Bryco .380 Auto

Yes, I know.  A real disreputable trailer trash of a gun.  Almost universally despised, and has a very bad reputation online.  They say that these are the kind of Saturday Night Special guns that end up at crime scenes, and that they are made of cheap nasty pot metal and fail often.  For all I know, this could be true.  Look it up online.  You won’t find anything good about the Bryco .380 Auto, made by the now-defunct Bryco in Carson City, Nevada.  I actually bought mine a long time ago  in a galaxy far far away.  1990 to be exact.  Different world, different times, younger and stronger me!  With the exception of having about 50 rounds put through it, it has occupied space in various closets over the years. It didn’t blow up in my face when I fired it, and usually does not jam or misfeed, though I hear that they are legendary for this.  So far so good.  Obviously, this is not my first choice for personal or home defense.  I have also heard that if your target is more than five feet away, you’ll miss.  Maybe not THAT bad, but you get the idea.  A very inexpensive gun.  I just keep it around for old times sake…

Smith & Wesson .40 Calbier SW40VE

Now we’re getting more serious.  A  far cry from the Bryco .380, this Smith & Wesson is a lot more beefy and robust than my old .380.  Considerably larger too, and its polymer frame makes it lighter than you might expect.   No, I’m not suffering from some kind of phallic size-insecurity issue, as many gun haters will attest.  Not that I’m prone to listen to what anti-gun types have to say anyway.  As an American who values Second Amendment rights and a veteran, I happen to like guns.  Quite a few people bitch about the S&W40′s very stiff slide and trigger pull.  I must admit, this hammerless semiauto from Springfield, Massachusetts is very firm, and does have very strong springs.  There’s no safety, either!  With this thing you are either locked and loaded, or you aren’t.  Better to check the magazine and barrel to clear it and make sure!  When I pull the trigger, I get a nice, solid boom and buck, as is fitting with a large caliber firearm.  Some may balk about the idea of using such a stiff weapon for personal concealed carry and/or personal defense, but I’ve seen worse.  One thing’s for sure.  With this gun, you really have to give the trigger a good hard squeeze to set it off.  But it’s a rock-solid shooter.  It’s a Smith & Wesson.  I experienced no jams or misfires.  As expected from a large caliber pistol, it has a nice, solid kicking recoil.

Ruger P95 9mm

Ooh.  Now we’re getting somewhere!  The beef and brawn of the Smith & Wesson .40 caliber, in a nice, lightweight polymer frame.  This is a more traditional semiautomatic with a hammer.  Much easier spring action than the S&W40.  When you pull back the slide, it chambers the round, the hammer stays back, which means you are locked and loaded and ready for action.  If you are not accustomed to a pistol with a hammer, this can be jarring!  You are only a slight trigger pull away from discharging the gun.  It has a slightly unusual spring-forward magazine release, but springs it out nicely, once you figure it out.  Like any other larger caliber firearm, it has a nice kick to it.  The Ruger P95 uses the same 9 X 19mm cartridges as the famous Luger 9mm Parabellum.  A tried and true caliber that has proven its worth.  This weapon is suitable for concealed carry and home defense, of course, for such applications, it is recommended that you use a good quality hollow-point ammunition.  At around $340, this 9mm Prescott, Arizona pistol is a real dandy.

Taurus .38 Special Revolver

Now here’s an intimidating little package.  It even looks scary.  I sure wouldn’t care to be staring down the business end of this thing.  It uses very large cartridges too.  Like a magnum.  If you stared into the loaded barrel of this thing long enough (not recommended) you might catch a glimpse of this huge bullet, just waiting for the order to GO.  This is a small revolver with a two-inch barrel that easily fits in the palm of your hand or a pocket, but has a seriously strong attitude about it.  The biggest thing on the revolver you notice is the revolver drum itself and the muzzle size.  It really does have presence.  It’s almost like having a large cartridge with a firing pin attached to it.  A nice, small, concealable package.  When you fire it, you get a nice hard buck too.  If you make those rounds hollow points, you’d be almost unstoppable!  For its small size, this tiny revolver has a big and strong frame.  And a big bark.  Without wishing to convey any aggressive attitude, this is actually quite a mean little revolver.  The Brazilians got this one right.

Bersa Thunder .380

No more screwing  around with the Bryco.  This pocket .380 is miles above the Bryco in both class and style.  Here is a surprisingly nice pistol for the price.  A very sleek and good-looking pistol, it’s also a surprisingly good little shooter.  This firearm seriously reminds me of one of my all-time venerated favorites, the Walther PPK.  It even has the PPK-style grip extender on the bottom of the magazine, which is both functional and stylish and is chambered in the same .380 ACP caliber.  Think of the Bersa as a PPK for those on a budget.  Highly economical, if you can pass the background check in the US, you can get a Bersa for about $225.  For the price, you get a lot of reliability and an all-around decent little personal protection pistol.  There are all kinds of safety features on the Bersa Thunder, including a factory trigger lock and a manual safety that is operated by a key, for those who may need these features.  The .380 ACP caliber is big enough to do the job too.  It has the nice little kick you’d expect from a medium caliber gun.  Just right for concealed carry.  I was very impressed by this little surprise from Argentina.  A good, high-quality and effective firearm in a small, affordable package.

