The pepperbox revolving pistol is a classic American firearm that dominated the personal protection segment of the firearms market for some two decades between the mid-1830s and the mid-1850s. While the concept of a multiple shot firearm with several barrels clustered around a central axis predated American made pepperboxes by some two centuries, it is the American made examples from 19^th century New England that tend capture the imagination of collectors today. 

The success of the simple system of rotating barrels, firing a new round each time the trigger was pulled is attested to by the quantity of pepperbox type pistols that appear in period images as diverse as the California Gold fields in 1849 and early 1850s and the young men heading off to fight in the American Civil War in 1861. The typical American pepperbox was intended to be a pocket-sized protection pistol usually in a small to medium caliber between about .28 and .36, although smaller and larger caliber guns were produced. Barrel clusters tended to be between 3” and 5” in length, although shorter and longer barrels were manufactured and ungainly “Dragoon” pepperboxes were produced on a somewhat limited basis with limited popularity. The first American company to receive a patent related to a pepperbox revolver was the B. & B.M. Darling company of Bellingham, MA, and later Woonsocket, RI. In April of 1861 they received a patent for a single action box lock four-barreled pepperbox revolver. The gun met with limited success and only about 200 were manufactured before the company went out of business in 1839. However, the market had been exposed the concept and over the next few years a multitude of makers in the northeastern United States would produce and retail pepperbox revolvers. 

The most successful of these markers was Ethan Allen, who obtained a patent for his double action, bar hammer pepperbox design in 1837. His design would become the prototype for nearly all American pepperboxes produced over the next two decades. In fact, Allen’s pepperbox was the first double action repeating firearm to be patented in the United States. The Grafton, MA based company would move to Norwich, CT in 1842 and eventually to Worcester, MA in 1847, where it would remain. The firm would operate under several names as well, but most of its business would be done under one form or another of the Allen & Thurber name and would eventually become Allen & Wheelock. 

Worcester would become a major player in the American firearms production industry during the mid-19^th century. In addition to Ethan Allen’s company the firm of Allen, Brown & Luther (a partnership between Fredrick Allen, Andrew Brown and John Luther, 1848-1858) was based in Worcester. It was at this company that such future firearms luminaries as Horace Smith and D.B. Wesson were employed circa 1850-1851. Allen, Brown & Luther also employed Alexander Stocking during its early days. Stocking secured a patent for his own pepperbox design in 1848 and by the following year had established his own gunmaking firm in Worcester, Stocking & Company. The pepperboxes produced by Stocking & Company were an interesting hybrid of the earlier Darling single action mechanism and Allen’s bar hammer design. The guns were single action, bar hammer pistols with 6-shot ribbed barrel clusters that were typically between 4” and 6” in length. The guns were available in .28, .31 and .36 caliber variants, and were produced with and without a nipple shield around the breech. Most were manufactured with nipples that were integral with the barrels, but removable nipples versions were made on a limited basis. Some versions were also produced with a finger spur on the triggerguard. Standard finish was blued barrels and frames with a color casehardened hammer and smooth two-piece bag shaped walnut grips. The guns were batch or assembly numbered, and no records survive to indicate the total number of arms produced. According to Frank Seller’s American Gunsmiths the firm was only in business between 1849 and 1852, and it is generally believed that only a few hundred Stocking & Company pepperboxes were produced. Today, the Stocking & Company pepperboxes are quite rare and are prized additions to collections of American made pepperbox pistols.

The Stocking & Company Pepperbox offered here is a VERY GOOD condition example of these scarce handguns. The pistol is clearly marked with two one-line stamps on one barrel rib: STOCKING & CO. followed by WORCESTER. The adjacent rib is marked with two one-line stamps as well, reading WARRANTED and CAST-STEEL. The die for the word “Warranted” skipped and chattered when it was struck, leaving that word multi-struck letters towards its end that have a sort of shadow effect. The left side of the bar hammer is stamped PATENT SECURED 1848. The pistol is quite crisp and sharp throughout. The nipple shield is crisply engraved with tight floral scrolls, and frame is nicely engraved with more open foliate splays. The pepperbox is assembly or batch numbered with the alphanumeric mark T and 21. The “T” portion is only found inside the triggerguard, on the left side of the frame (under the grip), on the mainspring and on the hand. The “21” mark is found in those locations as well as on the upper rear of barrel cluster between two chambers, on the interior of the sideplate and inside both grips. I did not further disassemble the gun in search of assembly marks, but it is clear that the gun remains complete, correct and original with no replaced parts. The gun has the longer and more desirable 5” barrel cluster with six .28 caliber barrels with flat ribs between each barrel. The overall length of the pepperbox is about 8 ¾”. The gun retains none of its original finish and has a moderately oxidized brownish gray patina over most of the metal. The hammer has some very minor faded traces of mottled color, presenting as a dull bluish-brown patina that is somewhat mottled in appearance. The markings on the gun remain clear and crisp, as does most of the engraving. The metal is mostly smooth, with some lightly scattered areas of pinpricking, as well as some small areas of minor oxidized surface roughness scattered here and there. This gun has the standard production cones (nipples) that are integral with the barrel cluster, and they are all in well used and heavily oxidized condition. One of the cones has been chipped with about half of the side of that cone missing. The action of the pepperbox remains in FINE condition and the gun times, indexes and locks up perfectly and the bar hammer remains cocked as it should until the trigger releases it. The two-piece bag shaped walnut grips are in about VERY GOOD condition and are numbered to the gun on their interiors, as previously noted. The grips retain some traces of their original oiled finish and show moderate wear. They are solid and free of any breaks, cracks, chips or repairs; however they do show some scattered scuffs, mars, marks and dings, but nothing that significantly detracts from the gun in any way.

Overall, this is a fairly crisp, well-marked example of a scarce Stocking & Company Pepperbox that is 100% complete and correct in every way. The gun remains in nice condition and has no repairs or improvements to detract from its display. For any serious collector of American pepperboxes and early American made repeating pistols, this is a great example of a relatively scarce pepperbox in very nice condition that you will certainly be glad to add to your collection and display.

SOLD