Four-Barrel Mule Ear Custom Rifle from the 1850s (Ad-free)
Added 2025-08-09 12:00:07 +0000 UTCThis is a custom rifle made by gunsmith P.E. Hall of Ashtabula, Ohio most likely between 1948 and 1854. It has a cluster of four .36 caliber rifles barrels (24 inches long) in an octagonal frame. The action is a quadruple set of mule ear hammers, two on each side, with a double set trigger. Pretty neat!
Comments
This is a volley gun, a long range shotgun. The hammers on each side are meant to be cocked together. It`s got a set trigger because it has to trip all four sears at the same time, which probably requires too much force with a normal, unassisted trigger. That maybe also explains the broken trigger. While it is possible fire the barrels individually but I do not think that was the main intended purpose. It would not have been difficult to integrate a proper selection mechanism or to add half-cock notches for pre-capping all the barrels. It`s a four gun single shot ;-)
Paul Hofmann
2025-08-09 21:38:40 +0000 UTCFascinating firearm! If I were around then I most definitely would have tried to fire all 4 barrels at once. And definitely not a smart thing to do.
Glenn Miller
2025-08-09 21:29:18 +0000 UTC
