Parlour / Pocket Pistols

This week for Firearm Friday we are zooming in on some of our smallest editions in the museum, using a broad term to describe them as Parlour, Gallery or Pocket pistols!.

The two firearms we have pictured are a double action Harrington & Richards “Young America” revolver, they were produced from 1884 to 1941 and were popular compact pistols which were more commonly chambered in a .32 calibre. They were known for their reliability and H&R produced approximately 1.5 million of these firearms.

The second firearm is a unknown make and model which seems to be produced in Germany around the 19th century, which is known as a “Parlour” pistol; it is chambered in 6MM rimfire it has a 7 inch part octagon barrel. 

A gallery gun, parlor gun or pocket gun is a type of firearm designed for recreational indoor target shooting.

These guns were developed in 1845, when French inventor Louis-Nicolas Flobert created the first rimfire metallic cartridge by modifying a percussion cap to hold a small lead bullet. In the 19th century. Gallery guns are still manufactured, although these days, they have been replaced by airguns for the purpose of indoor shooting.

Parlor pistols came into fashion in the mid-19th century; they typically featured heavy barrels and were chambered in a small caliber. They were used for target shooting in homes with a dedicated parlor or gallery for this purpose. The Remington Rider single shot pistol was one of the better-known American-made parlor guns.

There was also firearms of that era that we referred to as “Saloon Guns”. Saloon guns were smoothbore weapons that fired 6mm Flobert rounds, but can refer to a large caliber firearm that was made to shoot a smaller caliber round in indoor shooting galleries by use of a chamber insert called a Morris tube. The Morris tube was shaped to the cartridge that the weapon was capable of firing and inside this tube was a smaller chamber for the round to fit.

These days indoor shooting galleries are somewhat a thing of the past, outdoor ranges are more prevalent especially in Australia and with the introduction of air rifles and pistols the “Parlour” or “Gallery” gun is most commonly a thing of the past.

We have many variations of parlour and gallery firearms in our museum, the two pictured are some unique examples of this style of pistols.