Cast Steel Pocket rifle

[sandwarrior]

So last night I'm having my beer at social hour and a guy I talk to there, asks me about a pistol some friends of his found in a house they had purchased and were cleaning out to renovate.

Id10t me looked it over and even ran out to the car to get my magnifying glass, but FORGOT to take a picture of it. D'oh! Anyhow, here's what I looked at last night:

This pic came from an online site that called it an Allen & Thuber, .36 cal.

The thing that really interested me was it had a hexagonal bore like a Whitworth rifle. Which makes me wonder how common it was in the day, and what was the possible reason it went extinct?

Again, being at least half retarded, I didn't take pics. I hope to have those soon as he will look me up this week and we can take more of a peek at it.

Added: Of course if any of you have anything to add to it, I would appreciate that. Sometimes I gotta remember, that question isn't always an "understood". Ya gotta ask it to get any answers. Sorry guys, just me going off on my lack of forethought on this post.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Very cool...
More To come when I get a keyboard.

sirhr

 

[Dan M]

If memory serves me correctly, they were made in various barrel lengths and in calibers from .28-.44 mid 1830s-mid 1840s by Ethan Allen. The pocket rifle appellation is in reference to having a rifled barrel, which was the exception then.

 

[pmclaine]

If I recall right you unscrew the barrel and breech load it so it overcame the problem of "pushing" a tight bullet down a rifled barrel.

 

[sandwarrior]

If I recall right you unscrew the barrel and breech load it so it overcame the problem of "pushing" a tight bullet down a rifled barrel.

The one I looked at was rusted pretty good, so the barrel didn't budge when I put some force on it. I did not know though that these were loaded from the breech. It also came with a powder flask.

 

[pmclaine]

https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1972-B26-Early-Allen-Firearms.pdf

 

[pmclaine]

The one I looked at was rusted pretty good, so the barrel didn't budge when I put some force on it. I did not know though that these were loaded from the breech. It also came with a powder flask.

They may not be screw barrels. Im trying to search that down. It appears it may be and it was a means to overcome fitting a tight projectile into a rifled barrel.

 

[sandwarrior]

The actual piece:

and a pic of the bore:

 

[pmclaine]

Thats a cool piece of history.

Maybe Eli Whitney himself held it.

I remember reading about Eli Whitney in grade school and how he was treated as an important American due to his Mass Production methods being an innovation that helped America become the worlds greatest producer.

Thinking my kids dont get that education these days.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Thats a cool piece of history.

Maybe Eli Whitney himself held it.

I remember reading about Eli Whitney in grade school and how he was treated as an important American due to his Mass Production methods being an innovation that helped America become the worlds greatest producer.

Thinking my kids dont get that education these days.

From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932

David A. Houndshell's widely acclaimed history explores the American "genius for mass production" and races its origins in the nineteenth-century "American system" of manufacture.Previous writers on the American system have argued that the technical problems of mass production had been solved by...

books.google.com

This book is superb and it shows the evolution of craft production to mass production by the likes of Whitney, Colt, etc.

The machine took and precision revolution started on the act River, flowed into Springfield, Ma and on to the trading/mfg. centers of NY City. NYC was a huge manufacturing center until the 1950s.

An amazing read!

Cheers, Sirhr