When my buddies ask me why I collect antique guns, I explain that it's not unlike collecting old timepieces: Their varied designs are fascinating works of art, and you can still take them out and use them from time to time. So imagine my enthusiastic reaction when I discovered the Mershon and Hollingsworth revolver, an age-old design featuring a winding mechanism just like that … [Read more...]
Reach into your pocket and withdraw a five-dollar bill. Or, if you're broke like me, just imagine one. That guy on the front of that bill was a pretty wise dude, right? And one of the really wise choices he made during his presidency was to give the designer of the Spencer Repeating Rifle—a design that helped turn the tide of the U.S. Civil War—a chance to display the gun's … [Read more...]
What do you know about the Colt 1851? My history with the Colt 1851 Navy revolver runs deep. It was my first personal handgun. It was a .44 caliber brass framed Pietta replica model that joined me on many deer hunts as a backup to my single shot cartridge rifle. In 2013, my want for another Navy led me to get another model with a steel frame and in the authentic 36 caliber. … [Read more...]
How deadly are cap and ball--aka percussion-- revolvers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN6CfDaEkUw I teamed up with Matt from Murphey's Muskets to find out. We shot a trio of Uberti made Colt revolvers into 10 % ordinance gel straight out of the packs from Clear Ballistics and got some surprising results. We pit the civilian 31 caliber against the naval … [Read more...]
The Agar "Coffee Mill" gun suffered from the same fate as a many a middle child: Perhaps a little less athletic, a little less good-looking than its elder sibling, the Gatling gun, its achievements were quickly overshadowed and forgotten despite its attributes. Where you've seen it: Though I've never played it, the first-person shooter History Channel Civil War: Secret … [Read more...]
Have you ever wondered what made the modern gun possible? It was not the gun; it was the ignition. Modern firearms, as we know them, started with the percussion cap. In a previous article I described how flintlock firearms worked. The flint and steel method made gun ownership and military standard issue weapons a reality and shaped world we have inherited, but now I am … [Read more...]
