Industry Firearms Headquarters Norwich Type of business Firearms Manufacturer | Key people Charles W. Allen Founded 1868 Ceased operations 1916 | |
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Products Shotguns, revolvers, rifles | ||
Hopkins & Allen Arms Company was a US firearms manufacturing company based in Norwich, Connecticut that was founded in 1868 by Charles W. Allen, Charles A. Converse, Horace Briggs, Samuel S. Hopkins and Charles W. Hopkins. The Hopkins brothers ran the day-to-day operations of the company until it went bankrupt in 1916 and was subsequently bought by Marlin-Rockwell.
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History
Hopkins & 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 M&H revolvers. Following the bankruptcy of the Hulbert brothers in 1896, Hopkins & 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 & Allen would go on to produce 40,000 firearms a year. In 1902, the company acquired Forehand and Wadsworth, 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 the contract fell apart after Germany invaded Belgium. Although the company continued to manufacture firearms, it never financially recovered and went bankrupt in 1916 with Marlin-Rockwell purchasing its machinery, inventory and designs in 1917.
Manufacturing
In addition to the Merwin Hubert revolvers, Hopkins & Allen manufactured a variety of spur trigger single-action revolvers in .22, .32, and .38 calibers with trade names such as ACME, American Eagle, Blue Jacket, Captain Jack, Chichester, Defender, Dictator, Imperial Arms Co., Monarch, Mountain Eagle, Ranger, Tower's Police Safety, Universal, and XL, and later hinged-frame double-action models. Hopkins & Allen manufactured revolvers for Forehand & Wadsworth under contract as well as shotguns, rifles, and derringers for various sporting goods stores.