Wesson Pocket Shotgun

I recently bought an interesting gun at Cabela's. Apparently it had been there for some time because no one knew what it was.
It's an 1870 Frank Wesson single shot, centerfire smoothbore with a 24" barrel. There's a liner in the barrel that stops approx. 1.9" from the breech, forming a chamber. The liner is also smoothbore.
The breech measures .375" diameter. The liner, from the end of the chamber to the muzzle, is .358" diameter.
The serial number on the butt and inside the grips is 12. The serial number on the barrel stub/lug is 2303. There is no number on the barrel itself, or on the removeable stock. The removeable barrel is attached to the frame by a screw.
I posted it on the ASSRA forum and a member looked through his 3 volume Wesson set and found some good info on Wesson pocket shotguns. Apparently there were fewer than 25 made, all special orders. The authors of the Wesson books knew of three. Taxidermists and small bird hunters used them.
I made up a few black powder shot shells with .357 Mag brass, and a few others with round balls sized to .356. To make up the difference in the chamber between the length of the .357 Mag case and the beginning of the liner, I cut a spacer from a .357 Mag case. A .357 Max case would be better. A Stevens .38-55 even better. It shot well.
The barrel rotates to the right for loading and unloading.

more pics

Way cool what a score. I like the pocket rifles and shotguns made by wesson, stevens and others.

Stevens and Maynard were in Chicopee, MA and Frank Wesson was in Worchester, MA. Those towns are about 40 miles apart, and connected by train, so they probably worked together on projects. I'm pretty sure the Wesson Pocket Shotgun used a Stevens .38-55 shot shell.

Very interesting

That is pretty cool. Nice pick up.

The only question is, why a rear sight on a smoothbore? If it was a special order, done at the factory, who knows what the owner wanted. Lining the barrel from .375" diameter down to .358" at the muzzle forms a choke. It could be "aimed." The #12 frame doesn't look like it had been converted from rimfire to centerfire (the pocket rifles were rimfire), so it was always a smoothbore.
When I fired it (from ten feet), I didn't put the stock at my shoulder - it settles perfectly into the crook of my arm.
Too bad there's no Frank Wesson serial number info left. I'd like to know what barrel stub #2303 was originally.
Here's a pic of the barrel/lug connection and the recoil shield.

That is one cool little gun. Are the Wesson stocks the same for all frame sizes? I have a medium frame pocket rifle, but unfortunately no stock.

I wonder if the stocks are interchangeable. Would a Stevens stock fit?
What caliber is your rifle?

Interesting bit of history.

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A very nice catch of a hen's tooth - CONGRATS ! !

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Very Cool ! That is the type of gun that I look for when out browsing at small shops and gun shows.

Jedman

I found it at Cabela's in Maine. They said it had been there for awhile. There's a Steven's .22 Pocket Rifle at the Kittery Trading Post in Maine that's been there for a long time, but the price seems high. It's in good shape.

https://www.kitterytradingpost.com/n...cgid=0#start=1

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Originally Posted by Battis

I recently bought an interesting gun at Cabela's. Apparently it had been there for some time because no one knew what it was.
It's an 1870 Frank Wesson single shot, centerfire smoothbore with a 24" barrel. There's a liner in the barrel that stops approx. 1.9" from the breech, forming a chamber. The liner is also smoothbore.
The breech measures .375" diameter. The liner, from the end of the chamber to the muzzle, is .358" diameter.
The serial number on the butt and inside the grips is 12. The serial number on the barrel stub/lug is 2303. There is no number on the barrel itself, or on the removeable stock. The removeable barrel is attached to the frame by a screw.
I posted it on the ASSRA forum and a member looked through his 3 volume Wesson set and found some good info on Wesson pocket shotguns. Apparently there were fewer than 25 made, all special orders. The authors of the Wesson books knew of three. Taxidermists and small bird hunters used them.
I made up a few black powder shot shells with .357 Mag brass, and a few others with round balls sized to .356. To make up the difference in the chamber between the length of the .357 Mag case and the beginning of the liner, I cut a spacer from a .357 Mag case. A .357 Max case would be better. A Stevens .38-55 even better. It shot well.
The barrel rotates to the right for loading and unloading.

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That is a nice little gun. I have some 357 Maximum brass. If you want to try it I can send you a few. PM me if interested.

PM sent

I once owned a ww2 german flare gun converted to 12g .
Quite wieghty and a pleasure to shoot
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