Rock Island Armory .45 ACP M1911A1 CS

Now we’re cookin’!  I like to think of this as the nice little reliable surprise like the Bersa .380, but in the more popular .45 ACP caliber.  If you are one of the hundreds of thousands of United States military veterans of the Cold War, like myself, then you probably know all about the M1911A1 Colt .45 Government Issue pistol.  Remember those long hours of stammering around on guard duty at 02:00 hours with one of these strapped to your waist?  It’s almost enough to make a person want to shoot it off, just to kill the boredom.  Like any good legend, the old .45 will never die.  It has been beloved by Americans for the last eight decades, and will probably be around for eight more.  While the originals were made by Colt, there are now many other models available, and still in production.  And the good thing is, most of these, regardless of manufacturer, have parts that are compatible with each other.  The same is true with the Rock Island version of the .45.  The one I have is a shortened version, being about 1.5 inches shorter in the barrel than its more famous government-issued cousin, but otherwise, it’s still a .45 M1911A1 through and through.  Manufactured in the Philippines, this single-action automatic with a neat skeleton hammer has all the full features and rock-solid reliability of its cousins.  No jams or misfires.  The shorter, more compact size (the CS part in the model name) makes for easier concealed carry without sacrificing any bite, and the .45 ACP caliber is about as big as they come without getting into specialty weapons.  The trigger action on this model is very pleasing and satisfyingly smooth. You have to feel it to appreciate it.  It’s great.   If you load one of these with good quality hollow-point ammo, you have a very fine home or personal defense weapon.  This is considered the entry-level market pistol to the vaunted .45 club, retailing at around $430, and it even comes in a nice polymer carrying case.

Once again, we’d like to remind you that we DO NOT sell real firearms on our site or in our online store.  We sell only non-firing replicas, or in some cases, blank-firing replicas where we can.  The anti-gun crowd has managed to ban even replicas in some places now.  We will always fight for the right to safe, responsible firearms ownership, and our inalienable Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Cartridges: .380 ACP, Luger 9mm, .40SW, .45 ACP, .38 Special. Click on image for a better view, but use your back button to return to the blog, or the WordPress software will throw you off of this site!

If you’d like to read more on the history of some of the most famous guns of all time, please visit my website, GunClassics.com.  Thank You for visiting our blog.  You are always welcome to check back and see what’s new, or to just browse around.  We hope you enjoy our sites, and look forward to serving you in 2012.

Some of the greatest legends of firearms production have emerged from the shops of Birmingham Small Arms, which was located to the Northwest of London, in Birmingham’s famous “Gun Quarter”.  Some of the work in these shops was farmed out from the government-run armory of the RSAF (Royal Small Arms Factory) at Enfield, a suburb of London.  These include mainstays such as the snider-Enfield, the Martini-Henry, the Lee-Metford, the legendary Lee-Enfield, the .303 RAF Browning, the Sten submachine gun and the modern LRL1A.  They also produced some heavier armaments such as cannon and anti-tank rifles.

Besides those legendary firearms, there were some other rather thrilling products that any gun or history enthusiast can also easily appreciate.  Birmingham Small Arms, also known as BSA also produced a very popular line of bicycles, cars and motorcycles.  At one point, BSA was the worlds largest and most popular motorcycle manufacturer.

Like any old and venerated company, Birmingham Small Arms went through a large number of shifts and changes, and dealings with other very well-known companies like Daimler, Norton, Triumph, Raleigh, and others.  There were financial problems and successes along the way.  For awhile, the Royal Post Office used the BSA’s Bantam motorcycles to deliver telegrams.  They were also used by the Automobile Association for roadside services.

In 1930, BSA purchased the car manufacturer, Lanchester Motor Company Ltd. in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.  Lanchester operated from 1895 to 1955.  The Lanchester company had once been a part of BSA’s Armourers Mills small arms production facility.  The BSA line of cars, some still wearing the badge of Lanchester later changed hands to Daimler, Jaguar,  and most recently, Jaguar/rover which as of 2008 was owned by the Ford Motor Company.

BSA Motorcycles Ltd was in business from 1919 to 1972.  During that time, they produced some fine examples of what is now motorcycle history.  For a very short time in 1979, there were a few BSA motorcycles produced by BSA Regal.

As can be easily expected, these wheeled gems of the 20th century continue to gleam in flawless glory in the hands of private collectors around the world.  While the BSA name has changed hands and undergone numerous changes, the name still endures.  2011 is the 150th anniversary of the BSA brand.  Today, only air and spring sporting guns are made in Birmingham at BSA Guns UK.  BSA bicycles are still made and sold by TI Cycles of India.  But the base of the marque’s history still shines as brightly as the chrome on the products of its past glory.

