Griswold & Gunnison

The factory that the Rigdon Guards fought to save was their competitor, that of Samuel Griswold and A. W. Gunnison. When War came, Griswold converted his cotton gin factory to arms making and by July, 1862, was in the pistol business. At this time 24 hands

Col. E. C. Grier’s brass-framed .36 Army pistol made at Griswoldville, Ga., was rugged and sturdy supplement to firepower of Southern chivalry. Factory was among most reliable producers in South in spite of harassment and eventual destruction by Kilpatrick’s cavalry.

were working 22 machines; 100 pistols were in the works. Twenty-two of the workmen were slaves. From the time the shop began production to its destruction during the battle at Griswold 3,600 “Colt” revolvers were made there. The distinguishing feature of this series is the brass frame. Brass-plating an iron frame on an otherwise unidentified revolver purporting to be “CSA” has been noted, so checking an offered Griswold & Gunnison pistol with a magnet should be a routine collector’s precaution today.
Because Colonel E. C. Grier, Griswold’s son-in-law, had some connection with the enterprise, these pistols are sometimes called “Griswold & Grier.” More often found heavily used, these guns were delivered under a contract to the C. S. Government entered into about August, 1862, “for as many as the manufacturers could produce.” The machinery had taken from March to August to set up, but was quite simple and the casting of the frames with inner cuts already cored out gready reduced the machinery needed. Only the saving in machine time and in tooling can account for this lavish use of even normally valuable brass when the Confederacy was in dire need of metal for making percussion caps. Production was anticipated to be five guns a day.
Years ago it was assumed by collectors that the brass-framed Colts were made at different points throughout the South, that they were “typical” of Southern revolvers. Evidence they were the output of one factory was gathered by E. Berkeley Bowie of Baltimore, whose gun collection is now deposited at the Fort McHenry National Monument, Baltimore. “Mr. Bowie at one time probably had more of these brass framed Colts than any museum or individual,” writes R. D. Stuart in Firearms of the Confederacy. “He found that the brass in them was of the same quality and texture; that the rifling—six grooves right— was done with the same machine, and that there was no overlapping of serial numbers.” Trigger guards of the G & G pistols are rather squarish in shape, and the handle gives an effect of being tilted very slightly backward; the difference between it and a Colt is quite pronounced. The depth of the brass frame at the front edge is also greater than the depth of the Colt at this same point; while the bullet loading cut-out is not so widely cut as the Colt. Early G & G’s seem to have round barrel breeches; those made after serial No. 1500 (approximately) are octagonal breech. Frame, barrel, and cylinder are usually marked with the full serial number, boldly stamped on the frame right side, barrel right side, and side of cylinder (or all left side, but uniform). Exceptions to this require a good deal of corroboration in other manufacturing details before permitting the gun to be certified as a genuine G & G. Relics dug up at the site of the factory, burned by Kilpatrick’s cavalry, indicate forgings and stampings were used; the first for the barrels, the latter for the hammers. The hammers were punched out of rolled iron sheet, as female profile die and hammer blanks in different stages of finish have been found at the site of the factory, much rusty but still recognizable. Use of World War II surplus mine detectors has given great stimulus to battlefield and factory-site explorations among gun cranks with an archeological turn of mind.