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In 1919, at the tender age of 75, Oscar – under the auspices of his newly-formed company, O.F. Mossberg & Sons – started producing his new Brownie pistol, almost a full year before receiving the patent for it. Oscar filed an application for his Brownie with the U.S. Patent Office on Aug. 28, 1919. His patent (number 1,348,035) was awarded July 27, 1920. It’s interesting to note that unlike most such patent applications of that era, the guns he produced actually matched the drawings he had submitted! It is recorded that Oscar moved his gun production facilities to New Haven, Connecticut and still later moved again into larger facilities in New Haven and hired a few mechanically knowledgeable helpers from among his Swedish friends.

“Unique” palm pistol made by Mossberg for C. S. Shattuck. Note misspelling of “Shattuck” on roll marking.

NUMBER OF BROWNIES PRODUCED

Since there are no known surviving factory records to verify the actual number of units produced in Oscar’s 13 years of fabricating Brownies, guesstimated figures for a total number range from 32,000 to 37,000. Since I’ve been keeping a database on observed and reported serial numbers on these guns, the highest serial number I would consider reliable is 33,404, found on a gun in Florida. And although I was told of a serial numbered gun lower than any other reported, I never saw it except in a couple of photos, and the person who reported it did not answer my request for additional photographic proof. Therefore, the lowest number I can personally attest to is in my collection and is number 212.