1840's Pistols

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
What would be the choices for a pistol in the 1840's.  Both Colt and non Colt.

Regards
Colt

[Tascosa Joe]

Colt:
Depending on the year, Early 1840's Colt Patterson was documented in use on the plains and in Texas.  Late 1840's i.e. 48-49 Walkers and Dragoons began to show up.  I am sure St George has exact dates. 

Most were single shot percussion pistols. 

T-Joe 

[Mogorilla]

Pepperboxes were also documented, at least by goldrush era.   There was a Pepperbox kit by Hoppes, early 70s.  If you can find it, grab it!!!!   I had an opportunity and missed it.  There are also pepperbox kits by Classic Arms.  I have one.  Have completed the kit, it still won't work.  I need to invest more time in it.   Classic arms I heard was out of business, but you can still find their kits.  if you know your stuff, you can get a working pistol (I am told).  I also have a single shot New Orleans Pistol, ala classic arms.  It works, fun little smootbore.   I have loved the pepperboxes since hearing John Wayne's description of his in Rooster Cogburn. 

[Jake MacReedy]

Single shot pistols, of both the percussion and flintlock persuasions, were the type of sidearm most commonly in use during the period 1840-1860.  These ranged from pocket pistols up to what we now refer to as Plains pistols.  They came in box lock, side lock and back lock configurations.  Their calibers ranged from puny .28 caliber pocket pistols up to massive .54 and .58 caliber weapons. For example, in Worman & Garavaglia's Volume I of Firearms of the American West, Capt. Phillipe St. George Cooke refers to using a U.S. Model 1803 flintlock single-shot pistol while running buffalo on horseback in 1844.  That .54 caliber round ball would do the trick, if you were brave enough...and your horse was steady enough...to get close enough to the buffalo! And the Model 1836 flintlock and Model 1842 percussion pistols were in use as well.

Revolvers became more common after the Mexican-American War.  While we all like to think about the big Colt's Dragoons and the Navy model (at least, I do!), it is wise to remember that more Colt's Pocket Revolvers were made during this time period than all the others combined.  In the great book on Western holsters, PACKING LEATHER, there are a number of examples of Colt Model 1849 .31 caliber revolvers being carried in "Slim Jim" holsters.

Jake

[Jake MacReedy]

And I agree wholeheartedly, we could sure use a good, working pepperbox pistol!  Maybe Uberti or Pietta will help us out here!  LOL!  Pepperboxes in .31 and .36 caliber in pocket and belt form were in common use in the 1840's and beyond.

Jake

[Colt Fanning]

Is the Classic arms pepperbox a true reproduction of something made in the 19 th cent?

Regards
Colt

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Is the Classic arms pepperbox a true reproduction of something made in the 19 th cent?

Regards
Colt

Looks to be based on the Allen Thurber design.  The biggest difference I see is the handle where there is more wood on the kit vs more metal on the original.  I like it.

[Colt Fanning]

Hi,
I just won one of the Hoppes Pepperbox kits on gunbroker for $135.
Waiting for it to arrive.
Regards
Colt

[Mogorilla]

Hey Colt
Congratulations!   We will want pics of course, and a shooting report!
Also, if you are a NCOWS member (I think you are).  Write an article for the Shootist.  Those guns were still around in the late 1860s, so it would be a great article for the Shootist, which needs them.

[The Elderly Kid]

Also remember that many older models, already decades old when the Plainsman era started, would still be in use. A gun would stay in service as long as it was serviceable. I have a replica North&Cheney 1805 flinter (first American martial pistol). A few such would still have seen use in the '40s-'50s, either in original flint or caplock conversion. With a .69 cal. bore and able to take a 70 gr. blackpowder charge, it packs a considerable punch.

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
Here is the Hoppes Peperbox pistol.  It is 36 ca.,l single action, with 4 in Bbls

Regards
Colt

[River City John]

That looks real good, Colt. Congratulations.

RCJ

[ChuckBurrows]

muzzleloading caplock Deringers were some of the most common and popular pistols of the period - they came in both the small pocket size but also in larger holster/belt pistol sizes.

[Jake MacReedy]

That's a fact, Chuck! I wholeheartedly agree.  Down here in Texas, the "belt size" and "holster size" Deringers were quite common in the 1840's.

Jake

[boilerplatejackson]

What do you gentlemen think of the Classic Arms Twister and snake eyes pistols? The Twister was a 36 cal. percussion two shot
twist barrel, where as the snake eyes was a 36 cal brass smooth bore side by side pistol. I think my preference would be for
a brace of single shot percussion pistols.

[Caleb Hobbs]

I'm not familiar with the Twister and snake eyes pistols, although I'll check them out. I like the idea of single-shot percussion pistols. Right now I have a '51 Navy (Uberti) and a Traditions Kentucky pistol in .50 caliber. I was thinking that for the time frame I'm leaning toward, I could wear them both and still be correct.

[Drayton Calhoun]

I own a couple of Snake Eyes and an old partner of mine had a Twister. The Snake Eyes are pretty reliable but, there is no half-cock notch, it's almost like a half-sear. Solid brass with plastic mother of pearl grips. It fires with a two-stage trigger. Pull it a little one barrel fires, pull it the rest of the way the second fires. Fairly accurate out to about fifteen to twenty feet. The Twister is a lot of work to build and finish, but it looks good and the indexing is a bit complex but workable.

[wildman1]

I'm not familiar with the Twister and snake eyes pistols, although I'll check them out. I like the idea of single-shot percussion pistols. Right now I have a '51 Navy (Uberti) and a Traditions Kentucky pistol in .50 caliber. I was thinking that for the time frame I'm leaning toward, I could wear them both and still be correct.

Caleb does that .50 cal look anything like this? WM

[Caleb Hobbs]

Wildman1 -- Nope, it doesn't look anything like that. It looks like a Kentucky. Hopefully this link will take you to a photo. http://www.possibleshop.com/pistol-traditions.html

[wildman1]

Yep it did guess I'm gettin (got) old forgot mines a "Trapper". WM