The Remington Zig-Zag Derringer - or "PepperBox", originally termed "Elliot's Pocket Revolver", was made 1861-1862 with fewer than 1,000 manufactured. A 6 shot 22 rimfire short, Remington's first firearm designed for metallic cartridge. Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...

 patented the rim fire cartridge on August 8, 1854 patent number 11496. The patent was reissued in 1860. Six-Shot 3-3/16 barrel cluster with ZigZag grooves at the breech end working with diamond-shaped key extending in the interior from the ring trigger to provide the revolving mechanism of the barrels.

This is a double action derringer

Derringer

The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gun makers worldwide, and the name was often misspelled; this misspelling soon became...

 with a concealed hammer

Hammer

A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, forging metal and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and vary widely in their shape and structure. The usual features are a handle and a head,...

 which is primarily within the grip frame. The lever behind the ring is lifted to return the ring without firing and pushed down to release the barrel group to allow loading through a port in the breech of the frame. The grips are made of hard rubber ( Gutta percha ) and ivory

Ivory

Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

 being the only known other original. Blue or Silver finish (not nickel) or combination of both. Blue with silver frame or blue being most common and silver barrels more scarce. Screws can enter from either the left or right, mainspring set screw

Set screw

A set screw is a type of screw generally used to secure an object within or against another object. The most common examples are securing a pulley or gear to a shaft. Set screws are most often headless , meaning that the screw is fully threaded and has no head projecting past the major diameter of...

, none, or hole without threads present, throughout the serial number distribution with no apparent continuity. Serial number is on the frame under left grip.

Extensive study has identified approximately 140 known examples, being that this model has a quite delicate mechanism and was replaced by the Remington-Elliot Derringer "New Repeating Pistol" even before all were assembled, the survival rate of this model is expected to be quite low.

Markings

• Elliots Patent August 17 1858 - May 29, 1860 (left)
• Manufactured By Remington's Ilion, N.Y. (right).