Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! This is a 19th century burglar alarm gun – basically a percussion cap noisemaker designed to scare off thieves instead of killing them. The silver finish and compact design made it perfect for hiding around the house. The setup was dead simple: mount it near a window or door, run the chain to whatever you wanted to protect, and wait. When someone tried to break in, the chain would pull the sear and drop the hammer on a percussion cap. No bullet, just a loud bang to wake up half the neighborhood and send the burglar running.
“Beware he who steals from me” is engraved right on it – part warning, part Victorian drama. These were the original home security systems, back when you had to get creative about protecting your stuff. What’s clever about this design is how it solved the noise problem without the liability problem. Homeowners needed something loud enough to alert everyone within earshot, but safe enough that it wouldn’t accidentally shoot their own family. The half-inch barrel was just long enough to contain the percussion cap blast without launching anything dangerous.
The .32 caliber marking is misleading – this thing only fired blanks. No projectile, just noise and flash. Smart engineering for something that needed to be startling but not deadly. These alarm guns popped up in different forms throughout the 1800s, but they’re rare enough that most people have never seen one. This one’s got the right patina and shortened chain that tells you it actually got used instead of sitting on a shelf looking pretty. Before electric alarms, before modern locks, this was home security. Pure mechanical genius that ran on springs and percussion caps.
Antique Concealed Burglar Alarm Gun | Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5013/50/antique-concealed-burglar-alarm-gun. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
Writer | TheFirearmBlog
Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.
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