Nathan Russell Davis, known as N.R. Davis, was a pioneer in the American firearm industry. Born in 1828, he established N.R. Davis & Sons, a company that would leave a lasting mark on the firearm manufacturing landscape. From its humble beginnings in a small shop in Assonet, Massachusetts, to its evolution into a respected firearm manufacturer, the company’s history is a testament to Davis’s vision and resilience. This article delves into the early years of N.R. Davis’s companies, highlighting their innovative contributions such as a unique pinfire shotgun, and the company’s enduring legacy.

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The 19th century was a time of great change, as the world transitioned from agrarian societies to industrialized nations. Despite these changes, one thing remained constant: the deep and abiding bond between humans, their firearms, and their dogs. This bond is evident in a series of fascinating photographs from the 19th century, which showcase people from all walks of life posing with their pinfire shotguns and their loyal canine companions. From hunters to farmers, from kids to couples, these portraits offer a glimpse into a world where the relationship between a person, their weapon, and their dog was seen as an essential part of daily life. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these intriguing images and the stories they tell about the relationships between humans, their firearms, and their furry friends.

Ready for the Hunt

The first two portraits depict men preparing for a hunting excursion. Dressed in traditional hunting attire and armed with Lefaucheux pinfire shotguns, they stand ready with their trusty canine companions by their side. These hunting dogs, eager for action, seem to anticipate the thrill of the chase that awaits them in the field.

Dellazoppa Frères was a hardware trading company that was founded in Paris, France in 1871 by François and Jean Dellazoppa. The company operated in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Brussels during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and produced a range of hardware and related products including metallic ammunition such as pinfire cartridges.

The Hausbieble, also known as the “House Bible,” was a collection of three German-language Bibles printed in America by the Saur family in the 1740s-1770s. As the first European-language Bibles to be printed in America, the Hausbieble was important in helping German immigrants preserve their cultural heritage in the New World. Additionally, it played a role in the American Revolutionary War, as British soldiers used its pages to make paper cartridges.

The pinfire system marked a turning point in firearms technology, enhancing safety and reliability. But what is the pinfire system, and why was it invented? Let’s explore its origins and historical significance.

What Is the Pinfire System?

The pinfire system, invented by French gunsmith Casimir Lefaucheux in the early 19th century, introduced a new type of cartridge and firing mechanism for firearms. Distinctively, this system used a small pin protruding from the side of the cartridge. When the firearm’s hammer struck the pin, it ignited the gunpowder, firing the bullet. This innovative approach was a marked improvement over previous firearms, which relied on loose gunpowder and separate ignition devices such as flintlocks or percussion caps.

Lefaucheux, a well-respected inventor in firearms technology, made several key contributions to the field, with the pinfire system being one of his most notable. After patenting the system in France in 1835, it quickly gained popularity and adoption by gun manufacturers globally.

H. H. Schleber & Co of Rochester, New York was a manufacturer of thread-wound shot concentrators that would allow hunters to shoot ducks, geese, turkeys, foxes and other animals that were difficult to get close to, from further away.

There were many shot concentrator patents around the world and they all aimed to keep the loose shot, fired from a shotgun, together longer before it started spreading out. Modern guns and even some guns during this time period, use a method called choke-boring that tapers down the muzzle-end of the barrel to achieve similar results.

Schleber’s patented, thread-wound shot cartridges were designed to hold lead shot inside two tin half cylinders that were held together by thread that would unwind in flight after it was fired. After the thread completely unwound it would release the shot. They were wrapped with varying length of thread that corresponded to how many yards away the target was that you wanted to shoot. Some early reviews of the system noted that the hunter would need to be good at judging the distance needed in order to correctly choose the right cartridge; especially since at closer distances it would be a large solid projectile until it fully unwound.

A lark mirror, known in French as le miroir à alouettes, was a tool to help hunters entice small songbirds to their location so they could be harvested.

In 1680, an early French dictionary referred to these mirrors for catching larks and ortolans. It defined them as:

A piece of wood carved into an arch where there are several notches which small mirrors are glued & which is supported by a peg in the middle of which there is a hole to put a string in order to make this mirror turn, that is driven into the ground between two sheets to catch ortolans & mainly larks.

Ortolan Bunting

These small songbirds were considered to be a delicacy and were cooked and eaten whole, in one large bite; head, bones and all. Ortolans were the most coveted and eating them has been represented in paintings and media over the centuries as a gluttonous, almost shameful act. Modern, French preparation of this delicacy would make the use of ortolans that were captured alive and blinded or kept in dark cages where they were force fed until they were twice their normal size. They were then drowned and roasted in Armagnac, a type of Brandy from the Armagnac region in southwest France.

I recently picked up a Robert rifle and of course had to find as many books with original source documentation in them as I could. The first and most unique is from a small book with 143 pages written by the Count of Langel that focuses on various topics relevant to hunters in the 1830s.

I have not come across many advertising posters like this that mention pinfire cartridges so I jumped at the chance to buy this one when it came up for auction. This early color lithograph was printed between 1885 and 1889 and was likely provided to various gunmakers and ironmongers who sold Eley cartridges to the public.

It would have functioned as both an in-store advertisement as well as a quick reference guide to the various types of cartridges and accessories that Eley manufactured, as shown when turning it over.

Here is a patent manuscript by Casimir Lefaucheux. It is French patent number 8955 from 1850. It describes a reusable pinfire shotshell that has a base that unscrews to allow easy reloading. It also pictures a tool to extract the shell from the gun and unscrew it.

By 1850, pinfire shotshells had been on the market for 15 years and people were familiar with these new breech-loading guns. But they were still more expensive than buying a percussion cap and powder used by a muzzle-loading, percussion gun. Shotshells that were able to be reloaded was one solution to this issue. And many manufacturers made metallic shotshells that could be reloaded many times.

Here is a selection of pinfire cartridges that were loaded with a fireworks charge. These pinfire fireworks cartridges allowed anyone with a pinfire shotgun, pistol, rifle or cane gun to shoot fireworks into the air.

This is one of the very few American-made pinfire shotshells. It was patented on 8 February 1870 by William H. Smith of Charlestown, Massachusetts.

The main idea for his improvement was around the safety issues of loading a shotshell that was already primed. He designed the system to allow it to be loaded ahead of time and then primed later when one was ready to use it.

W. & C. Eley

Born into a family of silversmiths and cartridge manufacturers, William Thomas Eley and Charles Eley took over their father’s business upon his death in 1841 and founded W. & C. Eley. They continued making percussion caps and their patented wire cartridges which the company had become well known for.

Kingdom of Sardinia

The story of Italian pinfire guns and cartridges begins in the Kingdom of Sardinia with an order of 5000 Lefaucheux model 1854 revolvers. This first order was placed in 1859 and delivered in 1861 and these guns were referred to as the Corto model. They were pretty similar to the typical Lefaucheux model 1854 revolver except they had a 21% shorter barrel around 123mm long. At the time that these revolvers were ordered and delivered it is thought that the arsenals had not yet started producing their own pinfire cartridges yet so cartridges were likely imported from France or elsewhere as well.

The Kingdom of Italy

Shortly after these revolvers were ordered, the Kingdom of Italy was formed and a new order was made for another 12,000 revolvers.