the chambers reduced in size at the rear, with a lip around the edge. This meant that the system required loading from the front of the cylinder, i