POTD: It Is Kind of Okay – Little All Right Palm Pistol
Sam.S 09.29.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a really strange palm pistol from the mid-1870s. This is the Little All Right palm pistol chambered for 22 Rimfire Short. It is a five-shot double-action revolver. It uses the palm style of hold rather than the more common literal pistol grip. The most noticeable aspect of the Little All Right is its lack of a trigger or hammer. The hammer is captive and concealed by the frame. As far as the trigger goes it is flipped over the muzzle of the gun when at rest or in a pocket and when in use it gets flipped vertically above the barrel and slid backward to work the action and fire the revolver. It is believed that under a thousand of these revolvers were made and the not-so-obvious reason why is it is a revolver and like most revolvers, it has a cylinder gap that expels debris and explosive gases. If you are to hold this in your palm and fire it that may produce some discomfort and even harm the shooter.
“One of the oddest of palm squeezes, the Little All Right was patented by Edward Boardman and Andrew Peavy in 1876. The top of the barrel features a slotted round tube holding a sliding trigger called a “pull”. The revolver is held in the palm of the hand, the end of the barrel resting on the second finger, the forefinger being placed around the “pull” that, when pulled back, fires the revolver. The pull also acts as muzzle cover, since it folds down over the muzzle when the gun is not in action. The low serial number (167) is marked on the underside of the barrel. There are correctly no other makings on the metal surfaces. Fitted with two piece hard rubber grips marked “LITTLE/ALL/RIGHT/PATENTED/JAN’Y 18/1876” on the left and “ALL RIGHT FIREARMS/CO./MANUFACTURERS/LAWRENCE/MASS./U.S.A.” on the right.”
Lot 86: Rare Little All Right Firearms Company Palm Pistol. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/57/86/rare-little-all-right-firearms-company-palm-pistol.
