NCOWS Approved Gun Carts

[pony express]

WWE: I used a similar(although much more crude) modifiaction of a child's wagon several years ago, I found with the gun rack in the front, it could get kind of tipsy on turns, when the front wheels are somewhat "sideways" under the cart. But it might work better with a better wagon than what I had.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Pony Express,

I agree wholeheartedly ... I plan to put a gun rack centerlined and then put a box up front as a kind of cooler and an ammo box in the rear ...Perhaps even an umbrella tube on one side or the other ... summers can be brutal in Sacramento, and any shade is appreciated ...

TTFN,

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Wadd....If you have a Harbor Freight Tools in your area....they sell 36" cart wheels as decorator wheels that are sturdy enough for a gun cart....about $40.00 a set.....If they don't have them in stock they can order them for you.

Bill

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Bill,

I do have a Harbor Freight nearby, but I try to go there only when I need a tool and leave all my money but payment for the tool at home ... LOL.

The wheels on my wagon are tucked underneath the cart ... so I will need to get some of the same size (8-10 " wheels.

[Tascosa Joe]

Skip:
Years ago I bought an Italian garden cart at a flea market and removed the body and brakes and put a wagon box on it that made it look like a minature wagon.  The only problem with it is the turning radius was about the same as my Chevy 2500 LOL.  I looked cool but I have not used it since I quit shooting SASS and started Shooting NCOWS.  It is now in my workshop supporting an old window AC unit that I removed when I finally got full central Air and Heat in my house.  I shoot either a 2 gun or 3 gun class (no shotgun) and we have lots of racks for long guns on our range.
T-Joe

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Bill,

I do have a Harbor Freight nearby, but I try to go there only when I need a tool and leave all my money but payment for the tool at home ... LOL.

The wheels on my wagon are tucked underneath the cart ... so I will need to get some of the same size (8-10 " wheels.

Just extend your axles by what ever length you need to get the wider diameter wheels to fit?? Should be simple
>>>>>>

Bill

[RattlesnakeJack]

The main reason I wanted to do a Red River cart was that it was the wheeled transport in the nearly roadless Canadian West until late in the 19th century.  Roughly constructed of local materials - primarily wood and rawhide, and usually without nails or any other metal bits at all - it was both inexpensive and easy to repair on the trail. 



The Red River cart was developed during the North West Company and Hudson Bay Company fur trading days, and on this side of the Medicine Line remained the chosen means for carrying whatever needed to be hauled during exploration, surveying, international boundary layout, the "Great March West" of the North West Mounted Police and even for military expeditions.  It is by far the most commonly seen wheeled conveyance in artist's images and photographs until quite late in the 19th century ..... and even continued in use well into the 20th century -

[Ima Sure Shot]

Pneumatic Tyre (Tire)
John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921) was a Scottish veterinarian and the recognized inventor of the first practical pneumatic or inflatable tyre/tire. His patent was for a bicycle tire, granted in 1888. However, Robert William Thomson (1822 - 1873) invented the actual first vulcanised rubber pneumatic tire. Thomson patented his pneumatic tire in 1845, his invention worked well but was to costly to catch on. Dunlop's tire patented in 1888 did, and so he received the most recognition. William Thomson also patented a fountain pen (1849) and a steam traction engine (1867). I have not found what their bicycle tyre looked like, but 1845, and 1888 are certainly within our time frame .Celeste

[River City John]

[RattlesnakeJack]

From the Wikipedia article on bicycle tires (reference footnoting not included) 

The first practical pneumatic tire was made by John Boyd Dunlop in 1887 for his son's bicycle, in an effort to prevent the headaches his son had while riding on rough roads. (Dunlop's patent was later declared invalid because of prior art by fellow Scot Robert William Thomson.) Dunlop is credited with "realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience". This led to the founding of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd in 1889. By 1890, it began adding a tough canvas layer to the rubber to reduce punctures. Racers quickly adopted the pneumatic tire for the increase in speed it enabled.

Finally, the detachable tire was introduced in 1891 by Édouard Michelin. It was held on the rim with clamps, instead of glue, and could be removed to replace or patch the separate inner tube.

Wire spokes are pretty early, apparently (although the first one, at least, would undoubtedly have a solid tire) -





When I located the above images they were credited to a book entitled "Wheels & Wheeling" published in Britain in 1892.  It would be fair to say that just about anything discussed or depicted in this volume undoubtedly existed by about 1890 - certainly by 1892.  Armed with the title, I searched for the book online, and discovered it (over 400 pages, readable online, or downloadable free in PDF and various other formats) here - http://archive.org/details/wheelswheelingin00port

As a Martini-Henry shooter, I like this image from the above-noted book -



And here is another , showing a remarkably modern-looking bicycle which clearly has pneumatic tires -

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[Major 2]

[quote






[/quote]

That is a cool idea for gun cart

[Books OToole]

That is a cool idea for gun cart

Yeah; but the safety Nazis would have a fit.

Books

[River City John]

Gives a whole new angle to the phrase "Once more into the breech!" You could have a buddy sit behind you in a pinch.
We had our own military bicycle unit in the 1890's here in the USA. I'll have to dig for some pics that I had seen.

RCJ

Nice pics, Jack. I doubt that the wheel axle for the chain drive was mounted onto the rear fender like that drawn. Perhaps a poor rendering of a misunderstood construction by an artist who was unfamiliar with bicycles?

[Major 2]

this one ?

[RattlesnakeJack]

.... I doubt that the wheel axle for the chain drive was mounted onto the rear fender like that drawn. Perhaps a poor rendering of a misunderstood construction by an artist who was unfamiliar with bicycles? ....

I think you are spot on with that observation, John!

this one ?

That is one of several I have ....

Bicycle Corps, Fort Missoula, 1897 -








Bicycle Corps at Yellowstone, colorized. (If I recall correctly, this was during an overland trek from Fort Missoula, Montana, to (IIRC) St. Louis, Missouri, to demonstrate the capability of these "newfangled contraptions" ....)




Two Frederic Remington illustrations (the first was a Harper's Weekly cover image) -






This last one is from a pre-1900 stereoview card -

[RattlesnakeJack]

If you've got deep pockets, check out the website of Rideable Bicycle Replicas:  http://www.hiwheel.com/antique_replicas/index.htm

[pony express]

I don't think the deep pockets are really needed to get fairly close to the ones in the American pictures-other than the handlebar configuration and enclosed chain, you can get a very similar looking bicycle from Wal Mart! You might have to search for some old style "longhorn" handlebars, like I had on my bike as a kid, modern bikes seem to have gone to just a short straight bar.

A bit farther off topic-I have similar shape handlebar on my Harley, it's WAAAAYY more comfortable to me than any high rise "ape hangers" like a lot of others have. It had those when I got it, after one short ride I went to my local shop and picked out what I have now from a pile of used parts, wouldn't change it for anything now!

[Slim-Jim Davis]

Greatins prads I have ben looking at gun carts all over the web for my SASS and NCOWS purpisos and iv seen som the resible wagons and look vary intresting and resible historical coverd wagons and they seam to be vary hard to wheel around all day so I had a idea to use shetlin ponys to tote the cart for me or mamby large pit bulls and coments are welcom

[Pay Dirt Norvelle]

Those pictures of the bicycle Infantry are great!     I really like them as I am a bit of a bicycle riding nut.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

The music isn't great, but checkout the tire change at about minute 3 and the assist for a "cyclist down" near the end;