Fantastic gun collection

[bowiemaker]

Cowboys, if you want to see a great collection rare and historic old west guns you owe it to yourself to visit the Frazier museum in Louisville, KY.

[swampsavage]

That's real nice.  Looks like a wonderful place to visit.  Another place worth visiting is the little museum at Chickamauga National Battlefield.  It has an extensive collection of US Military small arms donated, mostly, by one individual.  It's good to see collections like this available for public view rather than locked away by one person.

[Major 2]

or crushed and dumped into an artficial reef off NYC. 

The display at Chickamauga National Battlefield is the Fuller Gun Collection.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles has a fabulous collection, also.

[GunClick Rick]

WOW! Awsome pictures,i'd love to have an old Volcanic!

[bowiemaker]

A few more from the Frazier Museum:


1837 Paterson Number 1 (first Model) ring-lever rifle. Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, Paterson, New Jersey. .40 caliber. Serial # 2. The hammerless single-action "rotary repeater" pictured here is the earliest known surviving example of a Colt production firearm. The ring forward of the cylinder cocked the action and turned the cylinder. Only about 200 were made. The military purchased 50 of them and issued them to troops during the 1838 Seminole War.


1847 Colt Walker, .44 caliber, Serial # 1024. Whitney Armory, Whitneyville, CT. Weight: 4 lb 9 oz. 1000 were made for the Army's Regiment of Mounted Rifles (Dragoons) and 100 for civilian sale and presentation pieces. The picture is one of the civilian models.


1864 Griswold & Gunnison Second Model Revolver, Confederate. Griswold was the most prolific arms supplier of the Confederacy. This weapon, a copy of the Colt 1851Navy type revolver, was considered the best best quality Confederate pistols of the war.


J.H. Dance and Brothers "Army" Revolver, Confederate. Columbia, Texas 1863-1865. Dance made two models of the revolver, an "Army" style in .44 caliber (above) and a .36 caliber "Navy" model. Both were pretty much copies of period Colt pistols.


Spiller & Burr Second Model Revolver, Confederate. Atlanta or Macon, GA 1862-1864. Spiller & Burr received contracts for 15,000 revolvers modeled after the Whitney Arms Company's  Second Model Revolver. However, they only made less than 1500 of them.


Colt "Texas" Paterson Number 5 holster revolver with extra cylinder 1838-1840. Patent Arms Manufacturing Company. Paterson, NJ. .36 caliber, Serial # 23. Only 1000 were made. The Republic of Texas bought 180 of them. This gun became legendary when Texas Ranger Captain J.C. Hays and fifteen men armed with Paterson revolvers and rifles defeated eighty Comanches.  One of the rarest of Colt firearms. Only 12 American museums have one. The earliest models have a square back cylinder like this one and only 33 of this type are known to exist.

[Shotgun Franklin]

I was at a gun show in downtown Houston at least 30 years ago. A guy walked in wanting to sell an old gun. A collector bought it from him for, if I remember right $175. It was a Dance in near shooting condition. Ya never know what kinda stuff might show up if ya look enough.

BTW, the Texas Ranger in Waco has a huge gun collection, very many with Old West History on'm.

[bowiemaker]

I have more pictures I can post if anyone is interested.

[Marshal Deadwood]

I'd LOVE to see more pictures.

Thank you

Deadwood

[bowiemaker]

Here are some more from the Frazier Museum:


Model 1 1/2 "Blue Jacket" pocket revolver, 1870s. Hopkins & Allen Manufacturing Company, Norwich, CT.
.22 caliber rimfire. Serial Number 3739.


Whitney Arms Model No. 1 Revovlver, 1871-1872. Whitney Arms Company, Whitneyville, CT.
.22 caliber rimfire. Serial Number 29359


Whitney Model 1 1/2 Pocket Revolver with ivory grips. 1871-1872. Whitney Arms Company, Whitneyville, CT.
Engraved by Louis Daniel Nimschke. .32 caliber rimfire. Serial Number 6377B


Model 2 "Pepperbox" breechloading four-shot pistol, 1870s. Sharps Rifle Company, Philadelphia, PA.
.32 caliber rimfire. Serial Number 255.


Protector Palm Pistol, 1890s. Chicago Firearms Company, Chicago, IL.
.32 extra short rimfire caliber. Serial Number 9590.

