It can be assumed with certainty that Ethan Allen was inspired by the Colt Root Revolver when designing these Side Hammer revolvers, given the close similarity (a side-hammer and a cylinder pin entering the frame from the rear). This revolver is therefore also referred to as the Allen’s Colt.

The revolvers have been produced in 3 distinctive frame sizes: a 6-shot Navy in .36, a 5-shot Belt in .32 and a 5-shot Pocket in .28. The most striking feature of this design is the “Allen” system of the trigger guard that serves as a lever to ram the bullet into the cylinder.

Production started around 1857; probably immediately after the Colt patent expired. The Belt version was the first produced, followed shortly after by the Navy version. The pocket model is from a slightly later date. It is believed that the total production period was only 3 years.

The revolvers were produced with blued barrel and frame, casehardened hammer, cylinder, trigger and trigger guard. The cylinders are beautifully “scroll” engraved with a scene of animals in a forest. Each caliber has a different scene. All models are marked on the left side of the barrel. Despite the short production period, many variants can be distinguished, including variations of the cylinder, cylinder pin, side plate and trigger guard latch.

There are many variants of the revolvers which indicates that Allen continually improved the design to simplify production and reduce costs.  The model with the highest variety is the Belt revolver. This can be explained by the fact that this is the first model that has been produced, followed by the Navy and shortly after by the pocket. Beside many minor variations, the main visual differentiator is the shape of the side-plate and the number of screw holes.

I have classified the side-plates below in the most logical sequence of evolution.  The vast majority of production is made with the type 6 “one screw” side plate.