Ethan Allen hinge breech shotgun

[Ken Descovich]

At a fairly recent gun show I came across this shotgun that had a busted stock through the wrist, a buddy of mine fixed the break and refinished the wood. The gun was in surprisingly good condition except for the brake in the stock. I am always interested in the unusual and thought I would share.

[John Dallas]

Interesting. Looks like a lot of drop. What's the DAH?

[Ken Descovich]

Drop at heel is 2.75”

[Rick Losey]

very nice - obviously a nicely graded gun

how about a picture of the action open- i can see the release, i assume the breech swings up from the back?

[Dean Romig]

The hinge is along the left side so it opens over to the left from the right side.

A beautiful gun and another testament to American ingenuity and manufacturing.

What is the year of manufacture?





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[Ken Descovich]

I should also mention it is 12 ga with 26” barrels.

[Dean Romig]

What kind of ignition system would the cartridges need to have?






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[Ken Descovich]

The guns were made around 1865 to 1872 one of the first American center fire breech loaders if not the first. Attached is a picture of the case head of a original cartridge. I do not own but would like to own one.

[Dave Noreen]

Ed suggests December 1868 for the introduction of Ethan Allen's Lid-opener, with as early as June 1867 for Parker's T-Latch.

[Rick Riddell]

Allen made barrels? That is a cool gun!

[Ken Descovich]

The barrel rib is marked Fine Laminated Steel, due to this the barrels were probably imported.

[Dean Romig]

I tried enhancing the picture to see the pattern of the Laminate but it wouldn't show.


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[Ken Snyder]

Ken,
That's a really lovely example of an Ethan Allen hinge breech, congratulations! This was a really unique and innovative design. As mentioned, it required the use of a proprietary shell. I love the way the extractor functions. The trigger guard is hinged at the front, by pulling the rearward portion down with the hinged breech open you will see the extractors move rearward thus allowing removal of a spent shell. Most examples I've seen, including mine, have very thin BWT at the muzzles, often referred to as "biscuit cutters".
Very nice higher grade example, thank you for posting!
Ken

[Ken Descovich]

Ken you are right about the muzzle wall thickness, I believe choke boring had not been thought of yet as the tubes have no choke. My bore measure about 25 thousandths.

[Ken Descovich]

I did a little investigative work and found the patent of this shotgun and still feel that 1865 as the original start date of manufacture.

[Dave Noreen]

See the patent for improvements to the design, Patent No. 84,929 granted Dec. 15, 1868.

[Ken Descovich]

Why wouldn’t that patent date be added to the patents on the gun? The only patent dates are Nov 9 1858, Sept 16 1860 and Aug 22 1865. I can't imagine Ethan Allen (a prolific gun maker) waiting three years to finally put the gun in production. Just my take.
Ken

[Daryl Hallquist]

The Allen patent in reference is quite interesting . Note that the left side of the receiver, with the hinge, is made out of one piece part of the barrel. Allen had a Patent for making composite barrels in this period.

Offered with these guns was a nice leather pouch containing 6 Allen Patent shells. These shells were similar to other early centerfires. The ones I have seen were steel.

Even more rare were the Allen primers for these shells . They come in a green faced box and examples are quite expensive.

[Mark Garrett]

Very cool gun . Looks like you friend did very nice job on the stock repair .

[Dave Noreen]

Does that trigger guard rotate like a Jones underlever to take the gun down?

[Ken Descovich]

The trigger guard is rotated forward and the cartridges are expelled, there is a gear (teeth) at the end of the trigger guard that mesh with the extractor gear (teeth), the extractor just barely catches the rim as the the cartridges are forced backwards. The original cartridges have a very small rim and sometimes the extractor slips past the cartridge rim making it a devil to get the extractor back in the correct place, this is one of the problems with this mechanism the rim's should be larger.

[Kevin McCormack]

Wow, what a great old gun!

[Ken Snyder]

Does that trigger guard rotate like a Jones underlever to take the gun down?

