Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its guns, shooting sports, ammunition, and history. Last week we took a look at the latest offering in the Federal Premium Punch series in 22 WMR. More rimfire ammunition testing should be underway along with more gel tests in other non-rimfire calibers thanks to the guys over at Clear Ballistics who have generously provided me with the materials needed to get consistent and clear ballistic gelatin tests done. Feel free to check out Clear Ballistics if you’re interested in trying out some gel testing of your own! This week on The Rimfire Report we’re jumping back in history to 1920 when the first Mossberg Brownie pistols were coming off the line. Never heard of it? Great! Today we’ll be going over what the Brownie was, what it was meant for, and what a potential collector can expect to pay for one in the current market.
More Rimfire Report Articles @ TFB:
- The Rimfire Report: Charter Arms Explorer II AR7 Pistol Review
- The Rimfire Report: The Obscure .22 Rimfire Tear Gas Cartridge Guns
- The Rimfire Report: CMMG Bravo 22LR AR-15 Conversion Kit
The Rimfire Report: The Antique $5 Mossberg Brownie Pocket Pistol
Specifications – O.F. Mossberg & Sons
- Cartridge: .22 Short .22 Long & .22 LR
- Barrel Length: 2.5 Inches
- Number of Barrels: 4
- Sights: Iron Sights
- Action: Double Action, striker Fired (rotating pin)
- Grips: Walnut
- Weight: 10 oz
- Overall Length: 4-1/2″
- Price in 1920: $5 (~$76 in 2022 currency)
- Patented: 1919
- Produced: 1920-1932
Photo: LifeSizePotato
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The Shattuck “Unique” Palm Pistol
The Brownie began its life much earlier as a palm pistol called the “Unique” palm pistol designed by Mossberg on behalf of the American firearms designer Shattuck who produced licensed versions of the Unique pistol between 1905 and 1915. The Brownie, named after the tiny elf-life characters from The Brownies, would come along a number of years later adding a much larger grip, better trigger, and of course, classic American black walnut grips. The pistol was marketed as a pistol that could be carried discreetly for a price that was negligible to most people – $5 in 1920 (basically the equivalent of about $75 today).
A print advertisement for the Mossberg Brownie Gunbroker User clphard
Just like any other curio or relic firearm, the Brownie has a couple of caveats when it comes to operating it in the modern age with modern-produced rimfire ammunition. Like any older firearm, the materials used in the production of the Brownie are not on par with modern steels and alloys. This means that you should probably steer clear of anything labeled as “high velocity” in the 22LR category. My personal advice, if you wanted to fire your own Brownie, would be to take it to a competent gunsmith first for a second opinion. However, cartridges like .22 CB should be pretty safe even when factoring in the age of the pistol.
Photo: Gunbroker User clphard
Despite its age, the Brownie operates more or less like a normal pistol with each of the four barrels being fired with each squeeze of the trigger, rotating the striker between each trigger pull. A small lever or button on the rear of the firearm was used to release the barrels forward for loading and unloading. Unloading was accomplished by the use of an included extractor rod which was stowed in the small rectangular opening on the top of the firearm, however, many of these are missing from examples found on the internet today but are just as easily replaced.
The rotating firing pin of the Brownie