Pennsylvania Small Arms Co?

[David Scott]

Here's a research question for you.

In "The Valley of Fear", Sherlock Holmes finds a sawed-off shotgun and identifies it as being made by the Pennsylvania Small Arms Company. I'm working on a presentation on guns in the Sherlock Holmes stories and would like to know whether this was a real company.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Harley Nolden]

DAVID:
I don't have a listing, Cross Over List, Trade Names list, for the Penn. Arms Co. This does not mean that it doesn't of did not exist. You may try and enclycopedia or even on the search.

HJN

 

[David Scott]

Harley,

Thanks, I did a web search and the only references to "Pennsylvania Small Arms" tied back to the Sherlock story. I thought that an out of business company might not have had any web references. If any other gun-history buffs have any input, I'd be glad.

 

[James K]

Hi, guys,

Since Doyle was not especially knowledgeable on either guns or Pennsylvania, and since he was writing fiction*, I have no doubt that the "Pennsylvania Small Arms Company" was a fictional name, made up to sound authoritative.

This is like modern fiction writers who show off their gun "expertise" by writing about ".45mm" pistols, "automatic revolvers", guns with short "nozzles", "telescoping sites" (on the web, perhaps), and ".30-30 Remington" bolt actions (Ian Fleming, when there was at that time no such thing).

* While I have read every one of the Sherlock Holmes stories and they are among my favorites, I do not accept the idea that SH was a real person. I am just not that much of a Sherlockian, I guess.

Jim

 

[David Scott]

Jim Keenan wrote:
Since Doyle was not especially knowledgeable on either guns or Pennsylvania...

Jim, I'm not sure how much he knew of Pennsylvania, but Doyle was fairly handy with a gun. In addition to sport shooting, he played a part in the Boer War and organized volunteer troops at the start of WW I. I don't recall the sort of gaffes you cite in any of his work. I'll grant you some authors (Fleming especially) played way over their heads when talking guns, but Doyle wasn't one of them.

 

[Dave McC]

David, one story has the villain using a sawed off shotgun with the triggers wired together for greater effect.

Another, possibly "A Study in Scarlet", has Holmes sitting in his rooms and decorating the wall with a patriotic VR, done with a revolver and "Boxer" cartridges, without other damage.

The Red Headed League story has Holmes telling Watson to slip his Army revolver into his coat pocket. It takes a very large pocket to hide a Webley with a 5-6 inch bbl.

Doyle was a very good writer and I've enjoyed his stories again and again. But, gun cognizant he wasn't, at least when he wrote the Holmes stuff.

 

[David Scott]

David, one story has the villain using a sawed off shotgun with the triggers wired together for greater effect.

And this has been known to happen. No one says bad guys are super smart.

Another, possibly "A Study in Scarlet", has Holmes sitting in his rooms and decorating the wall with a patriotic VR, done with a revolver and "Boxer" cartridges, without other damage.

Watson didn't describe the damage, only that Mrs. Hudson had to put up with a lot of crap. Doyle was trying to show that Holmes was eccentric. Maybe Holmes didn't know much about guns, but IMHO Doyle did.

The Red Headed League story has Holmes telling Watson to slip his Army revolver into his coat pocket. It takes a very large pocket to hide a Webley with a 5-6 inch bbl.

Have you seen the kind of coats you have to wear in British weather? I've seen period clothes, and the coat pockets are huge. In point of fact, the Webley RIC version was available with 2.5 or 4 inch barrels.

Doyle was a very good writer and I've enjoyed his stories again and again. But, gun cognizant he wasn't, at least when he wrote the Holmes stuff.

"The tool and its maker are never identical." -- Conan Doyle. Just because his characters did some irrational stuff doesn't mean Doyle didn't know it was irrational.