For a more heavily illustrated version of this article, please visit GunClassics.com

Autumn Colors

No matter where you are, what you are doing on this Thanksgiving holiday, and no matter how much you have or do not have, this is a time to be thankful for what you do have.  This tradition, as most of you know was started in November of 1621, when the very first settlers to America sat down with the natives and commenced to have a feast and to give thanks for surviving that first brutally difficult and trying year in the New World.  This makes Thanksgiving one of America’s oldest holidays, though it did not officially become a national holiday until 1941.  No matter what your political views, this is meant to be a good time, to be had by all.  The tradition is beautiful and noble, and should always be held in that regard.

Whether or not you are of any religious faith, it is not necessarily required to be thankful.  As you have no doubt heard, things can always be worse.  In these difficult and bitter trying times for our nation, being thankful is more important than ever.  In spite of how things may be going at present, we still have so much for which to be thankful.  Please don’t allow malcontent moods and strife to overshadow the one day of the year where we should all be thankful for what we have.  Feel free to give thanks in your own peaceful and happy way.

From GunClassics.com, GunsOfOld.com and 4G Company, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and a safe and happy holiday season, which kicks off today!

Evidently, some Soviets developed a liking for the German Walther PPs and PPKs they had captured in World War Two.  Looking to replace their aging Tukarov TT33 pistol–an interesting pistol in itself–there was a design competition for its replacement.

Arms designer Nikolai Makarov decided on a variation of the German 9mm round, rather than developing a new sidearm that would have utilized the stockpiles of 7.62 rounds, and won the bid.  The result was a pistol utilizing a unique caliber, the Makarov 9 X 18mm cartridge, which had more stopping power than the 7.62mm.  One millimeter shorter than the high-pressure German Parabellum 9 X 19mm round, the new 9 X 18mm Makarov PM (Pistolet Makarova) became the new Soviet standard sidearm, issued to the military not only in the Soviet Union, but in the Warsaw Pact Eastern European communist bloc nations as well.  With production beginning in 1949, the semiautomatic pistol entered military service in 1951, and was used officially until 1991.  Many are still in use.  The PM was also the preferred sidearm of most KGB agents.  There were versions manufactured in East Germany, Bulgaria and China as well.  Later, other Warsaw Pact nations manufactured their own pistols chambered for the Makarov 9 X 18mm round, such as the Hungarian P63 and the Polish P64.

Like the AK 47 rifle that had just entered service before it, the Makarov PM was destined for longevity and success.  It is a rather simple firearm with fewer moving parts than most pistols, and has since proven its reliability.  Very similar to the German PPK by Carl Walther, like most European semiautomatic pistols, the Makarova has a magazine that is released from the boot of the grip, rather than the side of the pistol.  Many feel that the best Makarov PMs are the ones that were manufactured in East Germany.  There are markings on the pistol to help determine their location of manufacture.

The straight blowback-operated single-action/double-action semiautomatic is easily field-stripped without tools in about a minute by anyone who is familiar with the pistol. The simple safety mechanism, located high up on the left side of the pistol, is also given high marks for reliability and durability, and has passed drop tests with flying colors.  Its standard magazine holds 8 rounds, and there is a special high-capacity magazine that holds 12.  I have heard however that the high-capacity round is under-engineered, and that users are better off to stick to the standard 8-round magazine.  I have also heard that the original factory magazines are better for use in the PM than after-factory replacements.  While designated a 9mm pistol, the PM ammo is actually 9.3mm in diameter, and contrary to some beliefs, will not safely take a Parabellum 9 X 19mm round.  There is also a .380 caliber version of the Makarov PM.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a commercial version of the Makarov PM continued to be produced by Baikal, a private company in Russia, well into the 1990s.  Many of them were imported into the United States, and have become quite popular.  I have been told that some of the 1990s imports in nickel-plated chrome have a very thin finish on them, that wears off quickly.  That would lead me to stay with the more standard blued finish.  The ammunition for the PM is still produced and relatively easy to find.  There are also a lot of other pistols based on the PM, most notably the Hungarian P63 which is very similar to the PM, and chambered in the same caliber.

For an authentic, non-firing replica of the Makarov PM pistol, please visit Guns of old.com

In the 1880′s, at around the same time the American West was steadily replacing its remaining percussion weapons with the now-standard Colt Single-Action revolvers, Winchester repeating rifles and any other weapons that utilized the self-contained ammunition, the British Empire was outfitting its services with similar weapons.  The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) as well as privately owned arms producers such as  Webley & Scott were producing some legends of their own.

Near the turn of the century, many of these legends made their appearance on the firearms scene.  The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle became the standard for decades to come, and was a mainstay success, lasting for decades.  Accompanying this legendary British rifle was an equally successful revolver, the Webley revolver.

Moving forward from previous RSAF and private designs, Birmingham arms producer Webley & Scott introduced an upgrade to satisfy the British military demand for reliable sidearms, the Webley Mk IV revolver.

There are many models of the Webley, nearly all of them successful.  Owing to the proliferation of the Mk IV, and its historical place in the British military for so many decades, I’m going to focus on this particular model for this posting.  The Mk IV was a break-top revolver, originally chambered in .455 caliber, utilizing a 200 grain bullet.  This came to be known as the Webley Mk IV .455/200, but is also well known as the “Boer War Revolver”.  The Boer War lasted from 1899 to 1902.