[bowiemaker]

And a few more:


Remington-Elliot "Double Barrel Repeater", 1880s. E. Remington & Sons, Llion, NY. 
.41 caliber. Serial Number 9.


Remington-Elliot Double Derringer (Model 95) Type 1, Model 2, about 1869-1870. E. Remington & Sons, Llion, NY. 
.41 rimfire short caliber. Serial Number 525.


Standard Model New Line Revolver, 1876. Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.
.30 caliber. Serial Number 9527.


Marston three-barrel derringer, about 1864. William Walker Marston (New York).
.32 caliber rimfire. Serial Number 12.

[Cliff Fendley]

Guys, any of you coming to the NCOWS convention next year owe it to yourselves to take a half a day while your in the area and go to downtown Louisville to the Frazier Arms Museum. It's also not far from Evansville and the Nationals in June either.

I'll give you fair warning, you better allow yourself at least a half a day even with your wife trying to drag you along

I was there last weekend to catch the Civil War exhibit before they took it down and I was there for close to four hours even with my wife and son coaxing me along and wiping up my drool.

One of these days I'm going to go down alone so I can spend the day.

[bowiemaker]

still more...



Model No. 2 (Army) Revolver, 1865
Smith & Wesson, Springfield, MA.   .32 caliber.  Serial number 38837.
After firing, the shooter expended casings by "breaking open" the pistol, pivoting the barrel vertically, removing the cylinder, and
pushing the open end of each chamber onto the short cylinder rod, thus forcing the empty cartridge out the back of the cylinder.



First Model Smith-Jennings Rifle, about 1851
Robbins & Lawrence, Windsor, VT.  .54 caliber.  Serial number 1
Only about 500 were made. Pictured is the first serialized rifle. It featured an automatic pill magazine
to dispense small balls of detonating compound for priming the rocket ball ammunition.



Volcanic Lever-Action Carbine, 1857-1860
New Haven Arms Company, New Haven, CT.  .41 caliber. Serial number 2975
The Volcanic Repeating Arms Company shifted production to New Haven in 1856 but became insolvent a year later.
Oliver Winchester bought up it's assets and reorganized the company as the New Haven Arms Company.
B. Tyler Henry then adapted the Volcanic pistol action to a carbine, which also fired the metallic rimfire cartridges that he developed. This paved the way for the famous Henry rifle of 1860 and the Winchester 1866 rifle and carbine.


Early Fourth Model 1851 Navy revolver, 1859-1860.
Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.   .36 caliber. Serial number 91833.
In 1860, Felix Tait, an Alabama cotton farmer, ordered a pair of Model 1851 Navy pistols with unusually long barrels, together with cases and accessories (one of which is shown above). The pistols were shipped to him in April 1861, and presumably he took them with him when he volunteered later that year and became a Major in the 23rd Alabama infantry.

Want more?

[Major 2]

UH yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !

[Highlander999]

Some fantastic guns

[August]

Thanks for sharing these photos!

[bowiemaker]

Model 1851 Navy or belt pistol revolvers, 1856 and 1858, presented to Gideon Welles (U.S. Secretary of the Navy 1861-1869).
Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.   .36 caliber. Serial numbers 62148 and 89493.
Samuel Colt called these revolvers "Navy" because he felt the Army would prefer his larger Dragoon pistol, but in fact most Model 1851 Navy revolvers went to the Army.
This pair is very rare and important, not just because they were presented to Gideon Welles, but because of the "USN" and anchor marks on the pistols.
The 1851 was Colt's most popular and durable percussion revolver. More than 200,000 were produced between 1850 and 1873.


Maynard Primed Belt Model revolver, 1851-1857
Massachusetts Arms Company, Chicopee Falls, MA.   .31 caliber. Serial number 471.


Le Mat "Grapeshot" percussion revolver, 1862-1865
Charles Frederic Girard et Cie, Paris, France.   .40 caliber.  Serial number 2014.
A combination of a cap & ball revolver and a shotgun, this unusual pistol had a lower barrel loaded with buckshot, giving it it's nickname.
The Le Mat was a personal favorite of Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart.
The Confederacy ordered several thousand of the pistols from Girard, but problems with workmanship led to cancellation of the contracts.

