1830's Revolver

[Sharp Shooter]

What would be a good 1830's revolver? I saw one on Midway USA but it had not trigger guard.

 

[Rebel]

A Colt Paterson which is probably what you saw a pic of.

 

[Zonie]

The Colt Paterson was the only revolver comercially made in the 1830's.
It had a folding trigger with no trigger guard.

The other "revolving" pistols then were pepperbox's which have a number of barrels which rotate as a unit. Pepperboxes are IMO, quite heavy and awkward to shoot.
Colt had patented most of the features of his single barrel revolver.

zonie

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

And there were more pepperboxes than there were Colts in this time frame. A lot more. You haven't lived 'til you've had a pepperbox cook off in your hand! Mark Twain had it right...

 

[benvenuto]

You are forgetting Collier in London.
He was the english assignee of the patents of Artemas Wheeler, and active from 1820-1830's.

The only upheld part of the first Colt patent (but I may be wrong) was the method of rotation of the cylinder

 

[benvenuto]

Actually i must correct myself...
Samuel Colt vs Mass. Arms Co. June 30 1851 found Mass. Arms Co. guilty of infringing Cokts patents on three grounds: "rotating the cylinder by cocking the hammer, connecting a cylinder locking bolt to the hammer, and placing partitions between nipples"

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I don't see how a pepperbox could possibly chainfire, the powder is deep in the barrel, the nipples are widely separated and there is no frame to bounce powder gasses back toward nipples or chambers. Yes, I did see that episode on the History Channel but I believe the gun was modified to add a bit of spectacle for the viewers. :grin:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

It happens on occasion--probably due to loose caps. It was long ago but it was a memorable experience.

 

[mec]

The Allen Pepperbox had the nipples buried in the framd with an enclosed channel to let the fire from the intentional nipple race around all the others. Colt's prototype patersons were the same and he even put a blast shield over the chambers not alligned with the barrel. By the time colt went into production, he had put the nipples in the open with a barrier between them. Some pepperboxes were like this but the allens were prone to ripping off the entire cargo of ammunition in an uneven staccado burst or as Mark Twain said "... In a rattling crash." This propensity caused him to call the allen revolver " a cheerful weapon."

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Well, he was ther at the time, so I guess he knew of what he wrote. But then, modern writers are here in this time and still speak of releasing the safety catch of the cop's revolver and of people being blown backward by the impact of a 9mm bullet and other such nonsense.
But yes, I can see where the Allen design could enclose the cap blast and set off loads with any missing or loose caps. I was only thinking of the replicas with nipples sticking out at 90 degrees to the bore. There were many designs of pepperboxes and not all were :grin: created equal.

 

[renovato]

The Allen Pepperbox had the nipples buried in the framd with an enclosed channel to let the fire from the intentional nipple race around all the others. Colt's prototype patersons were the same and he even put a blast shield over the chambers not alligned with the barrel. By the time colt went into production, he had put the nipples in the open with a barrier between them. Some pepperboxes were like this but the allens were prone to ripping off the entire cargo of ammunition in an uneven staccado burst or as Mark Twain said "... In a rattling crash." This propensity caused him to call the allen revolver " a cheerful weapon."

Back when I was a teenager, I had a friend who had built one of the pepperbox kits. He would intentionally leave off all the caps but one. It almost never failed to go "full auto". Well, the closest to full auto as you're likely to get with a muzzleloader, anyway.

It was actually a lot of fun! Hey, we were teenagers. :rotf:

 

[mec]

The guy who writes the guns and ammo historic pieces- Gary James -there, i remembered it; set up one of the kit pepper boxes like that and ripped off a load with it. The fusilade was raggid and uneven. More like a string of firecrackers than a machinegun.
*on one of the history channel gun shows*

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

That's the way I remember my experience. I probably should have mentioned that the pepperbox in question was an original. Don't recall the maker, but the piece was in decent shape. I've always felt that these guns are ungainly and ill handling and best used as paper weights.