Production of the Mk IV began in 1899, and was used by British troops  in the 2nd Boer War against Dutch and Zulu combatants in South African Transvaal and Africaans  regions.  Using case-hardened steel, and stronger parts, the Mk IV replaced its predecessor, the Mk III.  With a hinge on the revolver’s strong frame, the barrel and the cylinder could be opened, and swung downward, away from the hammer, exposing the ends of the bullets and extracting them at the same time, making for fast and easy reloading.  The Mk IV was a double-action revolver, meaning that you could run it through the entire cycle, including firing, with a single trigger pull without needing to manually cock the hammer.  This, in addition to the revolver’s compact size, durability,  and reliability, even in muddy or sandy environments, made it a success that carried it clear up into the 1960′s.

In 1913, the Mk V was introduced just in time to see action in World War One, then known as the “Great War.”  However, there were so many Mk IV revolvers in circulation that more of them were used in the war than the Mk V, because of supply issues caused by the sudden demands of the war.

After 1921, the Webley revolvers were produced by the Royal Small Arms Factory in the London suburb of Enfield.  RSAF was a British government-owned arms producer.  The privately owned Webley & Scott company continued to produce arms until 1979.  After that, they were known for air guns and other sporting products.  Today, products are still made under the Webley name.

Webley revolvers, in all their different models and calibers, continued to be used in World War Two, and remained in the service of the British Military until 1963-1964.  I could not finish this article without mentioning that the Webley revolver was also a favorite with the fictional character, Indiana Jones, and can be seen in the popular adventure movies.  You just can’t keep a good classic down.  Who would want to?  It goes without saying that the legendary Webley revolvers earned their respected place in history alongside their legendary rifle cousin, the Lee-Enfield SMLE.  Like the famous bolt-action rifle, the Webley revolver is now a highly prized and beloved piece of firearms history, and sought by collectors.

For an authentic non-firing replica of the Webley Mk IV revolver, please visit Gunsofold.com

A rifle, by contrast, has spiral grooves, or rifling inside the barrel.  As a ball moves down the barrel, the grooves impart a spin to the ball which makes it fly more accurately toward its target.  The barrel is narrower, so that gases from the exploding powder can not escape around the ball and more of the energy from the explosion goes into propelling the ball out of the barrel, carrying it a longer distance than a smooth-barrel musket can.  With these advantages, a good marksman could hit a target with a rifle from several hundred yards away.

German gunsmiths perfected the technique of rifling in the 1500s.  The concept was widely used by the early 1800s for hunting weapons, but not for military use.  Why?  It all came down to speed of loading and firing.

Both rifles and muskets prior to 1850 were muzzle-loaded.  A powder charge and ball had to be put into the end of the barrel and pushed down the barrel to the firing mechanism.  This was simpler and faster in a smooth-bore musket, with its larger barrel.  Both powder and ball traveled readily down the musket barrel. But pushing the same ball down a tighter-fitting rifle barrel took longer and required a ramrod, so the musket and rifle had substantially different rates of fire.

An experienced shooter could get off two to three shots a minute with a musket, but would be lucky to get one shot in three minutes with a rifle.  While that was sufficient for hunting deer, it would be disastrous in a battle where charging infantry armed with bayonetted weapons were bearing down on you at a dead run.  By the same logic that made the musket a superior weapon for war, it was virtually useless as a hunting weapon with its short range and poor accuracy.  That’s why the rifle didn’t come into common use as a military weapon until the perfection of breech-loading technology–allowing shells to be loaded through a slot near the firing mechanism, rather than inserted through the muzzle.

While Napoleon was engaged in his European conquests and in need of funding, he struck a deal with American President Thomas Jefferson for the now-famous “Louisiana Purchase” of 1803. Napoleon had plenty on his plate already, and could not afford to maintain his vast holdings on the American Continent. At the time, little was known about the vast territories West of the Mississippi River, including just how vast they were.

Once acquired by the United States, President Jefferson was interested in exploring his new territories to find a navigable waterway to the Pacific Ocean for commerce, as well as to discover just what lay in the areas between. To accomplish these objectives, he commissioned a friend–US Army Captain Merriweather Lewis–to lead an exploratory and mapping expedition across the great expanse of land. History has since shown the Lewis and Clark trek to be one of the most successful of such expeditions undertaken in history. Unlike numerous expeditions to explore the Arctic regions–which often ended with the explorers perishing from cold, disease and starvation–the Lewis and Clark expedition (later dubbed the Corps of Discovery) suffered few casualties along the way, and was an unqualified success which not only reached the Pacific, but ended with the triumphant explorers returning to report their findings.

Lewis Chose William Clark, a Second Lieutenant in the US Army, as his partner and leader of the expedition. For appearances, during the expedition, Clark was often referred to as “Captain” even though this actual rank was not yet official.

The expedition originally departed from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1803. But the party was still being formed, with training activities and other organization by Clark taking place in the Illinois territory, East of the Mississippi River. The more famous part of the expedition–the one where uncharted lands were to be explored—embarked from Camp Dubois in the Illinois Territory on May 14, 1804, and met up with Lewis shortly afterward at St. Charles, in the Missouri Territory. The expeditionary party consisted of 33 people.

