Thomas Bacon
Thomas Bacon began his career in gun making by supplying parts to Ethan Allen and around 1850, prior to a brief association with Manhattan firearms, he founded Bacon & Co., which produced relatively small numbers of various single shot and pepperbox percussion pistols in the mid-1850s.
After working as plant manager for Manhattan Firearms, he subsequently founded Bacon Manufacturing Co.
Bacon Manufacturing made revolvers nearly identical to the Manhattan Firearms models. Thomas Bacon ultimately left Bacon Manufacturing and founded a third eponymous firm, the Bacon Arms company, which manufactured cartridge weapons.
Roger P.
Bacon underhammer pistols
Circa 1855: The underhammer design was introduced early in the percussion era by Ethan Allen and others. The smooth upper profile made underhammers easy pistols for concealment and consequently these became known as boot leg or bootlegger pistols.
Bacon & Co. produced only about a total of 500 underhammer pistols.
The octagonal sections allow for the barrels to be unscrewed for loading.
Although these two pistols are very similar, they are not identical. Their engravings differ and only one came equipped with a rear sight. However, they have consecutive serial numbers, making it temping to speculate that they have been together since before the time of the American civil war.
Roger P.
