Articles about Pinfire Guns
The Pinfire system was an early firearms technology that was instrumental in providing the basis of modern guns and ammunition. Here are some short articles about various pinfire guns from my collection.
W. Tibbals Revolving Firearms Patent
One of the most famous American ammunition manufacturers was William Tibbals. William Tibbals was the partner in the company, Crittenden & Tibbals, who supplied mostof the rimfire ammunition during the American Civil War. Part of what made Crittenden & Tibbals … Continue reading
Underhammer Pinfire Pistol by Joseph-Célestin Dumonthier
This is a really early underhammer pinfire pistol made by the French gunsmith, Joseph-Célestin Dumonthier in 1849. It follows his 2 July 1849 French patent. The whole barrel unscrews from the frame and allows you to load a single 12mm … Continue reading
The Earliest Pinfire Cartridges and Pistols
This article will take a look at some of the earliest pinfire pistol cartridges. The best way to explain these will be to look at them with the guns they were designed for. The earliest examples were shotshells that were … Continue reading
Extremely High Grade 16g Pinfire Shotgun by Coirier à Clermont
The story of Coirier à Clermont is a interweaved tale of partnerships and encounters that begins in 1848. In 1848 a Frenchman named Francis Marquis founded a company that made carbines for cavalry. In French this is the term, harquebusier. … Continue reading
Casimir Lefaucheux’s first pistol and the very first cartridge pistol!
I have finally added the last specimen needed to now have an example of all three pistol designs by Casimir Lefaucheux. On 16 Jun 1832 Casimir Lefaucheux filed for patent no 1832 in France for protection of his breechloading design … Continue reading
Norwegian M/64/98 Lefaucheux Pinfire Revolver with Military Cartridge Box
This is an example of one of the scarce pinfire boxes made by Société Française des Munitions for the Norwegian military as well as one of the Norwegian military Lefaucheux pinfire revolvers. In 1859 the Norwegian Navy ordered a handful … Continue reading
9mm Javelle Patent Pinfire Revolver Manufactured by Verney-Carron
This is a 9mm Javelle patent pinfire revolver manufactured by Verney-Carron of St. Etienne, France somewhere around the late 1850s to early 1860s. He designed this gun to allow easy removal of the cylinder. His intentions were that people could … Continue reading
The Very First Cartridge Revolver
This is the earliest version of the pinfire pepperbox revolver manufactured by Casimir Lefaucheux around 1845-1846. Lefaucheux “borrowed” the action from Guillaume Mariette of Liège, Belgium who made a percussion pepperbox a few years prior. Casimir’s patent modified it to … Continue reading
Lefaucheux 7mm Double Action Pinfire
This is a double-action-only 7mm pinfire revolver made by Eugene Lefaucheux in Paris, France. It follows his patent from 07 June 1858. On the barrel is inscribed: DUMOULIN ARQer À ROUEN Dumoulin was a gun maker (arquebusier; ARQer) and gun … Continue reading
Delvigne Breech Loading Underhammer Deringer in 9mm Pinfire
 This Delvigne Breech Loading Underhammer Deringer was Manufactured by Falisse & Trapmann in Liège, Belgium. It follows Delvigne’s French patent, 12683, which was issued on 22 January 1852. The patent image shows a percussion version, and this is the … Continue reading
15mm Pinfire Auxiliary Percussion Adapter and Pistol
Here is a very unique gun that just arrived at my doorstep yesterday! At first glance it seems like any common 15mm double barrel pinfire boxlock pistol but it is quite different. First it is quite a bit larger and … Continue reading
Pinfire Guns & New Comment System!
Big update today! I added the capability to comment on every blog post, every pinfire cartridge or pinfire box, and every cartridge manufacturer! I will add the capability to the other cartridges soon. Look around and comment on your favorite cartridge, box or … Continue reading