This gun does have a keyed forend but doesn't break down in the manner we are used to seeing with most doubles. The barrels are fixed to the action with a partial dovetail at the breech of the action and then retained with a screw from below, very similar to standard muzzle loading barrel hooks but far more refined. Removal of that screw AND the extractor mechanism would presumably allow for the barrels to be drifted off the action from right to left (toward the hinge) but unless there was a catastrophic tube failure I can't imagine any reason to attempt it. The photo with the hinged breech open shows the extractor in the fully rearward position so trigger guard fully hinged forward. The only function of the all wooden forend (other than being a forend) is to conceal the extractor coil spring and retaining rod. Please excuse the poor condition of the example I am able to photograph here. The OP should be very pleased with his wonderful example, not too many around like that one!
Ken

[Stan Hillis]

Great condition E. Allen gun. Good on you for "saving" it.

SRH

[Daryl Hallquist]

Trigger guard acts as a shell extractor.

[Dave Noreen]

Ken,

Thank you for the great explanation. From one of the early pictures I could see that the trigger guard was only attached at the front and figured it had to do something. With all the hand fitting this must have required, it seems it would have been easy enough to make the extractor much larger.

Dave

[William kephart]

My dad has an Ethan Allen hinge breech 12ga. It’s in great condition but previous owner removed and lost the firing pins.
Does anyone have a photo or diagram of the pins? Maybe even someone who has two to sell? Thanks.
Bill K.

[Dean Romig]

Bill, you can send/bring your gun to a good gunsmith and he can make them for you. It shouldn’t be hard to do.

A talented gunsmith/machinist will be able to make them. I highly recommend Dan Cullity & Son in E. Sandwich, MA. At least three of our members have used him extensively.




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[Daryl Hallquist]

The firing pins are unlike most other pins. Long, partially flat, and hard to describe. They fit into the trap door. I have a 10 gauge , possibly unfired, made for a Mr. Coats who was the superintendent of the Allen works at the time. He has a long and interesting history in that time. It comes with a neat “leather pouch” with unfired Allen patent shells. Also a tin of Allen Patent primers. The 10 gauges had long barrels, while the 12 gauges, I have seen a dozen or two, have had 26” barrels. The 12 gauges also came with the leather pouch with Allen patent shells. I can furnish email pictures if someone has an interest.

[Drew Hause]

Ethan Allen had a U.S. patent for the manufacture of damascus barrels

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-fTbxX3W/0/NWgL53XGkgmzx5ZQ3dDT2vTPhSgckK6HWH2Cwq4Hb/M/Ethan%20Allen%20patent-M.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-fTbxX3W/A)

I have images here of presumed to be his Laminated Steel barrels, Crolle and Laminated Steel used by Wesson, and Parker produced Laminated Steel
https://docs.google.com/document/d/12y9006Ur7mMCqdeeye89c7L4DQrc2iXR8p4S6OIN1bA/edit?tab=t.0

I think this is Daryl's gun. The barrels are Laminated Steel and the breech a different laminate

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-595X5Lv/0/NWktbNZFsdMm5M3xqFx5DpPQvrgHPRTZTZQzVDdhL/XL/P1020379-XL.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-595X5Lv/A)

A Boyd & Tyler rotating breech with laminated steel

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-wX2tk9n/0/KSkgcsZDgSsgTWbkgWmGPLbBd3Tvd5bQTnHLHs3RP/XL/Boyd%20%26%20Tyler%20laminated%20steel-XL.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/US-/i-wX2tk9n/A)

Another
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/shotguns/antique-shotguns---1500-1850/antique-boyd---tyler-breech-loading-shotgun.cfm?gun_id=100506868

[Arthur Shaffer]

I think this whole class of guns were developed after the British Snyder conversions of the Enfield musket was put into production. They are doubles and have different styles of actuation, but the form of the breechblock and the firing pin layout are functionally the same. These are still very popular as shootable collectibles and a lot of fun to shoot. Most owners/shooters make the .577 Snyder cases from Magtech 24 ga brass cases. Never seen it done, but I highly suspect that they could be rechambered slightly to shoot 24 ga loads.