Allen & Thurber · Pistol

Allen & Thurber Pepperbox

Name: Allen & Thurber Pepperbox
Brand: Allen & Thurber

Double action · .36 Caliber Ball · introduced 1837

Also known as Allen pepperbox, Allen & Thurber pepperbox revolver

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About the Allen & Thurber Pepperbox

The Allen & Thurber pepperbox was one of America's most popular self-defense handguns of the 1840s and 1850s. Built around a rotating cluster of six muzzle-loading percussion barrels, it used Ethan Allen's patented self-cocking 'bar hammer' mechanism: pulling the ring trigger rotated the barrel group, cocked and dropped the hammer in a single motion, making it the first practical double-action repeating handgun widely sold in the United States. Smoothbore .36 caliber 'Dragoon' models featured barrel clusters of 5 to 6 inches.

Mark Twain ridiculed the pepperbox in 'Roughing It,' joking that when it fired it might hit the intended target or, just as likely, any bystander to either side, owing to its terrible accuracy.

Allen & Thurber Pepperbox specifications

General

Type: Pistol
Action: Double action
Firing mechanism: Double action only
Trigger: Double action
Calibres: .36 Caliber Ball
Magazine capacity: 6 rounds
Magazine: Rotary magazine

Dimensions

Barrel length: 133 mm (5.2 in)
Overall length: 235 mm (9.3 in)

Barrel

Rifling: None

Materials

Barrel: Steel
Receiver / frame: Steel
Stock: Wood
Finish: blued

Performance

Effective range: 10 m

History

Introduced: 1837
Discontinued: 1856
Production status: Out of production
Country of origin: US
Designer: Ethan Allen

Features

Rotating barrel cluster
Six barrels
Ring trigger
Self cocking
Bar hammer
Percussion cap
Muzzle loader

Ethan Allen patented the self-cocking ignition (the 'tube hammer') in 1837, renewed 1845. The firm operated in Grafton MA, then Norwich CT (1842), then Worcester MA (1856). The double-action ring trigger gave volume of fire at the cost of poor accuracy.