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Pepper-box

The pepper-box revolver or simply pepperbox (also "pepper-pot", from its resemblance to the household pepper grinder) is a multiple-barrel repeating firearm that has three or more barrels grouped around a central axis. It mostly appears in the form of a multi-shot handheld firearm. Pepperboxes exist in all ammunition systems: matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, percussion, pinfire, rimfire and centerfire.


Pepper-box by Allen & Thurber, one of the most common American designs

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This type of weapon was popular in North America from 1830 until the American Civil War, but the concept was introduced much earlier, in the 15th century several single shot barrels were attached to a stock, being fired individually by means of a match.

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The pepperbox, at least the weapon that is mostly associated with this term, was invented in the 1830s and was meant mainly for civilian use. It spread rapidly in the United Kingdom, the USA and some parts of continental Europe. It was similar to the later revolver in that it contained bullets in separate chambers in a rotating cylinder. Unlike the revolver, however, each chamber had its own barrel, making a complex indexing system unnecessary (though pepperboxes with such a system do exist).<5>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper-box