Forehand & Wadsworth Bull Dog

Forehand & Wadsworth · Revolver · Discontinued · 1878

Also known as: Forehand & Wadsworth British Bull Dog, F&W Bulldog

Overview

The Forehand & Wadsworth Bull Dog is a late-19th-century American solid-frame pocket revolver built in Worcester, Massachusetts as a low-cost copy of the popular British Bull Dog pattern. Most commonly chambered in .38 S&W centerfire as a six-shot with a short 2.5-inch barrel, rebounding hammer, fluted cylinder and bird's-head grip, it was a compact double-action self-defense revolver sold cheaply to the civilian market through hardware stores and mail order.

Specifications

Weight (empty)	397 g (14.0 oz)
Overall Length	165 mm (6.50")
Barrel Length	64 mm (2.52")
Action Type	Double Action Revolver
Firing Mechanism	Double Action
Trigger Type	Double Action
Magazine Capacity	6 rounds
Magazine Type	Internal
Muzzle Velocity	190 m/s (623 fps)
Muzzle Energy	235 J (173 ft·lbf)
Effective Range	14 m (15 yd)
Maximum Range	75 m (82 yd)
Barrel Rifling	Right Hand
Frame Material	Steel
Barrel Material	Steel
Stock Material	Hard Rubber
Finish	Nickel

Calibers

.38 S&W · primary — also known as .38/200, .380 Revolver Mk I, 9x20mmR

Features

Firing modes: Repeating
Feed systems: Revolving Cylinder
Features: Solid Frame, Fluted Cylinder, Fixed Sights, Birds Head Grip, Rebounding Hammer, Concealable

Service history

Operators

American civilian market

Production

Production years: 1878-1890

Part of the broad Bull Dog-pattern pocket revolver boom; exact output not recorded. Company merged into Hopkins & Allen in 1902.

Origin

Country of origin: United States

Designer: Sullivan Forehand

Discontinued: 1890

Notes

Offered in blued or nickel finish with checkered gutta-percha (hard-rubber) bird's-head grips and a rebounding hammer. Period catalogs list it as a seven-shot .32 S&W, six-shot .38 S&W and five-shot .44 Webley, with a .41 rimfire version also produced. Production ran from 1878 to around 1890 (some examples assembled until circa 1902); .38 S&W serials reached roughly 114,000.

Background

Sullivan Forehand and Henry Wadsworth married the daughters of famed gunmaker Ethan Allen and took over his Worcester firm after his death in 1871. Their Bull Dog was one of countless American knock-offs of the British Bull Dog, the cheap, fat-barrelled pocket revolver that armed shopkeepers, travellers and the criminal underworld alike in the late Victorian era.