This was Peter Moll as nephew of Peter Moll (1889-1825) and his cousin David Moll.
They hold a gun shop in Hellertown, specialized in brass-barreled pistols.
The sporting type had a smooth bore, while the martial type was rifled.
The stocks were made from plain maple, rather than the highly desired curly or tiger maple wood.
However, the Molls did artificially grain the plain maple to make it appear like curly maple.
They used the same method as the Lehman Gunsmiths of Lancaster, of wrapping an oiled or tarred
cord around the wood stock, then burning it off. This gave the appearance of curly maple when
the stock was smoothed and rubbed down.
The partnership of Peter and David Moll was dissolved with the death of David Moll on August 31st, 1853.
William and Edwin Moll, David's sons went into the business. In 1870, the Gunsmith buisness was
worth $8,000, with both William and Edwin having personal net worths of $2,000 each. Thomas Moll,
son of David Moll and David Moll Jr. were apprentice. When WIlliam Moll died the gunsmithing firm
became Edwin and David Moll. They changed the company fo groceries, dry goods and hardware.
.38 caliber, flintlock, 8 3/8" octagon barrel
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