Classic Arms Company once made a kit Pepperbox gun. Deer Creek Products still has some parts listed.
Classic Arms "pepper box" wasn't a reproduction of anything. I inherited one. It never worked properly. Finally got $70 bucks out of it on a trade and glad to see it go.
Never seen one. Although if it wasn't an actual reproduction of something historical I'd probably not be interested.
Hoppe’s made one several years ago.
Likewise haven't heard of it, will have to take a look...
Cabelas sells a Pietta 1851 Navy Yank .36 pepperbox.
I know those ones, but that's based on a cut-down revolver, not the original muzzleloading pepperboxes of the mid-1800s.
I can think of a few reasons I wouldn’t want one,
1. weight, a 6” barreled revolver of the same calibre is lighter.
2. sights.
3. double action only?
4. reloading, no loading lever.
The only replicas that I have seen were crudely made. Making noise is fun but not hitting anything makes firecrackers a better entertainment.
It's straightforward enough to reload the thing, all the barrels are constantly clear so you don't need to rotate a cylinder for each load like you would on a revolver, just pour powder down all six barrels, add ball to each barrel, and ram home. These are smoothbore guns so ramming the ball doesn't take a great deal of effort. If the gun has a nipple shield then you will need to rotate the barrels to cap each one, but if it doesn't then all the nipples are exposed at the same time so you can just cap away at your leisure.
The barrel cluster on many originals (at least those made by Ethan Allen) is retained by one big central screw which is easy to take out (much simpler than taking the cylinder out of a Colt Army), meaning you can also reload and cap it separately and then re-assemble the gun when you're ready to fire. It also makes dissassembly for cleaning a lot easier than most cap-and-ball revolvers. I guess in theory this also means that if you had multiple barrel clusters that fit the same pepperbox you could just have a few pre-loaded ones ready to go and swap them out as needed, although I don't believe such a thing was ever done back in the day.
These aren't guns that were ever intended for long-range shooting, whether back then or now. However they're plenty of fun within about 15 yards. The double-action design makes for fast follow-up shots if you're shooting on the clock, and the weight on the .32 cal certainly isn't anything unmanageable. The lack of proper sights just makes it a more interesting challenge to hit your mark.
I guess it depends what you consider to be "fun".
Gold Rush imported one in .22 caliber. A plated cast frame with cast in engraving. An engraved cylindrical 6 shot barrel cluster. It is actually quite attractive and reasonably authentic. I shot .22 airgun pellets in it, a lot of fun and cheap to shoot. Bar hammer, double action only. I could fill a barrel to the end with just enough room to load a pellet, really loud. I bought it at a gun show in the early 90s for $50 NIB as I remember.
I got one of the Classic Arms pepperboxes in the late 70s, mildly used for $35. I've never shot it though it functions fine. It isn't even close to an actual pepperbox.
I just didn't have the disposable $$ when the Hoppes were available but they were probably the most authentic ones ever made as a repro.
Why has all this stuff flown under my radar? Were these all produced 30+ years ago or in a limited run?
