Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 - Dan Shideler - Страница 12

THE LITTLE

BROWNIE THAT

CHALLENGED

THE WORLD:

The Mossberg Brownie (1919-1932)

BY JACK A. MYERS

HOW THE BROWNIE CAME TO BE

Before the world-wide sales success of its little Brownie pistol launched the O.F. Mossberg & Sons company to its well deserved world-wide recognition, Oscar F. Mossberg had already gained knowledge and experience in the field of gun manufacturing and sales.

Oscar was an industrious young Swede of 22 when he immigrated to America in 1866. And 53 years later, in 1919, he introduced his Brownie pistol, the first and only handgun his small company ever produced. That small company continues today and now holds the distinction of being America’s oldest surviving, family-owned, gunmaking company. In my opinion, the little Brownie is as much an example of the American gunmaker’s art as Sam Colt’s earliest revolver or Oliver Winchester’s first lever action rifle.

A truly unique little pocket pistol, Mossberg’s Brownie was a four-barrel double-action handgun that weighs in at just 10 ozs. and is 4.5 inches overall, with a cluster of four 2.5-inch barrels. A single pull of the trigger cocks and fires the first barrel and on the same stroke revolves the firing pin to the next barrel’s chamber. It is chambered for the .22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle cartridge. Every Brownie left the shop with a small manual extractor rod fitted in a small well behind the left grip. The top of the gun has a very small rectangular opening at top left to accommodate this rod. (Extractor rods are usual missing from the older guns, but new reproduction rods that cannot be distinguished from the originals are readily available on the internet.) Although all of the estimated 33,404 Brownies produced shared the same appearance, with a rich, blued finish and ridged black walnut grips, some were roll stamped with different patent information on the right side of the barrel cluster.

An original Brownie, as drawn by Canadian illustrator Palmer Cox (1840-1924).

Contemporary writers have reported that due to its diminutive size, ease of concealability, and near superiority to other designs available at the time, the Brownie was an attractive and appealing all-purpose handgun. It was named after a similarly-endowed mythical character which was very popular in that era’s literature: the Brownie, a fictitious elfin character created in the late 1800s by Canadian illustrator Palmer Cox (1840-1924). Though perhaps hard to appreciate today, Cox’s Brownies were as popular in late-Victorian America as Smurfs would be a century later, and their name inspired a number of popular consumer products. The very popular Kodak “Brownie” camera is a good example; another is the junior division of the American Girl Scouts, founded in 1912, which added a branch for younger girls in grades two and three called “Brownies” with this explanation: “Our Brownie age level gets its name from folk tales of little brownies that would enter homes and help the occupants with housework. This sets the tone for Brownie Scouts who are learning to help others.”

The information we share here will not be a detailed report of the company’s early years, but more a synopsis of discoveries about the variations of Brownies that have surfaced over the ensuing years. Both collectors and dealers want to know more how they can recognize an unusual, rare, scarce, or oddball Brownie from the more commonly found specimens, than to study the company history. I feel sure there are more discoveries to come of heretofore unrecognized variations of the Brownie.

Early writers have described Oscar’s involvement with the design and production of other small, easily concealed handguns sold by the the C.S. Shattuck Co., stating he was first awarded a patent in 1906 for a four-barrel pistol which came to be known as the Shattuck “Unique” or “Invisible Defender.” We know the name “Novelty” has also been used in connection with those early pistols. Those early researchers have also detailed how he toiled alone in his one-man shop in a loft at Hatfield, Massachusetts, to produce those guns for his employers. Mossberg subsequently worked for the Stevens Arms Company and Marlin-Rockell in a variety of production management positions.

In 1919, at the tender age of 75, Oscar – under the auspices of his newly-formed company, O.F. Mossberg & Sons – started producing his new Brownie pistol, almost a full year before receiving the patent for it. Oscar filed an application for his Brownie with the U.S. Patent Office on Aug. 28, 1919. His patent (number 1,348,035) was awarded July 27, 1920. It’s interesting to note that unlike most such patent applications of that era, the guns he produced actually matched the drawings he had submitted! It is recorded that Oscar moved his gun production facilities to New Haven, Connecticut and still later moved again into larger facilities in New Haven and hired a few mechanically knowledgeable helpers from among his Swedish friends.

“Unique” palm pistol made by Mossberg for C. S. Shattuck. Note misspelling of “Shattuck” on roll marking.

NUMBER OF BROWNIES PRODUCED

Since there are no known surviving factory records to verify the actual number of units produced in Oscar’s 13 years of fabricating Brownies, guesstimated figures for a total number range from 32,000 to 37,000. Since I’ve been keeping a database on observed and reported serial numbers on these guns, the highest serial number I would consider reliable is 33,404, found on a gun in Florida. And although I was told of a serial numbered gun lower than any other reported, I never saw it except in a couple of photos, and the person who reported it did not answer my request for additional photographic proof. Therefore, the lowest number I can personally attest to is in my collection and is number 212.