Traveling in a northwesterly direction across the Great Plains, the Corps of Discovery traversed the Continental Divide, which at the time was presumed to be a day’s journey, but proved to be much longer and considerably more difficult than the party anticipated! They encountered many Native Americans along the way. On the plains of what would become North Dakota, they built Fort Mandan in the winter of 1804-1805, and recruited a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau’s teenage wife, a member of the Shoeshone tribe, joined the expedition as a translator and guide. Sacajawea would go on to secure her own place in history for being of invaluable assistance and crucial to the success of the expedition. The sight of her carrying her baby in a cradleboard on her back had a disarming effect when the party approached native villages, and along with her translation skills, she helped to ensure that the expedition’s encounters with native tribes were mostly peaceful. There is no doubt that her presence saved the expedition a great deal of trouble. Lewis and Clark’s peaceful trek across the west was in sharp contrast to the chaos and bloodshed that erupted in the decades after the Civil War. By that time, due to the incursion of thousands of westward-migrating pioneers, building of the railroads and the resulting destruction of the great buffalo herds on the plains, relations with the native tribes had become much more strained.

The expedition collected many samples of plant life along the way, drew maps, and sampled exotic indigenous cuisine (including boiled dog!) At one point, a “return” team was dispatched east from Fort Mandan carrying a live prairie dog as a gift for President Jefferson. Amazingly, the little animal—which the expedition had dubbed a “barking squirrel”– was alive when it was delivered to Jefferson. Research to discover what became of Jefferson’s famed pet prairie dog afterward proved fruitless. Apparently its fate was lost in history. It would be reasonable to expect the creature would have been stuffed and ended up in the Smithsonian or some other museum, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Chalk it up as one more historic mystery.
During their visit to the Great Plains, at least, there was an abundance of wild game to help provision the expedition. There were reported to be numerous weapons carried on the expedition–many of which were traded to native tribes for food and supplies to fuel their treks through mountains where food was less plentiful. Weapons carried by members of the expedition included Charleville muskets, Harpers Ferry and Springfield Armory muskets, a scattering of Kentucky Rifles, and some French St. Etienne AN IX flintlock pistols. Since many French weapons had found their way to American shores during the American War for Independence a few years before, the abundance of French firearms carried by the party was no surprise. There was also a scattering of blunderbuss weapons, mounted on swivels on the gunwales of the party’s canoes and pirogues–a standard seagoing tactic for that day–and the lead boat even had a small cannon mounted on its bow. I should not fail to mention the famous air gun carried on the expediton. It was a strange thing, with an air tank in the stock, and compared to a regular gun that used powder, it was much quieter. The strange weapon fired lead balls, but was not always reliable for maintaining enough air pressure to get off more than a few shots. It was often used to impress Native Americans –and whoever else they happened upon–and was regarded as a curio or an entertaining novelty by many on the expedition.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition shattered the national illusion that one might be able to sail a boat from the East coast to the Pacific Ocean by inland waterways, since no such passage exists. Westward passage would have to wait for the stagecoaches, railroads, and later the interstate freeways and airlines.

The legendary expedition reached the mighty Columbia River (I’m from the Portland, Oregon area, so the wide and swift-moving Columbia is a familiar sight to me) and followed it out to its estuary in what is now Astoria, Oregon. I know just how they felt. They were ecstatic to lay eyes on the vast mouth of the Columbia where it empties into the Pacific. The expedition faced a long and dreary winter on the coast, which consisted mostly of rain. I doubt anyone who’s ever lived in the region will dispute that. It was a long and hungry winter for the Lewis and Clark group. Wild game is a scarce commodity on the Pacific Northwest coastline in winter, and it was the wrong season for them to take advantage of the area’s most abundant meat source–the Pacific salmon that migrate upstream to spawn in the summer. It’s a shame they didn’t get a chance to sample a barbecued “steak of the sea”, as the rich, red fish meat has been called. I’m not sure when barbeque sauce was invented, but evidently the Lewis and Clark expedition was not meant to experience such delicacies.

Regarding Sacajawea, I’d rather not get into a discussion of the etymology of her somewhat confusing name, the many different spellings and pronunciations of it, or the tribal meanings of it. The most commonly accepted version of her name is a native word meaning “Bird Woman”, or some variation thereof. Suffice it to say that Sacajawea did a great service to the Expedition and to the history of America. Her image and story is immortalized on coins, sculptures and other monuments. Hats off, a standing ovation and a warm toast to her accomplishments!

Considering the scope and danger of this marathon round-trip expedition through inhospitable wilderness and bad weather, and a few disputes involving fair trade with the Teton Sioux tribe and other native peoples they encountered –it’s truly amazing that the party suffered only one fatality. Sergeant Charles Floyd died from what was thought to be appendicitis, and was buried at what is now Sioux City, Iowa. Two Blackfeet Indians were also killed in a skirmish on the return trip when they attempted to steal some weapons from the Lewis and Clark party.

