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

The use of cartridges with a nipple and cap instead of a pin - sort of like a removable chamber for a muzzle-loader - is something I've only seen in pictures, such as those provided by Tinker and Mr Helsley on pages 11 and 12 of this thread. I suppose if one ran out of pinfire cartridges, such devices could temporarily turn the gun into a muzzle-loader, but I'm guessing that with the increased availability of prepared cartridges and primed hulls and reloading tools, especially towards the end of the 1850s, such retrograde devices would no longer be needed and would have fallen by the wayside. If you happen to have a copy of Macdonald Hasting's slim book English Sporting Guns and Accessories, there is another picture of one on page 66.

OK, I went back and picked up the single-barrel conversion, and it does feel wonderful in the hand, the weight and balance seem just right. The owner must have been very pleased with the conversion work, and it is always good to remember that these old guns were once someone's pride and joy, and they delivered satisfying days in the field.

A repurposed barrel is one thing, but what about purpose-built pinfire singles? There was a very limited demand, as rarely was one barrel preferred over two. As breech-loading began appearing on more mundane guns, not surprisingly this included single-barrel guns, and the moderate-to-cheap single-barrel pinfire was popular on the Continent, judging from the number that have survived. Singles were popular in France, where walked-up shooting was the norm. Better and best-quality singles did appear on the Continent and in Britain, but in Britain at least, a best-quality single would have been more expensive than a lesser quality double, and a good-quality single would not have cost significantly less than a double gun. I have not encountered many singles in my years of searching.

Here are two 'best-quality' singles to consider today. The first is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever pinfire sporting gun by Boss & Co. of London, ordered by Sir John Harpur-Crewe (1824-1886), 9th Baronet of Calke Abbey and High Sheriff of Derbyshire, on 1 July 1864 and completed on 5 October the same year. I believe the gun was purchased for his son Vauncey, for his 18th birthday (on October 14 of that year). Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe (1846-1924) became the 10th (and last) baronet. He was a very avid shooter and collector of natural history specimens (a hobby for which this would have been the perfect gun). The gun has a short sighting rib at the breech signed "Boss & Co. 73 St James Street London," and the back-action lock is signed "Boss & Co.." It has a 30 1/16" damascus barrel, which still has a mirror bore. The gun has a standard LOP of 14", and weighs a very light 5 lb 4 oz. If I'm not mistaken, Boss & Co. only made three pinfire singles in their entire history. Like the two Boss guns covered on page 14 of this thread, it is beautifully made, but understated in its appearance.

The Wikipedia entry for Vauncey Harpur-Crewe notes "...Sir Vauncey concentrated on building up his enormous collection of stuffed birds, bird's eggs and Lepidoptera. His collection included birds shot by himself, and rare or abnormally coloured specimens bought from dealers and taxidermists. By the time of Sir Vauncey's death, the taxidermy collection numbered several thousand cases. Although some of this was subsequently sold to meet heavy death duties, much remained at Calke, only coming to light sixty years later."

Vauncey Harpur-Crewe


If you take a moment to Google 'Calke Abbey' and 'taxidermy', and I suggest that you do, you will see many specimens which I expect were collected with this gun. The Victorians did like their taxidermy displays!







The second is a 12-bore double-bite screw grip rotary-underlever pinfire sporting gun by John Dickson & Son of Edinburgh, made in 1875, late for a pinfire. It also has a short sighting rib over the breech, and the barrel is signed "John Dickson & Son, 63 Princes Street, Edinburgh," and the back-action lock simply "John Dickson & Son." The fine damascus barrel is 31 1/16" in length and still has a mirror bore. Both the barrel and action carry the maker's mark J.D.&S, leaving no mystery as to who built the gun. In pure gunmaking excess, it has two beautifully-shaped percussion fences, neither of which is in any ways functional. It also has the most beautifully-figured stock of any pinfire I've seen. This is another single with standard measurements (LOP etc) and is not a 'boy's gun', as singles are often characterized. According to John Dickson & Son this gun was made entirely in-house, and at the time of this gun the firm employed 18 men and boys, while using some outworkers in Edinburgh to assist with barrel browning and case-making. Unfortunately the sales ledger no longer exists so it is not possible to trace the original owner. Dickson made 5 pinfires in 1875, two singles and three doubles (of the latter, one was built with a Bastin sliding-action). In all Dickson made 10 single-barrel pinfires between 1864 (when he started making pinfires) and 1875. This gun weighs 6 lb 7 oz.




The Dickson has a horn butt plate, a rarity on a pinfire.


Singles being "rare birds," perhaps in a later post I'll cover these in greater detail, with some others. The Dickson in particular has interesting features, in part from being a mid-1870s gun.