Manhattan Pepperbox
Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. · Revolver · Discontinued · 1856
Also known as: Manhattan Fire Arms Pepperbox, Manhattan .28 Percussion Pepperbox
Overview
The Manhattan Pepperbox is a percussion cap-and-ball pepperbox revolver produced by the Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Company from about 1856 to 1859. Built on expired patents while Colt's patents were still in force, it used a rotating cluster of individually loaded .28 caliber barrels fired by a self-cocking bar hammer double-action mechanism. The 6-shot model was offered with 3, 4, and 5 inch barrels, alongside smaller 3-shot and 5-shot versions, and featured a blued and casehardened finish with walnut bag grips. As a compact multi-shot pocket sidearm in an era of single-shot pistols, it gave civilians several ready rounds without reloading.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 400 g (14.1 oz) |
| Overall Length | 184 mm (7.24") |
| Barrel Length | 76 mm (2.99") |
| Action Type | Double Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Double Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Revolving Cylinder |
| Effective Range | 9 m (10 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Smoothbore |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Blued And Casehardened |
Calibers
- .28 Caliber Percussion · primary — also known as .28 cap and ball, .28 pocket, .31 (bore measurement)
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Muzzle Loaded Percussion Chambers
- Features: Rotating Barrel Group, Bar Hammer, No Sights, Iron Trigger Guard, Bag Grip
Variants
- Manhattan 3-Shot Pepperbox - Capacity
- Manhattan 5-Shot Pepperbox - Capacity
Service history
Operators
- American civilian market · adopted 1856
Production
Estimated total produced: 3,000 · Production years: 1856-1859
Manhattan's Norwich, Connecticut plant is estimated to have made roughly 3,000 double-action percussion pepperboxes in the late 1850s.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Discontinued: 1859
Notes
The .28 caliber bore was often quoted as .31 based on outside barrel measurement. Barrels marked "Manhattan F.A. Mfg. Co. New York" despite the guns being made in Norwich, Connecticut. No sights were fitted.
Background
The Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Company was founded in 1856 by New Jersey businessmen and incorporated in New York City, yet it never manufactured a firearm there, building its pepperboxes at a factory in Norwich, Connecticut. In the years before Colt's revolver patents expired, the company subsisted on designs drawn from lapsed patents, and the rotating-barrel pepperbox was considered a formidable personal defense weapon in a day when most pocket sidearms fired only a single shot.