This leads to some interesting speculation. Oscar Mossberg began production of the Brownie in 1919, before receiving the patent he had applied for in August of that year and which was not granted until nearly a year later, on July 27, 1920. Now, do the math. For Oscar to have produced my estimated 33,404 units from 1919 to 1932, as reported, the output of his shop facilities would have to have averaged 2,569 units annually. That averages out at 214 units per week, or 31 units per day. Therefore my Brownie numbered 212 could conceivably have been produced the first or second week of production and was handled by Oscar himself!

However, when one considers the amount of time Oscar probably spent on preparation and experimentation with various production methods, it’s doubtful #212 left his shop until sometime in perhaps the first month. Previous reports are not clear on how many helpers, if any, Oscar hired at the very beginning. Though the name of the company includes “& Sons,” his boys were aged 21 and 23 at the time, so is very probably that he hired some more experienced help for his assembly process.

TOUGH TIMES DEMANDED TOUGH SALES TACTICS

Early Brownie ads were primarily aimed at the outdoorsman type of prospective buyer such as hunters, trappers, fishermen and such. As that dark decade of the 1920s inexorably moved toward the Great Crash of 1929 and resulting mass unemployment, many men were resorting to such outdoor vocations in order to feed their families. The initial price of the Brownie was $5. Six years later, probably due to Oscar’s improved production methods, Taylor Fur of New York was offering the Brownie for just $3.45 in their 1926 advertisements!

The Brownie ads state they would be shipped “postpaid” anywhere in the U.S.. The Brownie was delivered in a small, very plain, boxed unmarked in any manner. The boxes in my collection measure 4.75" X 3.5" X 1" deep, just big enough to accommodate the Brownie, wrapped in brown oiled paper, and accompanied by factory papers. Other writers have reported that these fragile boxes were produced in blue, red or black solid colors with no particular color being more common than any other. The specimens I have are solid black, and the only other two I’ve been told of were also black. The boxes, being composed of paper, have a much lesser degree of survivabilty than the guns they contained and are therefore more rare to find than the guns themselves. The current price of these guns in Very Good to Excellent condition, with their original box and papers, is quite high. One such specimen advertised nationally in a gun publication in 2007 for $799 was already sold when I inquired about it.

It’s interesting to note that the boxes I’ve handled were of simple cardboard construction, but were then covered with the colored paper that has a somewhat “pebbled” texture to it. It had to have been more expensive to use a plain box with that extra step of production necessary to glue that colored and textured paper over every surface of the box, except most of the interior! I’ve not yet resolved that puzzling feature.

Brownie in original factory box.

VARIATION #1

The information stamped into the right side of the barrel cluster on these earliest guns is shown in the photo at left. In italicized type it reads: PAT. APPL’D.FOR. There are no spaces between the abbreviated words.

The location of the serial numbers on this variation may be found in five different locations: 1) under the right grip, on the edge of the gripstrap, down at bottom; 2) with gun open, on right side of the barrel cluster, down near the hinge; 3) with gun open, look up under the little “ears” on the front of the barrel latch lever which lies along the top of the gun; 4) & 5) on back of both metal side plates on receiver section of the gun. Some of the earlier guns also had the serial number written in pencil on the back of the wooden grips. We estimate this model was produced from 1919 until mid-1923 and that there were probably between 10,000 and 11,000 produced.

Location of serial numbers on Variation #1.

NOTE 1: So far there have been only 50 of the Variation #1 reported to our database. This is 32.25% of the total production, not quite one third.

NOTE 2: Due to the length of some serial numbers and the limited space available on some parts, only the last three or four digits of the whole number may be found. These are typically found in locations 2) and 3) shown in the photo, and on back of grips.

NOTE 3: The muzzle of the barrels has not been chamfered (beveled) as on later guns. The face of the muzzle is completely flat.

NOTE 4: Unlike some later Brownies, there is no pin at top center of the metal plate on the right side. Below are photos of the two types of sideplate. Earlier Variations #1 and #2 had no pin.

Location of the pin that identifies later variations. Variation #1 (front) has no pin.

Warning Regarding Disassembly

The metal side plates on the Brownie have a single screw towards the rear holding them to the frame. When you remove that screw, do not pry up on the plate. This usually results in the sharp edges of both the plate and the frame being marred beyond repair. These metal side plates are beveled into the frame at the front edge. After removing the screw gently loosen the plate by lifting it and/or moving it up and down to loosen it from the frame. Once loose, slide it to the rear for removal. CAUTION: There are some variations with an alignment pin through the metal plate on the right side. On these Brownies, once the screw is removed you must gently lift the rear of the plate until it just clears the top of the pin before sliding it to the rear.

VARIATION #2

Variation #2 differs from Variation #1 only in that the stamped patent information on the right side of the barrel cluster reads: PAT’D.JAN.27,1920. That is the date which was discovered to be in error. The patent papers are plainly marked as July, not January. I’ve had only six Variation #2 specimens reported to the database. These represent just under 4% of the total number reported. This would indicate 1,260 units probably were produced from mid-1923 to early in 1924, a guesstimated total of 1,260 units. Personally, I have a hunch it may have been even less.

