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Allen & Thurber Pepperbox

5K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  vytautus 
#1 · (Edited)
Ever since I bought a S&W baby Russian earlier in the summer I've been thinking about this Pepperbox that was next to it. And ever since I was a kid and played the game "Clue" I've wanted one. This is what I once thought a "revolver" was and I guess technically it is.
Anyway, I happened by the gun shop today and it was still there. Most Pepperboxes I see are in pretty rough shape but this one is really nice and seemed like a pretty decent deal. The shop owner knocked about $90 off of it since it had been sitting there a while. Not a lot of demand in these parts for these things. The only thing that is missing is the mainspring strain screw but doesn't seem to be necessary for the gun to operate properly. From what I read it is just to adjust the spring tension anyway. But if anyone out there knows who would have one of these screws please let me know.
All I know about it is that it is .32 caliber, the barrel is about 4" long, "Allen & Thurber" and "Worcester" puts the date of manufacture between 1847-1854. Ever part that has a number is stamped "13" so this is either the serial number or just an assembly number. I don't know if these were serial numbered or not.
So I took it apart as far as I dared and flushed it out with Rem oil and brushed it out wherever I could get to with a tooth brush. This thing hasn't been apart in loooong time by the looks of it. I brushed the surface rust out of the barrels oiled it up and it seems to work perfectly. Oil was bubbling out of all of the nipples so I know those aren't plugged which is good.
Below are my after clean up pics and before clean up when I had it disassembled.
If anyone has any further information they could share regarding this gun please share.
Thank you.























 
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#5 ·
I think you should Shoot it! Do a 'Range Report'!

It'd be fun, and, you are not going to hurt it using the Black Powder and pure Lead Balls it was meant for.

It sure looks to be in nice shape, inside and out!

Nice Workmanship...fun to see the innards on one of those.

The 'Lucky 13' is an Assembly Number...( I do not remember ever seeing much of anything for Serial Numbers on any guns of that period ).
 
#8 ·
Yes...it is 'Double Action'.

One would not cock the Hammer manually.


I have a same time period Allen and Wheelock Revolver which is not a Pepperbox, but, from the breech back is about the same.

DA only, a 'Flat' or Mule Ear Hammer.


I imagine many fellows carried these as Back-Up, in the War of Federal Aggression.
 
#12 ·
Sam'l Colt's original prospective Revolving Pistol Model, ( which aside from prototypes, was not produced ) was Double Action...prior to the 'Patterson' ( which was Single Action ).


So, indeed, Revolver wise, SA and DA appear to have been neck and neck from the beginning, even if the various primary Manufactures apparently ended up mostly settling on SA for most of the Percussion era.
 
#15 ·
Mark Twain on the Allen Pepperbox.

George Bemis . . . 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.
 
#16 ·
Now I am waitin' on twait's "Range Report" even more than I was already!

I will go dig out my .31 Calibre Allen & Wheelock Percussion Revolver, and locate my Mould and Caps and Powder, and do a Range Report with it also, just to practice what I preach, and, so twaits won't feel all out there by himself, doing such a thing.

We'll see who can hit the Thumbtack at ten Paces, too! ( besides not me ).
 
#19 ·
Hi twaits,


I got the little .31 Calibre Allen & Wheelock Revolver on Gunbroker a couple years ago.

They never made very many of them of course, but, they are on Gunbroker fairly regularly.

Timing and Lock-Up on mine are pretty decent, Nipples are nice, Bores could use a good cleaning, so, all in all, I would expect it to be a decent Shooter.

I expect these were close up Guns, Pocket Guns too ( with their Hammer design ). Mine does not appear to have ever had a Front Sight...or a Rear Sight, either. Meant to be fired at waist level I imagine.
 
#21 ·
Somebody was demonstrating one of these on TV some time back, and as luck would have it, the gun cross fired. For a minute, a revolver went full auto!

That's a beauty of a gun, someone recently brought one to my church to show me. There is just something impressive about those.

Well done!

Bob Wright
 
#26 · (Edited)
My pepperbox is not as nice as Twaits' but is interesting insofar as it is also a double action but with a different firing mechanism. A hinged hook attached to the ring trigger engages a slot in the hammer and drags it back then releases it at the end of the trigger travel, firing the bottom barrel.
Markings are "J R Coopers Patent" and has British proof marks and no visible numbers.

From the internet: Joseph Rock Cooper 1838-63. Birmingham Gun & Pistol maker 24 Legge St. 1838-54, Woodcock St. and 77 Baggot St.
Many designs for improved guns and pistols but probably best known for his improved pepperbox revolving pistol. Continued as Cooper & Goodman until 1886, which company were War Office Contractors and made amongst other things P'53 Rifles including commercial versions for the ACW.


Gun Firearm Revolver Trigger Pipe
 
#27 ·
My pepperbox is not as nice as Twaits' but is interesting insofar as it is also a double action but with a different firing mechanism. A hinged hook attached to the ring trigger engages a slot in the hammer and drags it back then releases it at the end of the trigger travel, firing the bottom barrel.
Markings are "J R Coopers Patent" and has British proof marks and no visible numbers.

From the internet: Joseph Rock Cooper 1838-63. Birmingham Gun & Pistol maker 24 Legge St. 1838-54, Woodcock St. and 77 Baggot St.
Many designs for improved guns and pistols but probably best known for his improved pepperbox revolving pistol. Continued as Cooper & Goodman until 1886, which company were War Office Contractors and made amongst other things P'53 Rifles including commercial versions for the ACW.


View attachment 42412
Looks like the Blunt and Syms pepperboxes. I was wondering how that firing mechanism worked. There was a pretty nice Blunt and Syms on gunbroker a couple weeks ago for a nice price. I considered picking it up but someone hit buy now pretty quickly on it. What I like about it is the nipples are removable. On the Allen I have they are not. They are milled right into the barrel cluster which is a pretty poor design. I guess it was meant to be thrown away after the nipples were worn out. My hammer doesn't come in full contact with the nipples so it might not fire at all. I don't know how much airspace is between the hammer and the nipple but if it is very much I'm guessing it wont fire.
 
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