POTD: A Pump Action Single Shot? – Alofs Speed Reloader
Sam.S 03.29.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a photo of an Iver Johnson single shot shotgun with a speed reloading apparatus. This is called an Alofs Speed Reloader by the Alofs Manufacturing Company. These neat devices have gained some interest in the past few years with media attention from the fantastic folks a C&Rsenal and more lately Ian at Forgotten Weapons. The Alofs Speed Reloader is affectively an attachment that transforms a break action single shot shotgun into almost a pump-action shotgun. It ejects and reloads new cartridges all by just opening the action. The Alofs device is basically a magazine tube that is mounted to the side of the barrel. When the action is opened and the spent shell is ejected, the shell hits a small plate which triggers a series of springs to unleash a new cartridge into the chamber. It is horrifically hard to explain so I am happy to share C&Rsenal’s brief video on the subject.
“Attached to the gun is an incredibly cool and perhaps nearly unique attachment. Made by the Alofs Manufacturing Co. is a patented attachment to convert this very ordinary single shot hammer gun in to an auto-loader. The apparatus and magazine tube appear to be made of steel and are attached directly to the left side of the gun at the hinge. Very little is known about this device, however it converts the gun in to an auto-loader and seems to work seamlessly.”
Lot #1299: (C) Iver Johnson Champion Single-Shot Shotgun With Remarkable Alofs Mfg. Co. Reloading/Speedloader Attachment. (n.d.). Morphy Auctions. photograph. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_c__iver_johnson_champion_single_shot_shotgun_with-lot458437.aspx.
