No one should be surprised that I'm offering a pinfire case as my first submission to this thread.
Today I'm going right to the source, a case for a Casimir Lefaucheux pinfire gun of very small gauge, possibly a 24. Unfortunately I don't have the gun, but the case is complete with key, cleaning rods, brush heads, two different pull-throughs, and spare cartridge pins for reloading (the case also contained a very old jar of mercury ointment for treating syphillis -- how and why that was in there is anyone's guess). As is typical with Continental cases there is no printed paper or leather label, but the maker's name, in gold, is pressed on to the inner baize. Again as is common with Continental cases, the lid is padded. Though faded and with letters missing, the lid inscription should read: "Lefaucheux Inventeur 37 Rue Vivienne Paris". Casimir Lefaucheux moved to this address in 1850, and died in 1852. While his son Eugene continued the business at this address, he changed the case lid addresses to simply "Lefaucheux a Paris", so the case likely dates somewhere between 1850 and 1852, making it earlier in date than any British pinfire.
Not many pinfires of this era made it across the Atlantic. The original owner's name, Renaud, is engraved on a silver shield on the outer lid. I'm trying to determine if the case is linked to the Renaud family of Quebec City that was involved in politics and the grain business in the 1850s. While other French gunmakers were making pinfire guns in France by this time, a gun by Casimir himself would have been expensive and very sought-after.
Here's hoping this thread will become a sticky.
