Allen's Providence Police Revolvers
Commercial era:
E. Allen & Co
This revolver is an intriguing one. Although no markings have been found on any known specimens, its construction clearly reflects Ethan Allen’s workmanship and closely follows his patented designs. There is general consensus among collectors that this model is the final percussion revolver design from Allen dating from the E.Allen & Co era. The fact that the Center Hammer Army and Navy percussion revolvers produced during this period were also unmarked could further underlies this hyphothesis. Considering the relatively small production run of the Providence Police revolvers and Allen’s reputation for frugality, it is more than plausible that he chose to avoid the added expense of marking dies.
Whatever the case, Ethan Allen concluded his percussion revolver production with a relatively inexpensive yet capable design: a five-shot, .36-caliber revolver featuring a spur trigger and no loading lever.
Another curiosity or rather mystery concerns the name of these revolvers. How they came to be known as “Providence Police” remains uncertain. Some have suggested that they were produced specifically at the request of the Providence Police Department in Rhode Island. This is definitely a possibility although no surviving evidence have ever been found to confirm that the revolvers were actually issued or used by that police force.
Furthermore, surviving examples can be found with barrel lengths of 3, 4, and 5 inches. This appears inconsistent with what one would typically expect from a standardized police contract.
Two versions of the revolver can be identified. One features a small screw between the side plate and the frame that prevents the side plate from rotating. In the other version (the standard type), the same function is performed by an internal pin.
There is no definitive evidence indicating which version was produced first. However, in my opinion, the screw-
retained variant was less expensive to manufacture. Given Ethan Allen’s well-known focus on economy and continual cost reduction, I suspect that this was the later version.
Providence Police Revolver - Standard type - 4" Barrel
This revolver is a standard variant, identifiable by the internal pin that secures the side plate. The revolver has never been fired and is in an almost perfect state of preservation with lots of original blue still present (extremely rare on an Allen).
Providence Police Revolver - Standard type - 3" Barrel
This revolver is also the standard variant. One unusual feature of this example is that, although the revolver has a spring latch to retain the cylinder pin, the frame also includes a screw hole on the bottom of the frame, with a matching hole in the cylinder pin itself. Whether this is factory original or a later modification is not clear.
From the P.O. Collection