The Mossberg Brownie: Did you know they made pistols?
Did O.F. Mossberg and sons ever make a pistol? When someone says the word ‘Mossberg’ most gun enthusiasts say, “shotgun” and leave it at that. Folks in the know usually then pipe up and inform the short sighted that for decades and still the company has made rifles. But then there is that one guy who just smirks because he remembers that yes, Mossberg did make a pistol a long time ago and it’s name was indicative of its stature—the Brownie.
Swedish immigrant Oscar Frederick Mossberg came to the US in the 1880s from Europe. Once here, he found work with the Fitchburg, Massachusetts based bicycle company, operated by fellow Scandinavian immigrant Iver Johnson. The two would work together not only on velocipedes but also revolvers.
When Mossberg left Iver Johnson, he went on to manage the small factory of the C.S. Shattuck Arms Co. in nearby Hatfield, Massachusetts. From there he went to work for Stevens and finally for New Haven, Connecticut based Marlin-Rockwell. In 1919 when Marlin Rockwell went belly up (they primarily made machineguns and WWI had just ended), the unemployed 53-year old OF Mossberg, and his two sons started a new firearms company of their own, And they did it with the Brownie as thier first product.
Read the rest in my article at GUNS.com
