Allen's Standard Size Pepperboxes - Worcester
Commercial era:
Allen & Thurber
Allen, Thurber & Co
Allen & Wheelock
General information
The very first production out of Worcester are the models that came over from the Norwich production with the typical “dog leg” shaped grip. But the quantities are limited and can be considered transition.
The characteristic Worcester line was soon introduced with a much smoother rounded grip shape. This grip shape will remain standard on all models until the end of production. All standard size pepperboxes have 6-shot barrel clusters. The hand engraving on the frame gets less elaborated as production progresses and at the end of production the engraving is completely omitted to save production costs. In the last production batches, even the roll engravings on the nipple shield were no longer applied. All pepperboxes from the Worcester period have the mechanism of the 1845 patent. The standard pepperbox could be supplied in caliber 31 or 32, and with barrel cluster lengths ranging from 3″ to 5″. The 4″ variant is the most common.
Allen & Thurber Standard Pepperbox with flat barrel ribs
This pepperbox is the classic and most common model from the Worcester period. It has the evenly rounded grip (“late rounded”) and an engraved nipple shield. This specimen has a barrel cluster with fairly wide and flat ribs. Later models from the Worcester period have the more rounded “fluted” barrel cluster. This pepperbox has the 1845 patented system, although the patent marking on the barrel states 1837.
Allen & Thurber Standard Pepperbox with fluted barrel cluster
This pepperbox model has the same classic frame model but now with the fluted barrel cluster. The fluted design was introduced somewhere between 1850 and 1854, and remained the standard until the end of production.
Note also the less sophisticated frame engraving.
Allen & Thurber Shotgun Hammer Single-Action Pepperbox
This pepperbox model is a bit of an oddity and a rather rare version from the Worcester production period. Almost all pepperboxes have a double-action mechanism, but this is a single-action. The idea behind this pepperbox was to provide a better sight picture (the hammer is no longer in the way). In addition, this pepperbox has a much lighter trigger pressure compared to the classic double-action pepperboxes. This would theoretically improve the precision of the shot.
Customers did however not appreciate these features. The customer was looking for firepower and speed; precision was not a consideration when buying a pepperbox. Basically, the gun was a commercial flop, and only few copies were produced.
The barrel cluster is rotated by cocking the hammer. The pepperbox therefore has a completely different mechanism compared to the double-action models, where the barrel cluster is rotated by the trigger.
