W hat is so special about a gun in a cardboard box?   Today, nearly all guns   Sometime around 1856, with the hiring of Fordyce Beals, E. Remington & Sons began producing a
from the factory -- no matter who made them -- are shipped in cardboard boxes. So why even talk about something that is very common today. The answer is, of course, is the survival rate of cardboard boxes. Go back thirty years and try to find the original box that your favorite gun (rifle or pistol) came in. They get misplaced, thrown a-way, or destroyed. So over the years the survival rate of cardboard boxes is very low. Now go back in time to the years 1858 to 1860 and try to find the original cardboard box that your gun came in... it is almost impossible.   percussion .31 cal pocket pistol called the Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver, followed by the Remington-Beals 2nd Model Pocket, and the Remington-Beals 3rd Model Pocket Revolver. These pistols were sold to the public in pasteboard boxes that included a powder flask, a bullet mold, percussion caps, and loading / cleaning tools. Variations in these boxes are noted:
  • Fig 3. Shows an original 3-section pasteboard box with a Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver with powder flask and bullet mold.
This brings us to the subject of early Remington firearms in cardboard boxes. These boxes are often referred to as pasteboard boxes, and the outsides were coved with paper patterned to simulate black leather or to simulate a brown wood grain.
  • Fig 1 Rider's Patent Parlor Pistol in Original box. This is the only known surviving box for this pistol.
    (David Fagan collection)
  • Fig 4 Show a 4-section box with a Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver with powder flask, bullet mold and accessories.
  • Fig 5 Show a Remington-Beals 2nd Model Pocket Revolver in a 3-section cardboard box.
  • A Third Model Pocket in a cardboard box.
Some of these boxes were sold with instruction sheets glued to the top of the box.

Fig 2. Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver
with original instruction sheet.

Fig 3. Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver
in original 3-section box with all accessories.
(J.D. Hofer collection)

Fig 4. Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver
in original 4-section pasteboard box.
(J.D. Hofer collection)

Fig 5. Remington-Beals 2st Model Pocket Revolver
in original pasteboard box.
(J.D. Hofer collection)

Fig 6. Remington-Beals 3rd Model Pocket Revolver
with original pastboard box.

While others were supplied with removable instruction sheets such as the Remington-Beals 1st Model Pocket Revolver show in fig #2.

Joseph Rider came to Ilion, New York in 1857. Sometime thereafter, he had his double action, .31 cal., percussion pocket revolver made at the Remington Armory. These were sold to customers in several styles of pasteboard boxes. Fig. #7 shows a Remington-Rider D.A. PocketRevolver in a 3-section pasteboard box, Fig. #8 shows a Remington-Rider Pocket Revolver in a 5-section box, and there is also a Remington-Rider D.A. Pocket Revolver in a 3-section pasteboard box with the instruction sheet in top of the box - a rare combination. Approximately 20,000 Rider Pockets were produced, and thus we see a greater number of Rider Pockets in original pasteboard boxes in the collector's market today.

The only known Remington New Model Pocket Model in an original pasteboard box is shown in Fig.#9. There are also a few commercial Remington Beals Navy revolvers known in original pasteboard boxes. To find a large frame Remington revolver in its original pasteboard box is extremely rare.

It is believed that all of the pasteboard boxes used by E. Remington & Sons were purchased from outside venders. Unfortunately, there are no surviving records from the Remington factory to indicate this. Circumstantial evidence exists to support the theory that these boxes were purchased from outside venders. Boxes acquired by the factory from suppliers at different points in time would result in the variations in the pasteboard boxes as shown in this article.

Fig 7. Remington-Beals Double-Action Pocket Revolver
in original 3-section pasteboard box.
(J.D. Hofer collection)
Fig 8. Remington-Beals Double-Action Pocket Revolver
in original 5-section pasteboard box.
(J.D. Hofer collection)
Fig 9. Remington New Model Pocket Revolver
in original 3-section pasteboard box.
(Jay Huber collection)



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