Stocking & Co. Pepperbox
Stocking & Company · Pistol · Discontinued · 1849
Also known as: Stocking Model 1850 Pepperbox, Stocking & Co. Worcester Pepperbox
Overview
The Stocking & Co. Pepperbox is a six-shot, double-action percussion pepperbox pistol produced by Stocking & Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, around 1849 to 1852. In place of a single bored cylinder it uses a rotating cluster of six ribbed .31 caliber smoothbore barrels, each fed by a percussion cap on its own nipple; pulling the long-spurred bar hammer rotates the barrel group to the next chamber and fires it in a self-cocking action. Compact and concealable, it was a popular civilian self-defense 'belly gun' of the antebellum era, often engraved and fitted with a nickel-plated escutcheon on the wooden grip for the owner's initials, before the single-barrel cap-and-ball revolver displaced the pepperbox.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 450 g (15.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Barrel Length | 101 mm (3.98") |
| Action Type | Double Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Double Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 6 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Rotary |
| Muzzle Velocity | 200 m/s (656 fps) |
| Effective Range | 9 m (10 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 50 m (55 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | None |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .31 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball) · primary — also known as .31 cal, .31 percussion, 7.9mm
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Rotating Barrel Cluster
- Features: Rotating Barrel Cluster, Bar Hammer Action, Engraved Frame, Concealable Belly Gun
Service history
Operators
- American civilian market
- United States
Production
Production years: 1849-1852
Estimated only a few hundred produced during the firm's short operating life before it closed around 1852.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Discontinued: 1852
Notes
Stocking & Company operated only briefly, from about 1849 to 1852, and it is generally believed that only a few hundred Stocking pepperboxes were made, making surviving examples scarce. Many are engraved and carry low serial numbers.
Background
Pepperboxes such as the Stocking were the everyday concealed-carry pistols of the 1840s and 1850s, prized for offering multiple quick shots at close range before Colt's single-barrel percussion revolvers and later metallic-cartridge arms rendered them obsolete.