Allen & Wheelock · Pistol
Allen & Wheelock Pocket Revolver
Revolving · .31 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) · introduced 1857
Also known as Allen & Wheelock Sidehammer Pocket Revolver, Allen & Wheelock Bar Hammer Pocket Revolver
About the Allen & Wheelock Pocket Revolver
The Allen & Wheelock Pocket Revolver is a single-action .31 caliber percussion cap-and-ball revolver produced in Worcester, Massachusetts in the late 1850s. Built on the smallest of the firm's frame sizes, it carries a five-shot engraved cylinder and a single rifled barrel, and was derived directly from Ethan Allen's earlier pepperbox patents — effectively a pepperbox fitted with a single barrel. Compact and concealable, it served the civilian market in the years leading into the American Civil War.
Ethan Allen of Allen & Wheelock built his reputation on the pepperbox, and these single-barrel pocket revolvers reused the cylinder-locking mechanism from his pepperbox patents, bridging the transition from multi-barrel pepperboxes to true revolvers.
Allen & Wheelock Pocket Revolver specifications
General
- Type
- Pistol
- Action
- Revolving
- Firing mechanism
- Percussion
- Trigger
- Single action
- Calibres
- .31 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball)
- Magazine capacity
- 5 rounds
- Magazine
- Revolving cylinder
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 76 mm (3.0 in)
- Overall length
- 150 mm (5.9 in)
- Weight (empty)
- 0.27 kg (0.60 lb)
Barrel
- Rifling
- Right hand
Materials
- Barrel
- Steel
- Receiver / frame
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- blued
Performance
- Muzzle velocity (typical)
- 198 m/s (650 fps)
- Effective range
- 18 m
History
- Introduced
- 1857
- Discontinued
- 1861
- Production status
- Discontinued
- Country of origin
- US
- Designer
- Ethan Allen
Features
- Engraved cylinder
- Single barrel
- Fixed sights
- Octagonal barrel
Cylinders were decorated with scroll-engraved hunting scenes depicting game animals in forest settings. Early examples required removal of the barrel to access the cylinder pin, a feature corrected in later production with a removable pin.
Similar models
Allen & Wheelock .36 Lipfire Revolver
Revolving · .36 Allen Lipfire
Allen & Wheelock Army Revolver
Revolving · .44 Caliber Percussion
Allen & Wheelock Belt Model Side-Hammer Revolver
Revolving · .32 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball)
Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Army Revolver
Revolving · .44 Allen Lipfire
Allen & Wheelock Navy Revolver
Revolving · .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball)
Allen & Wheelock Pocket Model Side-Hammer Revolver
Revolving · .28 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball)
Allen & Wheelock Sidehammer Revolver
Revolving · .36 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball)