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Description

In 1834 Ethan Allen, an American gun maker of that time, patented a double action mechanism for the pepperbox pistol, becoming a leading producer of pepperbox revolving pistols in the United States, producing some hundred variations between 1837 and 1865 under the brand names Allen & Thurber, Allen, Thurber & Co, and Allen & Wheelock, with part of his success in gun manufacturing coming from his pioneering use of machine-made interchangeable parts in his guns.

These revolving barrel pistols were not branded as “Pepperbox”, but rather received this nickname in favor of its similarity with antique pepper grinders, being generally small caliber, ranging from 28-36 caliber. In spite of the mechanical problems, mainly its tendency to chain fire, these guns became the most popular type of repeating pistol up to the Civil War, but when Smith & Wesson started manufacturing the Model 1 revolver in 1857, these firearms were gradually forgotten.

This particular model is a heavily stylized .36 caliber Allen & Thurber from 1838, customized for a rich sugar industrialist and pepper enthusiast living in the French Guiana’s capital city of Cayenne, a region that have some of the poorest soils in the world. Being one of few farmers to achieve success, his weapon was nicknamed “Cayenne” as a tribute to both the city and his cultivation of Capsicum annuum, having a Cayenne pepper flower engraved in nacre on its redwood handle.

After his premature death in 1850, his personal belongings were sent to his family back at England, however, the vessels were seized by French corsairs, with part of the cargo sold at auctions and the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the stolen goods. The corsair captain kept the Cayenne as his personal weapon and passed it down generations, and even after it being rendered obsolete by the advent of the metallic cartridges, the weapon was rebuild in the mid-1900s, rechambered in .38 Special and rifled, with its hammer being reworked and the barrels being detachable much like in Leinad/Cobray pepperboxes, being able to see service once again.

Description

In 1834 Ethan Allen, an American gun maker of that time, patented a double action mechanism for the pepperbox pistol, becoming a leading producer of pepperbox revolving pistols in the United States, producing some hundred variations between 1837 and 1865 under the brand names Allen & Thurber, Allen, Thurber & Co, and Allen & Wheelock, with part of his success in gun manufacturing coming from his pioneering use of machine-made interchangeable parts in his guns.

These revolving barrel pistols were not branded as “Pepperbox”, but rather received this nickname in favor of its similarity with antique pepper grinders, being generally small caliber, ranging from 28-36 caliber. In spite of the mechanical problems, mainly its tendency to chain fire, these guns became the most popular type of repeating pistol up to the Civil War, but when Smith & Wesson started manufacturing the Model 1 revolver in 1857, these firearms were gradually forgotten.

This particular model is a heavily stylized .36 caliber Allen & Thurber from 1838, customized for a rich sugar industrialist and pepper enthusiast living in the French Guiana’s capital city of Cayenne, a region that have some of the poorest soils in the world. Being one of few farmers to achieve success, his weapon was nicknamed “Cayenne” as a tribute to both the city and his cultivation of Capsicum annuum, having a Cayenne pepper flower engraved in nacre on its redwood handle.

After his premature death in 1850, his personal belongings were sent to his family back at England, however, the vessels were seized by French corsairs, with part of the cargo sold at auctions and the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the stolen goods. The corsair captain kept the Cayenne as his personal weapon and passed it down generations, and even after it being rendered obsolete by the advent of the metallic cartridges, the weapon was rebuild in the mid-1900s, rechambered in .38 Special and rifled, with its hammer being reworked and the barrels being detachable much like in Leinad/Cobray pepperboxes, being able to see service once again.