‘Never shoot a man if you can knock him down.’
James Reid
US Patent No. 51752 was granted for this rim-fire 'pepper box' revolver December 26 1865 - and one site records that Belfast, Ireland born gunsmith James Reid made 13,940 of them in New York State (- plus 1,160 odd versions with a barrel?).
.. Made in rim-fire black powder chamberings of seven shot .22", - & the five round .32", plus the biggest sized .41" caliber - between 1865 and 1883.
They are small revolvers built to fire from the chamber without any barrel - and are shaped so as to be useful as knuckle dusters in a punch-up.
Note: In my very limited experience of bare knuckle fighting .. it seems likely that you will easily break your hand by punching any hard object - so personally, moi, I'd suggest using the open-hand "heel" to the top lip - or the padded side of any bare clenched fist to rock your dancing partner's skull.
- Here are links to three quality & useful videos about these small pepper-box pistols (- or even 'pepper pots' if you prefer):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQHllWpPx3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ignXkqWx4W0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnAZpESBHe4
https://flicense.blogspot.com/2014/11/henry-deringer-and-knuckle-duster.html
- Hand engraved and nicely made by Reid's sons & workforce - I've never seen one of these down here in New Zealand .. but you never know your luck eh - In 19th Century New York these 'two-two' "My Friends" sold for $8 each with a hundred rounds of ammunition
- & the 'thirty-twos' for $12 with a box of 50 rounds - so if you see one for that price please grab it for me. - I'm not lusting after the 3 inch or 1.75 inch barreled version, unless it's a real bargain eh.
There is a 288 page book devoted to these “James Reid and his Catskill Knuckledusters,” that I nearly ordered from Amazon - but they wont send it direct to me in NZ .. so the cost of extra postage and the poor exchange rate brought-on "a fit of the meanies". - Failing the book .. here is a quite detailed history of the man and his guns:
https://www.historynet.com/knuckledusters-friends-james-reid-gamblers.htm
Marty K.
.. I've signed-up to Patreon. - after five years writing now you can send me a wee support - starting from $1 - for all this stuff from exotic New Zealand .. yes most everything here is EXOTIC apart from those interesting native birds eh.
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
What does the little protrusion half way along the frame under the cylinder do? In the disembled photo we can see it has three components - straight piece with a little hook on the end, the curved piece with the protrusion, and what seems to be a small spring between the two. Not every James Reid "Knuckler" has one, as shown in your pictures.
ReplyDelete