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WHITNEY-COCHRAN CARBINE – VERY RARE SPECIMEN – ONE
OF LESS THAN A TOTAL PRODUCTION OF 50 – ONE OF THE
DESIGNS SUBMITTED FOR THE 1866-1870 US ARMY TRIALS –
VERY NICE CONDITION: Manufactured by the
Whitney Arms Company under the patents and license from
the designer John Webster Cochran, these Whitney-Cochran
Carbines were specifically produced for submission to
the U.S. Army Firearms Trials in the late 1860’s and
1870. While the design was credible, it was not
selected for the trials by the army, and the highly
competitive civilian market of the time showed little
interest, resulting in a very limited production –
Flayderman lists the total production at less than
fifty.
Cochran secured patents on his design in 1865 and 1866,
and apparently sold the rights to the Whitney Arms
Company shortly thereafter, as Whitney produced at least
a few of the carbines in time for submission to the US
Army and the State of New York arms trials.
US ARMY
PHOTOGRAPH ca. 1867
Of THE
COCHRAN CARBINE SUBMITTED FOR TRIAL
The carbines were produced in .38 rimfire, .44 rimfire,
and .50 rimfire (56-.50). This specimen is chambered
for .38 rimfire.
The carbine’s breech is opened by lowering the
combination trigger guard-operating lever, which in turn
raises the front of the breechblock to access the
chamber. The cartridge is then inserted through the
bottom of the receiver and into the chamber – much like
one would load a cartridge into the magazine of a modern
semi-automatic or pump action shotgun. The lever is
then returned, closing the block and upon cocking the
centrally mounted hammer, the carbine is ready to be
fired. After firing the cartridge, the block is raised
again and the empty cartridge case is extracted by
lowering the lever located immediately to the rear of
the trigger on the right side of the wrist. Lowering
the extractor lever activates the extractor located at
the bottom front of the receiver, moving it to the rear
where it engages the rim of the cartridge and removes it
from the chamber.
The breech block, extractor and hammer-trigger group all
function properly with crisp mechanics and show no
movement due to wear. The top of the breech block is
legibly stamped “J.W. COCHRAN, N.Y. PAT’D. APRIL 4, 1865
& FEB-Y 20, 1866”. The original rear sight is intact
and full form on the top of the breech block, and there
is a sling ring mounted with a cross bolt on the left
side of the receiver. The surfaces of the receiver and
breech block are overall bright and smooth, showing very
little use or wear. The trigger plate, levers, forearm
mounting band, and butt plate are likewise smooth with
the buttplate retaining some of the original blue
finish.
The barrel retains its full length 28 inches. The
exterior surface is overall smooth with no significant
pits or wear, and the Whitney Arms Company is legible on
the top surface just forward of the receiver. The bore
retains strong rifling throughout with only minimal sign
of wear or age. The original front sight is present and
full form.
The fore and butt stocks are full form showing only the
normal small marks that come with age, but show no signs
of heavy use, wear or abuse. There are no splits or
cracks, the wood to metal fit is quite tight, and the
wood finish is bright and quite attractive. There is
one feature of the stock worth mentioning – more of an
odd anomaly of this design. There is a short “U” shaped
piece of wood inlet into the front of the bottom of the
receiver which is a separate piece from the forestock.
When the forestock is removed, this small piece of wood
remains, held in place by a mortise in the edge of the
receiver where it meets this piece of wood. This is an
intentional feature and based on inspecting other
specimens, it appears to have been standard on all of
these Cochran carbines.
These post-Civil War Trial and Experimental firearms are
in a class all their own, and provide an interesting
view of the evolution of design and mechanics as gun
makers made the transition from muzzle loaders to the
fixed metallic cartridge firearms. This Cochran
Carbine, manufactured by the famous Whitney Arms
Company, was a unique design, was one of those models
submitted to the US Army Trials, and was manufactured in
very limited numbers, making it a rare specimen of that
period. Well worth the investment, this is the sort of
firearm which seldom appears on the market and one that
would be an interesting addition to your collection.
SOLD
NOTE:
I would like to offer a special thank you and
recognition to Dr. Edward Scott Meadows for so
generously sharing a considerable amount of data on
these rare Cochran Carbines, as well as providing a copy
of the original US Army photograph of the Cochran
Carbine which was submitted for the Trials.
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