Both British and American made pepperboxes were also popular among gold miners in Australia as a cheaper alternative to the Colt Navy, and several were used at the Eureka Stockade. In the Old West, large pepperboxes were favored by the gold prospectors of 49, for protection against robbers, hostile Red Indians, and rival claimants. With this use in mind, many pepperboxes, in fact, have smooth-bored barrels, even though rifling had been commonly used for decades by the time of their manufacture. Gunfights often happened at point-blank range. Common practice at the time, indeed, was not to aim pistols, but instead to 'shoot from the hip,' holding the gun low and simply pointing at the target's center of mass. However, the primary market was for civilian self-defense, so its most common use was at close range. With most types, in particular those with rotating barrel-clusters, it is almost impossible to aim beyond close range because the hammer is in the line of sight (some pepperboxes have a slot in the hammer through which one is supposed to aim), there is no place to put a frontsight (putting one for each barrel would only increase the weight of the front end and likely make drawing the weapon awkward), and the gun is too front-heavy to permit quick and steady aiming. The flaw with the pepperbox is that it becomes more front-heavy if the length and number of barrels is increased, making accurate aiming difficult.
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