[bowiemaker]

Colt 1849 Pocket Revolver with case and accessories, 1866
Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.     .31 caliber.   Serial number 282947.
Despite the pistol's name, it was not introduced until 1850. These small pistols were popular as privately purchased side arms among foot soldiers, and they were often the sole defensive arms of fifers and drummers. It became Colt's most popular percussion arm as more than 330,000 were made by 1873.


Manhattan Pocket Model revolver, about 1858
Manhattan Firearms Manufacturing Company, Newark, NJ.   .31 caliber.   Serial number 7.
A competitor of Colt, the small Manhattan company did not win important contracts during the Civil War
but concentrated on the civilian market where the Colt Model 1849 pocket revolver was more successful.


Third Model "Army" front-loading revolver, about 1863
Plant's Manufacturing Company, New Haven, CT.  .42-100 caliber.  Serial number 1621.
First patented in 1859, this unique revolver used special metallic cartridges loaded into the front of the cylinder chambers.
Although not government arms, they were popular as personal firearms during the Civil War.


U.S. Model 1855 pistol-carbine, 1855
Springfield Armory, Springfield, MA.   .58 caliber.  Serial number 16.
The first rifled regulation pistol adopted by the U.S. Army, this weapon was intended for use as a handheld pistol while on horseback, or a shoulder-fired carbine when on foot. It proved unsatisfactory in the field among cavalry troops in the West and was doomed by the far superior Colt revolvers.


Model 1849 pocket revolver, 1868
Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.     .31 caliber.   Serial number 306571.
The most popular of Colt percussion pistols among Pony Express riders. Against company preference, some riders carried an extra loaded cylinder.

[bowiemaker]

Model 1873 Army single-action revolver, 1883
Colt Firearms Company, Hartford, CT.     .44-40 caliber.    Serial number 99749.
One of the first weapons to use the new center-fire cartridges, this pistol became known as the Peacemaker, a name that Colt began to use in 1874. Other popular nicknames for this pistol  include Hog Leg, Equalizer, Frontier Six-Shooter, Thumb Buster and Plow Handle. Colt first made the Model 1873 in .44 caliber and then rechambered it for .45 caliber at the Army's request in 1874.


Buffalo Guns
Top: Sharps Model 1874 Sporting or "buffalo" rifle, 1877.  Caliber: .45  Serial number: 159506

Middle: Springfield U.S. Model 1866, Second Model, "trapdoor Springfield" rifle. Caliber: .50-70
After the Civil War, the government converted thousands of surplus arms from percussion muzzle-loaders to single-shot breechloaders by adding a hinged cover, or "trapdoor", over a chamber for inserting cartridges. Civilian hunters hired by the Army also used the Model 1866, among them, Buffalo Bill Cody who nicknamed his rifle "Lucretia Borgia". In admiration of the rifle's 600 yard range, American Indians said that the Model 1866 could "shoot today and kill tomorrow".

Bottom: Marlin Ballard Deluxe Pacific Number 5 rifle, 1885-1886.  Caliber: .45-70 government.  Serial number: 12446.


Remington Model 1875 Army, First Type, Second Issue, single action revolver, about 1878.
Caliber: .44 Remington.   Serial number: 79
Also known as the "Improved Army" or "Frontier Army", the Remington Model 1875 never achieved the success of Colt's Model 1873 Army single-action revolver as a cavalry pistol, but it was the preferred weapon of the Indian Police of the Department of the Interior.


Remington New Model Navy revolver, 1866-1878.  Caliber: .36   Serial number: 34549
After fire devastated Colt's production line in 1864, only Remington was able to step in and fill government contracts. Although all of the New Model Navys were intended for the military, about 2000 that did not meet federal specifications found their way into private hands.


Remington Model 1871 rolling block pistol, 1871.  Caliber: .50-25 center-fire  Serial Number: 1044
This powerful single-shot pistol was designed for the military, but soon after the federal government received the first shipment in 1872, it adopted the Colt Model 1873 revolver as the standard side arm. Many surplus Model 1871 pistols were converted for civilian sport and target shooting.

[Ima Sure Shot]

Those are great photos bowiemaker.  I wanted to see the Civil War exhibit befor it was taken down, but did not get a chance. Celeste