the best place for gun info would be cabelas gun library.
HOWARD ARMS CO. Tradename used by Meriden Firearms Company (1905-1918) on revolvers. Meridan was a subsidiary of Sears Roebuck and produced firearms for sale through their catalogs and retail stores.
I find no listing for "London Arms Co." Provide more information or take the firearm to a local gunsmith for a professional appraisal.
Blue book of gun values
Is their any such firearms co. by the name of Howard Arms
HOWARD ARMS CO. Tradename on shotguns used by Fred Bifflar & Company of Chicago, Illinois, made by Crescent Fire Arms Company. I would expect that the same hardware store would have used the same tradename on handguns which were probably made by the same company. Unfortunately, both are long out of business but Crescent was purchased by Stevens which was purchased by Savage Arms, so someone at savagearms.com may be able to tell you something. A little additional research found an answer on Ron Gabel's site that says Meriden Arms made the Howard Arms revolvers. The only dates I can find for Fred Bifflar are 1870-1890, but it may have started earlier and must have ended later. Crescent was established in 1892 and Meriden Arms didn't exist until 1905 and I find several references connecting these two companies with Bifflar retail business.
Here's what little I can find in the Standard Catalog. Incorporated in 1902. Used the names Union Fire Arms, Union Arms Company, Illinois Arms Company and Bee Be Arms Company. In 1917 the company was either bought up or absorbed by Ithaca Gun Company. They manufactured slide action shotguns, hammerless doubles, a few single shot shotguns, and a couple semi-automatic pistols.
The company that is listed in the related links IS NOT the Buffalo Arms in question that made Buffalo Arms Derringers. The company went out of business long ago, and there are no known websites, or information regarding them.
Eastern Arms Company was a trade name used by Sears Roebuck. The guns were manufactured by Meriden Arms, Iver Johnson, Stevens, Savage, and probably others.
This was a trade name distributed by Shapleigh Hardware of St Louis on shotguns made by Crescent Fire Arms (1892-1931) and J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company (1886-1916).
CRITERION BARRELS is in the Small Arms industry in RICHFIELD, WI. This company currently has approximately 20 to 50 employees and annual sales of $1,000,000 to $4,999,999.
There was no company with that name. Crescent, Davenport, Stevens, and Pieper (Belgium) all furnished firearms for Shapleigh Hardware with variations of the Central Arms name.
ESSEX Tradename used by Belknap Hardware Company of Louisville, Kentucky on shotguns made by Crescent Fire Arms Company. ESSEX Tradename used by J. Stevens Arms Company on rifles and shotguns.