Conventional wisdom is that Nathan R. Davis made America's only pin-fire just after the Civil War. By this I mean in commercial quantities, sold by dealers, and not just "one-off" muzzle-loader conversions. Has anybody ever seen one? Anybody collect? CDR Roy Gunther wrote something about these guns in an issue of The Gun Report years ago, if my recollection is correct.

There's a chapter in my new book, Parker Guns: Shooting Flying tangentially on this subject, comparing Davis's track record to Cha's Parker's. I wasn't able to locate a gun to photograph and picture in the book; even Dr. Bill didn't have one. But now I've found a 1868 ad that pictures two different versions, one with a Parker-like lifter-opener inside the trigger guard, and another with a lever-opener forward of the trigger guard. Anybody care about this? EDM

I've often wondered about this one myself as I've never heard of anybody actually having one of the guns either.

Same with the C.D. Leet pinfire shells, only ones that were probably actually produced in America.

I've never met anybody that actually had one, just seen the name listed. The VL&D ones are more than likely Eley brand with the proprietary headstamp.


Destry

This illustration is from Vorisek. No info on where he obtained it.


The patent 66,913 is a 1867 patent held by D. 0. Thrasher and B. F. Aiken of Bristol, MA.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=doYAAAAAEBAJ&dq=66913

Guns based on the Lefaucheux patent (pin fire) were sold here during the Civil War.

Pete

Never seen one. There is article on the Davis Pin-fire in an
earley Double Gun Journal. When this article came out the late
Bill Furnish was floored-he collected hammer guns for years and had neither seen or heard of one before.
Bill

The little article by Charles E. Carder in the sliding breech pinfire N.R. Davis is in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Three, Issue 2, page 88.

According to Robert B Roosevelt (Teddy's uncle) in his copyright 1866 book, NO SxS shotguns were manufactured in America up until then, but some gunsmiths cobbled together imported parts--locks, stocks, and barrels--and stamped their own names on them. Civil War surplus .69 cal. muskets were used with bird shot (Annie Oakley's first gun). The Maynard 1863 carbine came with a smooth-bore barrel for shot, using a .55 cal, 28-gauge brass pin-hole shell (externally primed) like the seminal Parker T-Latch (s/n 06) that Hoover sings the praises of in the current DGJ.

The Davis 1867 patent clears up whether N. R. Davis or Charles Parker was the first commercial maker of a SxS breech-loading shotgun in America; the Parker/Miller parent was November 1866, and testimonial letters date first owners as early as Spring 1867. The Miller patent would have required a patent model made and submitted one or more months prior to the November 1866 date on the patent. The Davis gun came the next year according to the 1867 patent cited by PeteM. The Davis ad I have is from an 1868 copyright book about hunting laws in the various states, the last legislative date mentioned in the text being April 7, 1868.

The cut pictured by PeteM is the same as the one in my ad, having a T-Latch lifter-opener inside the trigger guard.

That's all folks... EDM

Chris Curtis, author of "System Lefaucheaux" also gives 1866 as the date for the only U.S. maker, Nathaniel R. Davis, of pinfire shotguns. N.R. Davis had 3 offerings: a single barrel, with something like a Roux breech, the Thrasher & Aiken(employee) with the release button inside the triggerbow and a 3rd tipdown left side breech lever. The 1st and 3rd could have been doubles also. Curtis credits Charles Carder with the pic/image credits. Theodore Roosevelt's 1st scattergun was a Lefaucheux pinfire just before he was 14 years of age.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Here is a William Golcher. This one is not a pin-fire, but he is known to have made pin fires as well according Larry Schuknecht in his "Two Shots".



This is his patent, dated 1869
http://www.google.com/patents?id=c31LAAA...y_r&cad=0_0

Just for the heck of it from 1933...


Pete

From Pete's link


This patent drawing..:


Does it look anything like this WR to you guys?



The lobster-joint in the image from the above post screams WR to me. The sliding-snap with rib extension looks to have strong family ties to the Bond Street gang too.

Cheers
Tinker

The Golcher is probably just british parts put together here like so many American "gunmakers" were doing at the time. The Davis was actually a factory made gun produced in the US in total. There were quite a few "gunmaker" guns made in pinfire, I've seen at least two that I can recall.

DLH