The Magnum Pocket - The Open Top's Companion

[MrRush]

The Hammond Bulldog has always intrigued me. While commonly viewed as a pocket pistol or derringer, in truth it was probably neither. A large and heavy pistol, it would hardly hide in the pockets of the day and was by no stretch of the imagination a fast handling gun. Connecticut Arms and Manufacturing Co. made about 8,000 of these little monsters from 1866 to the late 1880's.

They were big, heavy and ugly, but simple, built like a tank and most important, chambered for the 44 caliber RF round. They chambered every thing from a 44 Short RF (possibly being the first pistol to use this round) to a 44 RF Pointed. They will even chamber a 44 Long RF and may be robust enough to safely fire it. Some models are reported to have been chambered for the 50 caliber RF (Remington?) round, but I've not seen one. When only one shot was required to chill a situation, they were the go to pocket gun choice - The magnum carry gun of their day.

Below are pictures of a couple of them I've been lucky enough to collect . The first couple show them with a Colt 1871-1872 Open Top which likewise was chambered for the 44 RF.




[

For comparison, they are pictured with a couple of 41 RF pockets, a Colt New Line and a Forehand & Wadsworth Swamp Angel. At the bottom left are pictured, left to right, a 44 Short RF, a 44 RF Flat, a 44 RF Pointed and a 41 Short RF. You can see the difference in fire power.



Here are a couple of more showing the Bulldogs.





Thanks for looking.

[tomob1]

very nice group! i don't think they're ugly at all.
thanks for posting the pics.
tom

[Malysh]

Mr. Rush,
Thank you for your excellent presentation and pictures!
I am not familiar with this pistol but I find it fascinating.
For a period pistol I have to disagree with you. Although no Mod 1860 Army, it has it's own charm.

[Wyatt Burp]

There's a pic of one of these in the great old G&A book Guns and the Gunfighters where it says Wild Bill Hickock owned one and it was taken off his body when he was killed. That's one solid gun.

[whitecoyote]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent photos.

[rayb]

Excellent. Thanks for the information and really like the pictures with the accessories.

Thanks

rayb

[thecoltguy]

Thanks for sharing. Truly a wonderful presentation.

[twaits]

Love all of these! I've always wanted a "Swamp Angel"

Dixie gun works makes these little .32 rimfire cases that you insert a 22 caliber blank in a little chamber in the rear for a primer then load with black powder and ball. It would be really neat to have something like that for those .44s.
Apparently one of the problems with the .32 versions is that the balls back out when fired in a revolver. That wouldn't be an issue with one of those big single shots. I have a friend who owns a machine shop and have been trying to convince him there is a market for different calibers of this kind of case.
I can't believe the condition of those. One of them looks brand new unfired!