The expedition had made it to the Pacific Ocean, naming their landing place “Cape Disappointment” when the ship they expected to carry them back east failed to materialize. They built Fort Clatsop, and when the expected ship still hadn’t arrived, were forced to make their way back east in a reverse of the perilous trek they had just completed. Upon their triumphant return to civilized society, they enjoyed a short-lived popularity. I guess people have short attention spans when it comes to westward exploration and expansion. If not for the famed expedition, there wouldn’t be a rather large arch dominating the St. Louis, Missouri skyline. Widespread public attention to their accomplishments was not given until the 1960′s, when they finally started to receive the historical accolades they had earned 150 years earlier. Their mapping of the vast open regions paved the way for a massive migration of settlers to the West, who wasted no time striking out in large numbers to claim land, mine gold and silver, build towns, have shootouts, and in general, raise ten different kinds of Hell before settling down. However little their feats of derringdo were noticed back then, Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea are household names today. There are monuments to Lewis and Clark scattered along the very lengthy trail of their epic Expedition. Many buildings, highways, and even institutions like Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon commemorate the pair’s journey. Sacajawea, too, has her share of monuments and namesakes. She is a true national heroine and a certified part of American history.

When the expedition ended in 1806, the significance of their discoveries was mostly unacknowledged. Most had given the members of the party up for dead, since they had been gone for over two years. It wasn’t until years later that the significance of the expedition became widely known. In addition to taking many scientific samples, they also contributed a much better understanding of the vast expanse of territory through which they had traveled. The party also produced a large quantity of maps, which came in handy when the United States exploded Westward in its quest for “Manifest Destiny.” President Jefferson was evidently pleased with their accomplishments, and the careers of both Lewis and Clark prospered after their return. Both Merriweather Lewis and William Clark later served terms as Governor of Missouri Territory.

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The percussion firing system came about in the 1820s, and didn’t take really take off until around the 1840s. New things are often slow to take hold. Eventually, percussion weapons began to replace the old flintlock system. Colt produced Police and Pocket percussion pistols in 1847, followed by the now-famous 1851 Navy Colt, although at the time, it’s unlikely the name “Navy Colt” was actually used. This led to the more successful percussion Colts of the Civil War. The 1860-1861 Army and Navy model Colts were among the very last firearms using the old percussion system. 1860 was the year that Benjamin Tyler Henry unveiled his lever-action repeating rifle that used a newly-perfected .44 caliber rimfire metal cartridge–invented by Daniel Wesson and perfected by Henry. Nobody may have seen it coming then, but the metal cartridges took the world by storm, and quickly usurped the old percussion and black powder weapons. This technology spread and developed like wildfire, and in a short time, centerfire cartridges and smokeless powder took the place of rimfire (except in small calibers), and not long after that, semiautomatic weapons. After centuries of using black powder and relatively simple flintlock firing mechanisms, the technology of firearms was now on the fast track. Percussion revolvers weren’t much more than an innovative, but short-lived technology to fill in the gap between black powder flintlocks and the use of full-metal self-contained cartridges. Cap and Ball percussion revolvers used a small sack (or tube-shaped “paper cartridge”) of nitrated paper or cloth filled with a measure black powder, with a small lead ball or conical bullet packed on top of it. This was done with either a ramrod, or in the case of the Civil War-era Colts, a built-in rod (loading lever) on a hinge that would pack the powder and bullet wad into a chamber in the cylinder. The shooter would then attach a percussion cap, a small copper or brass open-ended cylinder enclosing fuliminate of mercury onto the “nipple” (on the rear of the cylinder) which held it in place. When struck by the hammer, the cap would detonate, flashing sparks through a small hole on the back of the nipple into the revolver chamber, igniting the main powder charge and firing the bullet. By placing the hammer in the half-cock position, the cylinder would be allowed to rotate freely for loading. Obviously, this was a much lengthier process than what we employ today with the use of self-contained metal cartridges. These were some of the last of the percussion-type weapons being developed.

The predecessor to the 1860 Army and 1861 Navy Colts, was the Colt Pocket revolver made in the late 1840s, and was the continuation of the “Baby Dragoon.” The most popular Pocket model was the 1849 model, with some variations being the Pocket Police Model and the Pocket Navy. They were especially popular with the California Gold Rush crowd (Sutter’s Mill, California ’49 Gold Rush, remember?) and also later, during the Civil War. The 1849 Pocket Pistols were set in .31 caliber and had 5-shot cylinders, and like the M1851, had an octagonal barrel, but it was noticeably shorter than on the later Colts. The Pocket Pistols were produced from 1847 to 1873. This model introduced the successful single-action mechanism that was still used in the M1860 Army and M1861 Navy Colt percussion six shooters.

