|
VISIT the GUN SHOP |
|
Gun Parts for Antique Vintage Firearms |
HOPKINS and ALLEN RIFLE PARTS
The Hopkins and Allen Arms Co. - Norwich, Connecticut, Hopkins and Allen was founded in 1868 as a firearms manufacturer by Charles W. Allen, Charles A. Converse, Horace Briggs, Samuel S. Hopkins and Charles W. Hopkins.In 1874 Converse sold his interest in the company to brothers William and Milan Hulbert, giving the Hulberts 50% of the company's assets and capital. The company became the exclusive maker of Merwin Hulbert revolvers as a result of this and assembly of these revolvers was conducted in a separate area of the plant devoted to MandH revolvers. Following the bankruptcy of the Hulbert brothers in 1896, Hopkins and Allen went bankrupt in 1898. The company was reorganized as Hopkins & Allen Arms Company but lost its factory and machinery in a fire in 1900. In 1905 the entire warehouse was robbed of all its inventory. The factory was rebuilt in 1901 and Hopkins and Allen would go on to produce 40,000 firearms a year. In 1902, the company acquired Forehand Arms Company, for whom it had been making revolvers under contract. The company was awarded a contract to build Mauser rifles for the Belgian Army early in World War I, but it turned out that they underestimated the cost of production. The company underbid the actual production costs, and the first rifles were only completed in 1916, and arrived to Belgium in 1918 right at the end of the War. Although the company continued to manufacture firearms, it never financially recovered and again went bankrupt in 1916. Marlin-Rockwell purchased all machinery, inventory and designs in 1917. The Hopkins and Allen Company are best known for their low-cost shotguns and 22 falling block rifles like the Model 722, 822, 922 and later the 1922,2022 and 2122 rifles. |