How do you like pepper boxes ?

[Jim McDougall]

WOW! Fernando, another beauty!
I have always thought pepperboxes were really great looking pistols, and this is the first one I've seen underhammer. Reminds me of the underhammer boot pistols in the U.S. around the 1840's. These were single shot though, and the ones I've seen were from Maine.

Outstanding piece!

All the best,
Jim

[Gavin Nugent]

A huge fav of mine too, great to see some great firearms in the section of the forum. If anyone does ever come across a pepperbox with a concealed trigger and hammer please let me know.

Gav

[clockwork]

that is a very nice sample I have not seen one quite like that in the past. nice find on that one

[Rich]

I was told by a knowledgeable antique firearms collector and dealer that
pepperboxes were basically regarded as explosives more likely to harm the
user than who was being shot at. Seems it was common for all the cylinders
to fire at once. I can't verify or deny the statement as I'm not a firearms
collector and bearly know a pepperbox when I see them at shows.

Rich S

[fernando]

Hi Rich,
Thank you for entering the Forum via this thread.

Originally Posted by Rich

... pepperboxes were basically regarded as explosives more likely to harm the user than who was being shot at. Seems it was common for all the cylinders to fire at once ...

Well, that's an (other) aproach, that of such collector.
At a certain stage, most (all?) pioneering firearms were dangerous to the user ... one way or another. I don't recall any stories about pepperboxes blowing in the user's face, but i don't exclude such probability; although such things could have easier happened with a generation much earlier than the model posted here.
OTHH, the evolution of hand guns undoubtfully passed through this type of weapons. As said in the first post, these were the ancestors of the ever lasting revolver.
Besides, the issue here is how charming and mechanicaly interesting they could be; no shooting required, just collecting purposes ... well, at least in my case
Fernando

[fearn]

I can't resist.

Quote from Mark Twain, Roughing it (1872) (link)

"Mr. George Bemis was dismally formidable. George Bemis was
our fellow-traveler...We had never seen him before. He wore in his belt
an old original "Allen" revolver, such as irreverent people called a "pepper-box."
Simply drawing the trigger back, cocked and fired the pistol. As the trigger
came back, the hammer would begin to rise and the barrel to turn over,
and presently down would drop the hammer, and away would speed the ball.
To aim along the turning barrel and hit the thing aimed at was a feat
which was probably never done with an "Allen" in the world. But George's
was a reliable weapon, nevertheless, because, as one of the stage-drivers
afterward said, "If she didn't get what she went after, she would fetch
something else." And so she did. She went after a deuce of spades nailed
against a tree, once, and fetched a mule standing about thirty yards to
the left of it. Bemis did not want the mule; but the owner came out with
a double-barreled shotgun and persuaded him to buy it, anyhow. It was a
cheerful weapon--the "Allen." Sometimes all its six barrels would go off
at once, and then there was no safe place in all the region round about,
but behind it. "

I've never forgotten that quote. Great weapon!

[fernando]

Hi Fearn,
Thanks for having dug such an amazing story
It is of common knowledge that Mr. Twain was a man of great resources; but it is obvious that he wasn't familiar with the weaponry universe. What his friend had was a 'mule killer', rather than a decent 'pepper-box' .
Perhaps Allen had better restraining his abilities to single shot pistols, while others developed more secure multiple shooters .
Speaking seriously, one can read that, the potential simultaneous shooting of all chambers was indeed more dangerous with the next generation single barrelers. Quoting for example 'answers.com':

Several models were dangerous because firing one powder charge could ignite the others, all at the same time, when proper care was not taken. This would be less dangerous than when the same thing happened in a single-barreled revolver, because in the pepperbox at least all the bullets could freely exit the muzzle. This was perhaps the main reason for the pepperbox's survival after more modern revolvers came along.

Just for perusal, i attach here a Net picture of what could have been George Bemis's Allen 'pepper-box', as well as a set of photos of a single barrel 'muff pistol' made by the same author, from my own little collection. Worthy of note is the fact that both these two examples have a front loading percussion system, whereas the pepper box i've opened the thread with, belongs to a later generation; certainly a much safer system. There are no powder charges, but metalic (pinfire) cartridges.

Fernando

BTW, pepper-boxes are not aimable guns; you just shoot them (hip level) at close range ... impossible to miss the mule .

.

[fernando]

I Tony,
Long time no see.

Originally Posted by clockwork

that is a very nice sample I have not seen one quite like that in the past. nice find on that one

Thanks for the kind words ... and welcome here.

Fernando