Engineer, inventor, and Civil War officer (1824-1893) who was a world-renowned marksman and the inventor of the Berdan rifle and other weapons. ALS signed "H. Berdan," one page, 5 x 8.25, November 3, 1867. Addressed from Bridgeport, Connecticut, a handwritten letter that begins “Dear General [General William B. Franklin],” in full: “I have had a full talk with Mr. Renwick & he desires (before reporting) you to send him the Allin Patent, also the English patent shown him by Mr. Richards [Colt's leading mechanical engineer] that is something like the Bolt gun [Berdan Type 3 trapdoor first mentioned to Franklin on March 16, 1867]. I shall be detained here for a day or two.” In fine condition. Accompanied by hardcover copy of the ‘State of New York Adjutant General’s Report, Vol. 1, 1868,” and an issue of The Texas Gun Collector from Spring 2017, which contains Robert Swartz’s informative article ‘Breaking Into Breech-Loading, The Colt-Berdan Trapdoor.’
In 1867, when the New York Adjutant General Board conducted a competition for the conversion of muzzle-loading arms to breechloaders, Hiram Berdan entered two types of trapdoor conversions, both manufactured by Colt's Patent Fire-Arms. The Board suggested that Berdan's models needed an improved means to prevent the breechblock from flying open when firing.
With an idea in mind, Berdan met with General William B. Franklin, vice-president of Colt's, on March 16, 1867, and said he would add a piece to the right rear of and perpendicular to the breechblock. The hammer would be modified so that, when fired or at rest, it would override this piece and secure the breechblock. Berdan called this piece a ‘Bolt.’ Hence, the gun became known to both him and to Colt as the Bolt gun, and is now commonly referred to as a Type 3 Berdan.
Berdan was then vying for military contracts and seeking to impress Russian agents looking for an arm they could produce at their factory in Tula. The Russians had no interest in conversions. They wanted an original. Accordingly, at the March 16th meeting with Franklin, Berdan ordered an original Type 3 and spared no expense. The original Bolt gun, one of one, cost him $400. Originally in .45 caliber, in working with the Russians, the barrel was soon changed to a necked .42.
In the meantime, Franklin had the New York patent expert Edward S. Renwick examine the Bolt mechanism. Renwick said the design infringed on the patent of Springfield's Master Armorer, Erskine S. Allin. The Russians, wanting to move on, quickly changed the Bolt design and came up with a new trapdoor that became known as the .42 caliber Berdan Russian. Berdan didn’t agree with Renwick's opinion and, as we see by this letter, he continued to press his case on the Bolt. Colt’s converted some muzzleloaders to Bolt-type guns, but they and Berdan soon put their energy into a contract for 30,000 Berdan Russians.
The letter represents Berdan’s persistent effort to legitimize and patent his design amidst a crowded field of breechloading innovations, at a time when the U.S. and foreign militaries were hungry for modern arms.
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