Blunt & Syms Pepperbox
- Category
- Pistol
- Barrel
- 89 mm
- Weight, empty
- 450 g
- Introduced
- 1837
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox is a six-shot, double-action percussion pepperbox pistol sold by the New York firm of Orison Blunt and John G. Syms between roughly 1837 and the 1850s. Built around a rotating cluster of .31 caliber smoothbore barrels rather than a single bored cylinder, it uses an underhammer mechanism in which the hammer strikes a percussion cap on the bottom barrel, and a ring trigger that both rotates the barrel group and cocks the action with each pull. The streamlined underhammer layout, with a small shield to protect the shooter's hand from cap fragments, made it a popular concealable self-defense arm before the rise of the cartridge revolver.
Pepperboxes like the Blunt & Syms were the everyday concealed-carry pistols of the 1840s and 1850s, valued for delivering multiple shots before the single-barrel cap-and-ball revolver and metallic cartridge displaced them.
Made in small, medium, and large frame sizes; many examples are unmarked, while marked guns carry 'BLUNT & SYMS / NEW YORK' on the frame. Orison Blunt received U.S. patent 6,966 (25 December 1849) covering an underhammer pepperbox design.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Blunt & Syms
- Category
- Pistol
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1837 to 1855
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 89 mm
- Overall length
- 190 mm
- Weight, empty
- 450 g
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Double action
- Firing mechanism
- Percussion
- Trigger
- Double action
- Capacity
- 6
- Magazine
- Rotary
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 200 m/s
- Effective range
- 9 m
- Maximum range
- 50 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
- Rotating barrel cluster
Underhammer action
Ring trigger
Engraved frame
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,909 pistols | 450 g | 794 g | Lighter than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,911 pistols | 190 mm | 196 mm | Shorter than about 60% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,941 pistols | 89 mm | 102 mm | Shorter than about 70% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,962 pistols | 6 | 8 | Holds fewer rounds than about 70% |
Answers
Questions about the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox
How much does the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox weigh?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox weighs 450 g (15.9 oz) empty.
What caliber is the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox is chambered in .31 Caliber Percussion (Cap and Ball).
How many rounds does the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox hold?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox holds 6 rounds, fed from a rotary magazine.
How long is the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox is 190 mm (7.48 in) long overall, with a 89 mm (3.50 in) barrel.
Who makes the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox is made by Blunt & Syms (United States). It was designed by Orison Blunt.
When was the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox introduced?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox was introduced in 1837 and discontinued in 1855.
How does the Blunt & Syms Pepperbox operate?
The Blunt & Syms Pepperbox uses a double action, and its firing mechanism is percussion.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- American civilian market
- United States
Provenance
Confidence in this record
60%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/blunt-syms-pepperbox' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "blunt-syms-pepperbox", "name": "Blunt & Syms Pepperbox", "manufacturer": { "id": "blunt-syms", "name": "Blunt & Syms", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1837, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "28e40e611f2c44e1ac38e2d2123ac976fe880b28d0aa01ae11faee7059597320" }, "category": { "id": "pistol", "name": "Pistol", "description": "Handguns designed to be fired with one or two hands" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1837, "barrel_length_mm": 89, "weight_empty_g": 450, "action_type": "double_action"}