Some of the distinguishing characteristics of the Civil War-era percussion Colts are the loading lever, which hinges down to pack the bullet and charge into the firing chamber, and when finished, can be snapped back into place with a spring under the barrel. The M1860 Army had a cam in the loading lever hinge that would not allow the lever to fall all the way against the barrel, should it happen to unclip itself and fall during recoil, a handy addition from the older 1851. More than 200,000 of the percussion revolvers were produced between 1860 and 1873. While the Army percussion revolver was set in .44 caliber, the Navy version was set in .36 caliber, and was produced in smaller numbers than the Army model. The M1861 Navy had a shorter cylinder, and less recoil than the M1860 Army, but otherwise was nearly identical. Unlike its forbear the M1851, the 1861 had the “creeping” cam feature on the loading lever. Some of the 1860-61 models had fluted cylinders and arrangements for an optional shoulder stock, but most did not. The 1860-61 Colt revolvers had round barrels, while the old 1851 models had octagonal barrels. All of these Colt percussion revolvers from the M1851 through the M1861 were used heavily in the Civil War.

Since the Colts–and most others too–were made in the American Northeast (Yep, Union territory!) the Confederate states didn’t have access to to new supplies of the weapon once the hostilities began. They had to make do with whatever weapons they already had, import new ones from overseas, such as the LeMat revolver by smuggling them through the Union’s Naval Blockade. They also had the option to make their own weapons, and they did, but with only limited success. One such weapon was the Griswold and Gunnison revolver. It was actually a bit crude conpared to the Colt revolvers, but was otherwise an exact copy of the M1851 Navy Colt, right down to the .36 caliber size. The Confederates had major issues getting the right kinds of metals they needed, and often ended up using a fused mixture of brass and steel, or whatever they could lay their hands on. Today, the homemade Griswold & Gunnison revolvers are extremely rare, and worth a fortune to collectors, some of whom have paid over a million to get one. The Colt percussion revolvers, produced in larger numbers are not quite as rare, however, if you ever see one (or a pair of them) at auction, complete with a wooden box, bullet mold, original powder flask and other tools, in good shape, and especially if it’s engraved or was owned by a famous person, be prepared to spend at least that much. One that’s in very good shape, even lacking the engraving or the famous person angle, means that you’re looking at a price tag of at least US $400,000, and up to $750,000. Of course, if you can’t spare three-quarters of a million bucks for a classic firearm, you could always get a nice, non-firing or blank-firing replica, that looks, feels and acts like the original, right down to the mechanical action, but costs much less.

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There are some very sleek and modern pistols being produced today, with major advances in technology and accuracy. But they are in a different class from the old flintlock pistols of the past. Ornately engraved and scrolled decorative finishes are something that is no longer produced, except in custom work, made to order at a high price. Many European gunsmiths were producing beautiful flintlock pistols in the 18th and 19th century. The few that have survived are now fetching high prices at auction, or on display in museums.

French design is legendary for its classical elegance and ornate decor. It is evident in French furniture and architecture. It can also be found in flintlock muskets and pistols produced by the famed armory at St. Etienne, the Manufacture d’armes founded in 1764 in Charleville, France. St. Etienne is only one of many locations for armories bearing the name. Small arms have been produced here since the middle ages, including the many weapons used in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon Bonaparte himself had personal weapons made here for him by his personal gunsmith, Jean-Baptiste Gribeauval. Among these are a double-barrelled flintlock pistol, and Napoleon’s personal St. Etienne 1806 traveling flintlock pistol with his crowned mongram “N” on the grip. Though customized, it is clearly a variation of the AN XIII flintlock pistol, used by French Cavalry in the Napoleonic wars. Polished wood, and intricately scrolled brass and pewter fittings make a resplendent contrast to the plain and the utilitarian. There are also the Versailles dueling pistols made by Nicholas Boutet in the time of Napoleon. Carved exotic woods and precious metals were used in the production of these pistols, which were presented to high-ranking officials.

A lot of the St. Etienne flintlocks made their way to America also. Merriweather Lewis and William Clark carried some of these flintlock pistols on their famous 1804-1806 expedition to explore the open western lands for expansionist and president Thomas Jefferson, accompanied by a native-American guide, Sacajawea. These were variations of the St. Etienne Model AN IX, which were issued to French infantrymen in the Napoleonic Wars. Most of these flintlocks can be identified by the famous St. Etienne stamp in the metal on the side of the lock mechanism.

Around 1680, Italian gunsmith Lorenzoni produced some magnificent triple-barrel flintlock pistols for the Medici family, with ornately carved ivory grips. Around 1795, Kumbley & Brum of London also made flintlock pistols with beautifully-carved ivory grips and bas-relief brass engraving.

First American President George Washington had a favorite pistol, a 1748 Hawkins, made in London had his name engraved on a silver plate on the grip. It is now housed in the museum of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was also presented with a brace of flintlocks by the Marquis de LaFayette. The famous first shot of the American War for Independence, the “Shot heard ’round the world” was fired by a 1760s Scottish flintlock pistol, an all-metal piece of extraordinarily ornate design. These are but a few examples of the fine art and craftsmanship that went into gunmaking in the 17th through the 19th centuries. When compared with today’s utilitarian, sleek and modern hanguns, which are faster and more powerful, there is still something magnificent about the time-honored practice of handcrafted elegance.

The first flintlock firing mechanism was created by a French courtier for King Louis XIII, and by 1630 was in use in Europe for warfare. Flintlock weapons were in use for around two hundred years, until they were succeeded by the invention of the percussion cap. The percussion cap was a short-lived technology, bridging the gap between flintlocks and the later self-contained metal cartridges.

