Note: All new content is published at my new website, AaronNewcomer.com. This site will remain around until everything is transfered there. Please visit AaronNewcomer.com to see lots of new articles on pinfire guns, Pauly guns, rare gun-related journals and books, unique cartridges and more!

24 Gauge Pinfire Cartridge

Size: 24 Gauge
Headstamp: Brevete Lefaucheux
Manufacturer: Casimir Lefaucheux - Paris, France
Additional Info: This shotshell is thought to have been made by Casimir Lefaucheux. It is thought that the Brevet Lefaucheux written on the paper, and on the headstamp refers to Lefaucheux’s 10 year patent from 1835. This shotshell has the address 10 Rue de la Bourse (10 Exchange Street) written on it. Lefaucheux moved to this address in 1834 and then sold it on 17 December 1835 to Camille Auguste Jean-Baptiste Napoléon Jube.

Lefaucheux then moved back to the city he was originally from and bought a house with his wife, and did a couple patents on cider presses. However he returned to the world of gun making when he registered a new patent on 2 May 1845. On this patent he listed 10 Rue de la Bourse, the shop that Jube still owned. Then in 1847 he officially acquires the lease back from Jube. In 1850 he moves to 37 Rue Vivienne where he, and then Eugene stay for quite awhile. The multiple dates at this address can cause some confusion, but as mentioned, he did not move back until after his original shotshell patent had expired. By this time others were making pinfire shotshells as well.

On 25 Aug 1849, after Lefaucheux is thought to have made this shotshell, he received a 6th addendum to his 1845 patent (number 1371) that gave legal protection to his method of using the hole on the bottom to help assist with extracting the shell from the gun.
picture of Casimir Lefaucheux pinfire cartridge
Picture of Casimir Lefaucheux headstamp