Gévelot’s First Pinfire Pistol Cartridge

Jules-Félix Gévelot was a close friend with Casimir Lefaucheux. He was given the original rights to make the earliest pinfire shotshells starting in the 1830’s. However in 1845, Jules Joseph Chaudun received a patent to make his pinfire pistol cartridges as shown on his manufacturer page. Because of this patent no one else could make pinfire pistol cartridges until the 1850’s. There were still some of Gévelot’s shotshells that were cut down to be used in pistols, but no specific pistol cartridges. After Chaudun’s patent expired, this cartridge shown is thought to be Gévelot’s first pinfire pistol cartridge.

The Pinfire Page, Issue 4 – Russian Pinfires

This issue of my Pinfire Page^[1] in the IAA Journal was slightly different from normal. Its focus was on some pinfire headstamps rather than the whole cartridge. These cartridges were made by Russian companies and excavated from the ground in the Ukraine and in Russia. They are very uncommon in the United States or even in Russia. I was in contact with some people in these area that excavate various locations searching for military relics. A couple people even gave me some examples for free. They were just happy to spread their finds across the globe to someone who was truly interested.

The manufacturers mentioned in this article are: Е. Е. Торбека, Русская Патронная Фабрика, Sellier & Bellot and Я. Зимин.

Another neat headstamp that came from this region, but most likely did not originate from there is the following. It says System Lefauch. I assume they just ran out of room for the “eux” at the end!

1.   Newcomer, Aaron. “The Pinfire Page.” International Ammunition Journal. 495 (2014): 23. Print.

The Pinfire Page, Issue 3

Another great issue of the IAA Journal came out recently with my third installment of The Pinfire Page^[1] in it. This month I covered the Belgian cartridge manufacturer, V. Francotte, May et Cie. Read all about them on their manufacturer’s page.

1.   Newcomer, Aaron. “The Pinfire Page.” International Ammunition Journal. 494 (2013): 41. Print.

The Pinfire Page, Issue 2

In this month’s column of The Pinfire Page^[1] I talked about Chaudun, Chaudun & Derivière and Jullien et Gauthey Fréres. You can order the back issue on the IAA website.

The documentation for the information provided in the journal article is included on this website in the respective section for each manufacturer.

1.   Newcomer, Aaron. “The Pinfire Page.” International Ammunition Journal. 493 (2013): 33. Print.

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 twice as heavy. (I was shocked how heavy it was when I first picked it up!) It was made by the luxury gun manufacturer, P. Boissy somewhere around the late 1850s to 1860s. He manufactured his guns in Saint-Étienne, France and even won an award at the Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris for his “pistolets de luxe.”

This pistol has a few unique features. First it was made to work with the included 15mm percussion adapters which could be used with readily available powder, caps and balls if one ran out of pinfire cartridges. To use these adapters the rear sight/safety/pin-holder would be removed by unscrewing one screw which allowed the larger auxiliary adapters to fit in the holes.

When using it with pinfire cartridges, the piece that was removed to allow use of the adapters would be placed back on the gun and screwed back in. This partially fills the larger hole to allow a pin from a pinfire cartridge to be held steadily in place.

Many of the higher quality pinfire boxlock pistols have sliding safeties which would protect the cartridges from untimely detonation but this one has a unique way of protecting the pins. It has spring loaded, hinged safeties that automatically spring open when cocking the hammer, allowing for quicker firing.

Soldiers from the American Civil War

On my quest for all things related to the pinfire system I have been especially interested in the role Lefaucheux pinfire cartridges and guns played in the American Civil War. You can read about some of those articles here: Articles. Over the past few years I have acquired a few images of soldiers from the American Civil War wielding a Lefaucheux model 1854 pinfire revolver.

First up is a CdV (Carte de visite) image of a soldier identified as being an Officer from New York. You may notice the metal stand behind him near his shoes. For those unfamiliar with early photography, it was not just point-n-click like it is today. It could take several minutes to expose the negative images so the subject had to remain very still the whole time. This stand probably went up to his neck to hold his head in the same place.

Here is a version of that image that I colored to give a better understanding of what he most likely looked like in color!

Next up is a tintype of Charles Allen from Gouverneur, St Lawrence, New York. He was kind enough to write his name and city inside the back of the tintype for me. He was a private in the 1st New York Light Artillery – Battery D.

And lastly, here is an early 1/9 plate melainotype of a soldier from the American Civil War. Based on his uniform he appears to be a Union Cavalry Sergeant. He has a Lefaucheux 1854 Pinfire Revolver on the table next to him. I personally think that he is missing his left leg as it appears that the bottom of his left pant leg is tucked under him toward the table. Some who have examined the image think he has both legs intact. Either way it is still one of my favorite images as it shows such an excellent view of the gun, and a soldier with such a stoic demeanor which I am sure was a necessity for those who had to fight their own countrymen during the American Civil War.

On close examination of the revolver one will notice it is loaded as one can see the bullets of the cartridges inside the cylinder. Also, when comparing my copy of a Lefaucheux model 1854 revolver with cartridges in it I have determined that he has loaded cartridges by one of the three American makers listed in this article as they were quite a bit longer than the imported, and typical 12mm pinfire cartridges.

That concludes the images I have gathered so far of American Civil war soldiers with pinfire guns. As a bonus I also have here an image of some young men from Michigan. The one on the left has one of the little 2mm pinfire guns used as a pocket watch fob. I have blown up that portion of the image to better see it as well!

The First Pinfire Revolver Cartridge!

This is the very first pinfire revolver cartridge. It was manufactured by the gun maker, Jules Joseph Chaudun, in 1845 after he patented a new improvement to both Casimir Lefaucheux’s shot shell design and Jules Gévelot’s patent that simplified Casimir’s design. It is labeled as a .50 caliber cartridge which makes it effectively the first 12mm pinfire cartridge. The boxes contained 10 cartridges and are known to have contained cartridges with varying case lengths, and slightly different shaped bullets. It gives the impression that these were all made by hand. Some boxes would also have cartridges with round balls rather than the “candle flame” shaped bullet mixed in. The cartridges were initially made with the intent to work in Casimir Lefaucheux’s new pepperbox pistol. The July 5, 1851 issue of The Illustrated London News illustrates both this cartridge and that pistol together.

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 manufacturer!

Here are a couple pictures from my most recent cartridge & gun photoshoot! This is a preview of some of the type of pictures that will go in the redesigned pinfire guns section sometime in the future.

This is a Belgian 12mm pinfire revolver. It has the rifled barrel proof mark on the barrel and cylinder, so it is post 1894, and then ★ over T for the inspector’s mark.

This is a Lefaucheux model 1854 Pinfire Revolver. Its serial number was used in the American Civil War.