doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The pinfire game gun

Wow, already more than 3700 views on this thread, so that puts an end to my belief that all the persons still interested in pinfires would fit in the back seat of my car. Thanks to all who have contributed so far, and thanks to the readers who have been quietly visiting this thread. And I should also take this opportunity to thank and recognize the Internet Gun Club for graciously allowing me to use historical information in their IGC Database in my pinfire research.

There is a lot of inventiveness to come. The next development in snap-actions included the feature of partly cocking the hammers when opening the gun. What seems like an obvious feature now was not so obvious then. The first breech-loading guns were slow to use by modern, hammerless-gun standards. To open the gun each hammer had to be brought to half-cock, in order for the rotating barrels to clear the overhanging noses of the pinfire hammers. Opening the action required another series of movements, more or less awkward depending on the design. Unloading/reloading was simple, a dexterous reversal of hand movements brought the gun closed, and the hammers could be pulled back to full-cock in readiness to fire.

Feathered game hunting in the 1850s and early 1860s was mainly with walked-up game, with limited shooting opportunities during a day's hunt. The speed of reloading was not really a factor in adopting the breech-loader, which in any case was much, much faster than with a muzzle-loader. With the emergence of the driven shoot ("battue") where shooting opportunities were greatly increased, guns that could quickly be opened, emptied, reloaded, and brought to fire were advantageous, as were pairs of guns to be shot with the help of a loader. Before the driven shoot, there simply was no reason to have pairs of guns, let alone perfectly matched ones. In any case, before the days of large-scale pheasant breeding on private estates, a pinfire gun of any type was sufficient to deal with the day's shooting. As driven shoots increased in totals of birds, having a snap-action gun was a decided advantage though, if a second gun was out of the question. In the period before John Stanton's patents for a rebounding lock (firstly in 1867, and improved in 1869 and 1877), various gunmakers tried their hand at improving the efficiency and ergonomics of gun actions, and the assisted part-cocking of hammers. One of the more successful designs was that which appeared in the guns of London gunmakers Cogswell and Harrison.

The "typical" formation of a gunmaker started with an apprenticeship under a recognized gunmaker, and in time the apprentice would become a gunmaker, possibly be taken on as a partner, or move on to set up on their own. In this way the "pedigree" of most gunmaking names can be traced back to the Mantons or other famous 18th Century or early 19th Century gunmakers. However, there were notable exceptions, the tobacconist Harris Holland being one, another being Benjamin Cogswell, the pawnbroker.

The first Benjamin Cogswell started as a pawnbroker in London in 1770, and his son, also Benjamin, was born in 1796. Benjamin Cogswell the younger continued the pawnbroker business, and gradually became involved in the selling of guns, perhaps those held in collateral against loans. In 1842 he bought the pawnbroker business of Edward Benton at 223 Strand. Benton had previously bought this business from Robert Essex, a silversmith and dealer in firearms, who had inherited it from Hector Essex, a gunsmith and jeweller at 223 and 224 Strand. Cogswell advertised himself as a "gun and pistol warehouse." At some point from these premises Benjamin Cogswell found his talents as a gunmaker, and as an inventor. In 1848 Benjamin Cogswell registered a design (No. 1378) for a cap magazine for revolvers, and in 1852 he registered a design (No. 3389) for a six shot revolving pistol. In 1851 his "shopman" was Edward Harrison, and in 1857 Benjamin Cogswell started advertising himself as Gunmaker. By 1860 Cogswell had retired and the business was continued by his son, also named Benjamin. Harrison became a partner in the business, and in 1863 the firm was re-named Cogswell & Harrison. Edward Harrison was a prolific inventor, and on 1 February 1864 he registered patent No. 271 for a part self-cocking, rotating bolt, single bite, snap action pinfire gun, that was very similar to the William Fletcher patent of 1863. The gun pictured here is the 26th gun built on Harrison's patent.

It is a 12-bore with the self-half-cocking underlever action, serial number 5904 made in 1864 or 1865. The 30 3/16" damascus barrels carry the barrel maker's mark of Amos Elvins (Elvins worked for James Purdey before establishing his own business in 1864 at 64 Wells Road, Oxford Street, and he supplied barrels to Thomas Boss and other top makers). The top rib is signed "Cogswell & Harrison 223 & 224 Strand, London", and the back-action locks are signed as well. The push-forward underlever single-bite snap-action with half-cocking feature is Edward Harrison's patent No. 271 of 1864. The round fences have rising rods operating off the under-lever, which push the hammers back to half-cock when the underlever is pressed forward. This allows the gun to be opened in one smooth movement, and once re-loaded, the gun snaps shut with the hammers still at half-cock. The action bar is signed "Harrison's Patent No 26" within an acanthus-leaf cartouche, and this patent use number is also marked on the action table, under the barrels, and the fore-end iron. This action was popular, so a low use number indicates the gun was made early in its run, in 1864 or 1865, depending on the number of guns built on this design. Unfortunately Cogswell & Harrison no longer have the records for guns made during this period, so it is not possible to know how many sporting guns were made each year, or to trace the original owner. The barrels still have mirror bores, and the gun weighs 6 lb 13 oz.