All the Information You Need On the Pepperbox Pistol

notoriouslyconservative.com ^ | 05 21 09 | Notoriously Conservative

[Notoriously Conservative]

The Pepper-box revolver or simply pepperbox (also "pepper-pot", from its resemblance to the household pepper grinder) is a repeating firearm that has three or more barrels grouped around a central axis. It mostly appears in the form of a multi-shot handheld firearm. Pepperboxes exist in all ammunition systems: matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, percussion, pinfire, rimfire and centerfire.

The pepperbox should not be confused with a volley gun (like the seven-barrel longgun made by Nock), a firearm that fires multiple projectiles simultaneously by use of multiple barrels. The difference is that a volleygun fires all the barrels simultaneously while the pepperbox is a repeater. Also a firearm with multiple barrels next to each other (like the Jarre) is not a pepperbox: It is called a "Harmonica gun".

[Hugin]

Not exactly ideal for concealed carry.

[mikelets456]

“++++Not exactly ideal for concealed carry.++++”

“Is that a Pepperbox in your pants or are you just happy to see me?”

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

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.

Mark Twain - Roughing It

[Fido969]

Mark Twain - "Roughing It":

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.

[Fido969]

Well, you beat me, but only because I took the time to format it nicely.

[Niteranger68]

Comments from Mark Twain on the Allen Pepperbox....

...Mark Twain wrote of a six cylinder predecessor of the Peacemaker, the Allen Pepperbox, which used cap and ball ammunition and fired right out of the top cylinder - it had no barrel. "Sometimes", he wrote of the gun's tendency to crossfire into the other five cylinders, "the whole broadside would go off at once. And then there was no safe place in the country around except behind it."

...from http://ezinearticles.com/?American-Business-in-History---The-Colt-Firearms-Company---Innovation-and-Quality&id=1410986

[Paladin2]

Sounds like a shotgun using 00, but smaller.

[Oztrich Boy]

Not exactly ideal for concealed carry.

Well that's a 16 barrel version.

Around 4-6 they are more compact

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

http://www.horstheld.com/default.htm

Antique Handguns Horst Held
interested in collectible small arms:
derringer, pistol, revolver, engraved,
cased, odd system, early self-loading
= semi-automatic,

Above is my favorite handgun website.