I’ve been working on this trio for years. Ever since reading Mark Twain’s Roughing It I’ve wanted to assemble the “mighty arsenal” depicted as they set out west:

“I was armed to the teeth with a pitiful little Smith & Wesson's seven-shooter, which carried a ball like a homoeopathic pill, and it took the whole seven to make a dose for an adult. But I thought it was grand. It appeared to me to be a dangerous weapon. It only had one fault--you could not hit anything with it. One of our "conductors" practiced awhile on a cow with it, and as long as she stood still and behaved herself she was safe; but as soon as she went to moving about, and he got to shooting at other things, she came to grief. The Secretary had a small-sized Colt's revolver strapped around him for protection against the Indians, and to guard against accidents he carried it uncapped. Mr. George Bemis was dismally formidable. George Bemis was our fellow-traveler.

We had never seen him before. He wore in his belt an old original "Allen" revolver, such as irreverent people called a "pepper-box." Simply drawing the trigger back, cocked and fired the pistol. As the trigger came back, the hammer would begin to rise and the barrel to turn over, and presently down would drop the hammer, and away would speed the ball. To aim along the turning barrel and hit the thing aimed at was a feat which was probably never done with an "Allen" in the world. But George's was a reliable weapon, nevertheless, because, as one of the stage-drivers afterward said, "If she didn't get what she went after, she would fetch something else." And so she did. She went after a deuce of spades nailed against a tree, once, and fetched a mule standing about thirty yards to the left of it. Bemis did not want the mule; but the owner came out with a double-barreled shotgun and persuaded him to buy it, anyhow. It was a cheerful weapon--the "Allen." Sometimes all its six barrels would go off at once, and then there was no safe place in all the region round about, but behind it.”



So here we go! A Smith and Wesson No.1 in .22RF, Mr. Clemens weapon of choice, a Colt 1849, as selected by his brother, and the latest addition, an Allen and Wheelock “Pepperbox” as accompanied Mr. Bemis.

The Allen needs a trigger guard, so I have a bit of digging to do, but it was definitely affordable as is, and the timing is good, and best of all, the nipples appear to be in good shape. A lot of these are torn up from repeated dry fire, and since they are machined into the barrels there aren’t a lot of options for bringing them back to working condition.

Bill R

That is just too cool of a group!

That is awesome!

https://imgur.com/lFk1jhA.jpg

Not a part of the storyline, but apparently the choice of Samuel Clemens. An old Colt 1903.

This is awesome! I just got watched an inrange video on the Pepperbox the other day. That's a fun collection you have there, and I love the literary inspiration!

Fun, and thanks for the quote.

That’s an awesome trio, I especially love the pepperbox. I’ve never fired one but it’s always been a cool looking gun. And what a cool inspiration to collect those too. Thanks for sharing.

That’s a really neat idea for a collection. Super!

Museum where I volunteer has an Allen with one barrel blown out next the frame. I wonder if a previous owner lost count loading and double charged that barrel.

51 Navy. I have wanted one forever. The most graceful of the percussion Colts, IMHO. I think I will just go ahead and get an Eye-Talian knockoff just so I can shoot it.

Very good! Thanks for the post.

So far, it looks like the Allen is in good enough shape that I should be able to fire it.

Light loads and only a couple times, but I really want to see just how good or bad it might be when compared to some of the alternatives from the time.

It sucks that there isn’t a really accurate modern reproduction version I could put up against a second or third gen. Colt 1849….

Bill R

When you do shoot it, I'd love to hear how that goes. Especially if you shoot it at various distances. I also wonder if the different barrels will produce different points of impact, and if so how much deviation you'd see between them. Would be an interesting study of manufacturing tolerances from 150 years ago.

Outstanding post and photo!

I've never heard or read of a collection of firearms based upon a literary reference...and I think that is just a crackerjack of an idea!

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
When you do shoot it, I'd love to hear how that goes. Especially if you shoot it at various distances. I also wonder if the different barrels will produce different points of impact, and if so how much deviation you'd see between them. Would be an interesting study of manufacturing tolerances from 150 years ago.

My thoughts exactly while reading about these. Very interested in a range report on these... and I'll take it one request further and say that I hope you follow up this post with shooting photos and videos.

Most of us just aren't going to get a chance to do what you are about to do, and I'm excited about this particular shooting project.

Is the Colt going to get some leather?

In addition to a nice, not to mention very unusual, collection, Mark Twain is one of my favorite authors. I don’t, however, recall reading his comments on the guns. In what work did they appear?

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
In addition to a nice, not to mention very unusual, collection, Mark Twain is one of my favorite authors. I don’t, however, recall reading his comments on the guns. In what work did they appear?

Right at the beginning of chapter two in Roughing It.

Bill R

Thank you. I should reread it.
It would be far less ... well, no commentary, and thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Thank you. I should reread it.
It would be far less ... well, no commentary, and thanks again.

It’s one of his that I try to read over from the start every once in a while.

Like all of his stuff, it really does require you read it in the context of his time, there are sections that would make you cringe if written by someone today.

But. It wasn’t. It was written in the mid nineteenth century. An entirely different viewpoint. Not better, just different.

I really enjoy that difference in viewpoint when I read works from the past. For me, personally, it allows for a certain appreciation for how far we have come as a society.

And then, there are the portions that paint a picture of past life that he got “just right”. He had a great gift for the right word in the right place!

Bill R