Erroneous patent date identifying Variation #2.

VARIATION #2.5

Variation #2.5 differs from Variation #2 in ways which strongly indicate it to be a short-run transitional piece to the later Variation #3, which the company seems to have eventually settled on and produced in greatest volume. The serial numbers can be found in the same locations as on Variations #1 and #2. The only visible external clue that this is not one of those two earlier variations is that no alignment pin is found in the metal plate on the right side, even though it has the correct patent date stamped on it, which would immediately identify it as a Variation #3. The patent info reads: PAT. JULY 27, 1920. It’s interesting to note that the stamped patent information on Variation #2.5 has a space separating each word or group of numerals.

Identifying characteristics of Variation 2.5.

This particular example of Variation 2.5 is a very recent discovery and only three specimens have been observed thus far. They represent only 1.3% of the total production, or less than 400 units produced, probably for only 30 days or so early in 1924. The serial numbers on the reported specimens are just 725 apart, which if Oscar followed the usually consecutive numbering of each piece, would mean there may be at least another 723 units out there. Whichever figures one uses, this means that Variation #2.5 is currently the rarest of the Brownie family and should, especially in the future, demand a premium in its selling price.

VARIATION #3

Variation #3 had the longest production period and therefore the most units of production, making it the most often encountered Brownie variation found. The stamping found on the right side of the barrel cluster of this variation is the same as the previous Variation #2.5: PAT. JULY 27, 1920. An estimated 20,977 units were produced from 1924 until the end of its production in 1932. Both of the boxed specimens I’ve managed to obtain are the Variation #3. It stands to reason that since these were the most recently made guns, the better their chance to have survived in Very Good, or Excellent, and even New condition. (Unfired, pristine guns with their original box and factory papers have come to be commonly known as NIB, or New In Box.) Only four boxes have been reported thus far.

Variation #3 is easily identified by the small alignment pin through top center of the right side metal plate. Its serial numbers are stamped into the bottom of the butt; on right side of the barrel cluster down near the hinge; and under the small “ears” on front of the barrel latch lever along the top of the gun.

NOTE: The full serial number is on butt while the other two stampings may only be the last few digits due to space available, and, these latter two locations can only be seen when the barrel cluster is lowered for loading.

Brownie Variation #3. Note alignment pin, which distinguishes it from Variation #2.

OTHER VARIATIONS?

There is a very good possibility that there are even more variations of this little pistol than the four reported here. Variation #2.5 was discovered only because I had learned to start observing every survivor for the slightest difference from any Brownie heretofore known. I then noticed there was a specimen that had the patent date of one variation but lacked the pinned side plate of that variation. Possibly parts from two different variations joined, I thought? Soon after that a similar survivor became available. The main difference was that the later one was in excellent condition and not likely to be a hodgepodge of parts from different guns.

In the fairly recent past I’ve observed other, more startling types of Brownies but have passed them off as home-made fabrications involving some original factory parts and a lot of imagination, mainly because none of them had their particular unusual feature ever advertised as available from the factory. There is also a possibility they were experimental display pieces to show and learn if there was a demand for their particular feature. However, nothing has ever been noted in print from that era about such experimental items. Now I’m not so sure. I may have erred and passed up a great opportunity to unearth and disclose a fifth variation. The moral of the story is: keep your eyes open and keep looking. Maybe you will be announcing the finding of a new Brownie!

A WORD OF ADVICE

For those who would like to fire one of these old-timers, be advised they were designed in an era before the advent of our modern steels and higher velocity ammunition. Therefore a real danger exists that the gun may be damaged, and/or the shooter injured, when firing one of these guns using modern hi-vel ammo. I have owned one such Brownie which had a large chunk of metal blown out of the area between the chambers! And as always, with all older guns it’s a good idea to have it inspected by a reliable and competent gunsmith before firing it.

Mystery Mossberg?

The 1979 issue of Gun Digest heralded the coming of a Mossberg “Combat Model” .45 pistol which would be ready for delivery “at the end of this year” for just under $350. One stainless steel prototype automatic pistol evidentally was available for display at the NRA show that year. It would be interesting to know at this late date exactly what became of that prototype and why the production of that gun never proceeded.

That same Gun Digest article goes on to state that this was not the only Mossberg entry into the handgun field. It outlines how Security Industries of America had a small-frame 5-shot revolver they’d been developing but to which Mossberg had obtained the rights “and will be producing it soon.” Oh, yeah?

Interesting to note, in that article the author calls our beloved Brownie “anything but a howling success,” and notes that “it soon disappeared from the scene.” The author further says of the Brownie, “Today it’s a lesser collector’s item.”

The author finishes his story with this statement: “This time Mossberg seems to have taken a more likely tack and we expect to see a good shooter response to these two guns.” Hmmmmm.... That was written just 30 years ago. The author obviously did not have access to a crystal ball.

Brownie chamber blowout caused by high-velocity ammunition.