Pocket-Sized Firepower

Bill Sell via the Mercer County Historical Society

These pistols were found at the bottom of a filing cabinet in December of 2023. Although we don't presently know who donated the pistols to the museum, we do know that they have been here for at least forty years.

The Sharps pepper box pistols were very popular small pistols first manufactured in the United States in 1850. Christian Sharps was issued a patent for a revolver in 1849 when he was a resident of Washington, D.C. But the pistol is actually not a revolver at all. There is no cylinder to revolve, nor do the barrels revolve. Instead, it was fired by a striker that revolved in a clockwise motion, igniting a percussion cap in each barrel, thus making the small gun a deadly four-shot at close quarters.

The pepperbox pistol was sometimes referred to as a Derringer. But it was not a Derringer at all. A Derringer was a single-shot muzzle-loading pistol that bore the manufacturer's name.

The Sharps pepper box began commercial production in 1859 when Christian Sharps became the sole owner of the Fairmont Rifle Works in Philadelphia. The first model was a .22 caliber, with a brass frame. About 85,000 of these little pistols were made between 1859 and 1868.

In 1862, William Hankins joined the firm, and the company was then known as Sharps and Hankins. With Hankins' money, they expanded quickly and acquired a new factory. The new factory used the innovative “rim fire” cartridges, and the “pepper boxes” increased in size and popularity.

If you would like to see these little pistols, stop by the Riley House at 130 East Market Street in Celina. We are open from 9 to 5 on Mondays and Fridays. The museum will be closed for the month of January!