Peabody Action

The Peabody action was an early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle. The Peabody action most often used an external hammer to fire the cartridge.

History

The Peabody action was developed by Henry Oliver Peabody (13 May 1826 Boxford, Massachusetts – 28 June 1903 Hull, Massachusetts)Norwood Historical Society: Henry Oliver Peabody
Accessed 21 December 2022. from Boston, Massachusetts, and was first patented on July 22, 1862. While the Peabody was not perfected in time for the American Civil War, a few were entered in the trials of 1864 with favorable reports.

Peabody carbines and rifles were made by the ''Providence Tool Company'', Providence, Rhode Island; c. 1866–1871. The total production was 112,000 for all models. Calibers were: .45 Peabody rimfire; .45-70 Government; .50 rimfire; 50-70; .433 Spanish; 10.4 mm rimfire Swiss. Barrel length carbine 20", rifle 33". Finish: Receiver casehardened, barrel blued, iron mountings, walnut stock.

The majority of Peabody's production was for foreign contracts. They were adopted by the militaries of Canada (3,000 pieces), Spain, Mexico, France (33,000), Romania and Switzerland (15,000) during the later 1860s. In the United States, Massachusetts purchased 2,941 rifles, Connecticut in circa 1871–72 purchased 2,000 Spanish model rifles and South Carolina in circa 1877 purchased 350 carbines.

The Peabody rifle was one of a half dozen different rifles that took part in the 1866 Norwegian-Swedish rifle trials, where it lost out to the Remington rolling block (which became the Remington M1867 in Norwegian and Swedish service) because of its greater complexity, with more parts than the Remington design.

The Swiss gunsmith Friedrich von Martini created an action that somewhat resembled Peabody's, but incorporated a hammerless internal striker and used a toggle moved by the striker to lock the action during firing. Mated to a barrel with rifling designed by Alexander Henry, the Martini–Henry M1871 would become the British Army's standard rifle for twenty years.

The Liberian 600 Peabody rifles were bought in 1910, during the war with the Grebo tribe, from the German government via the Woermann Co. (''de''). They had been captured from the French army in the 1870-1871 war) and were sold along with tonnes of gunpowder, 200,000 rounds of ammunition and 400 Mauser M1888 carbines. The cost was $20,000. In 1919, Liberians received Peabody rifles through US arms sales.

Legacy

Henry Oliver Peabody remained childless. He died at his summer house in Hull in 1903 at the age of 77. His will directed the executor of his estate to establish a trust to fund creation of the Henry O. Peabody School for Girls, using his King Gay Farm and $350,000 in additional assets. The trustees were directed to retain and grow the assets of the trust until sufficient for construction and perpetual operation of the school. By 1938, the trust was valued at $750,000. This is . In 1940, Norwood, Massachusetts voters approved building the Henry O. Peabody School for Girls, adjacent to the north end of the Norwood High School. The school closed in 1989, with the trustees establishing the Henry O. Peabody School for Girls Scholarship Program to provide annual renewable scholarships to women who reside in Norfolk County, Massachusetts to continue part- or full-time seeking bachelor, associate or vocational education.Henry O. Peabody School for Girls Scholarship Program
Accessed 21 December 2022.

See also

* Antique guns

References

Bibliography

* {{Citation , last=Flayderman , first=Norm , year=2001 , title=Flayderman's guide to antique American firearms... and their values , publisher=Krause Publications , location=Iola, WI, United States , isbn=0-87349-313-3

External links

A page about Peabody rifles in general

Rifles of Norway
Rifles of Switzerland
Rifles of Sweden
Firearm actions
Scholarships in the United States