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Everyone has heard of Napoleon. The historical French leader, presumed to be short, who rose to great heights, and then fell to great lows when he was defeated at Waterloo. For the most part, that’s all that most people know about him. The truth is a little different. Like all people, he had his good points and his bad points. The first thing one needs to do when considering history is to actually CONSIDER history. It wouldn’t be fair to judge a person who acted in the late 1700′s based on 21st century politics. Things were a little different then than they are now. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes not. Whichever the case, here you’ll get a brief, unrevised look at the life and career of Napoleon Bonaparte I of France.

Born on 15 August, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica to Italian parents, and christened Napoleone di Buonoparte, he came from a background of minor nobility. Because of this moderate affluence, he was able to study, among other things, to be a French artillery officer. He served as a second lieutenant until just after the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. At around this time, he was involved in fighting in a complicated campaign in Corsica between Corsican royalists, revolutionaries and others. At one point, he even battled against a French army. This did not prevent him from later being promoted to the rank of captain in Paris. He was at odds with the Corsican leader, Pasquale Paoli, and eventually, Napoleone di Buonoparte and his family were forced to flee into what is now France to escape from Corsica. He later changed his name to the more French-sounding moniker of Napleon Bonaparte.

The French and the British had more or less been at war since medieval times. This was at a time before the existence of nation-states, when most of Europe was a collection of loose alliances and small Holy Roman Empire Papal States. A complicated mess, left over from the collapse of the Roman Empire, and lasting hundreds of years, well past the renaissance. Other than the currently-serving Popes, the rest of the continent was more-or-less a disorganized and decentralized jigsaw puzzle of small sovereignties and wavering loyalties. The alliances of these small states changed frequently, and there was usually a lot of discontent to breed trouble. Rather than nations fighting each other, there were coalitions, some large, some very small. Some were merely representing a single city. It would make your head spin for me to list all of the coalitions and states that existed at the time. The same goes for keeping track of which ones were aligned for or against each other.

Napoleon used his influences within the French military and leadership to rise to power, mainly through his unique grasp of artillery placement and use, and his ability to write compelling opinions. He was said not to be a very good speller, but that he was quite good at math and geometry. And he was certainly credited in his lifetime as being a very capable military tactician. He was instrumental in driving the British out of Toulon in 1793, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General, and later, even higher. The French had an army in Italy, and Napoleon’s success there further increased his position of standing with the French leaders. French involvment in these coalition battles eventually led to widespread French power and influence. In one of Napoleon’s most successful campaigns, he was able to defeat Rome, ending an 1,100 year-long independence, and creating a much better position for the French. It was at this time that Napoleon’s political influence grew vastly.

For a time, Napoleon was away in Egypt, attempting to expand the French Empire there, but had a great deal of difficulties due to numerous local uprisings and harassment from the British Royal Navy. (Britain largely owes its Empirical strength to its Navy) While Napoleon was away and busy in Egypt, the French were again being beset by coalition warfare, and also going bankrupt, and had lost a lot of the support of its people. Upon his return to France, there was a coup by Napoleon, his brother and some other supporters. Leading an army into Paris, he eventually triumphed over opponents, drafted a new constitution, and shortly thereafter elected himself as First Consul, the most powerful position in France. This allowed him to take up residence in the Tullieres Palace. He returned to Italy with his troops and drove out the Austrians in another of many coalition skirmishes. The large number of battles and struggles between these coaltions came to be known as the Napoleonic Wars.

After the narrow victory over the Austrians, there was a short-lived peace in Europe, followed by yet more coalition warfare. With the French colony in Haiti being lost to a revolution there, and in general a state of near-bankruptcy, Napoleon realized that he could not hold onto or defend the vast tracts of French territory in America, so he made an offer to United States President Thomas Jefferson to sell that land. His offer was accepted, and Napoleon got some money, and the United States got a huge, massive tract of real estate to call its own. This of course, was the famous Louisiana Purchase of 1803. This land was sold for less than three cents an acre. Quite the deal for the United States, and worth a lot more now.

Napoleon was mostly victorious in his military campaigns, and enjoyed many successes, and suffered a few failures. While in power in France, he instituted many reforms, most notably a set of laws called the Code Civil or Napoleonic Code. These were sweeping reforms to what was before a feudal system. Now there was a legal system of due process and justice, commerce laws, private property laws, the formation of a central bank, and many others. He instituted an infrastructure system of roads and sewers, and other improvements to civil engineering, ushering in the modern age from the medieval age. These reforms worked so well that many of them are still used today in Europe and abroad, including the United States. He changed the military model of using small units to a large, centralized force, and wisely accepted the ideas of arms designers to standardize the production of weapons, rather than having a large assortment of mismatched weapons in the field. At around this time, the British and the Americans were doing likewise.

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French, and the next year, he was crowned the King of Italy. His reigns as leader of Italy and France overlapped each other. After the military victories and reforms, pushing out the old medieval ways, many saw this as a throwback to the feudal and imperialist system, and were displeased. Among the displeased was the famous composer, Ludwig von Beethoven, a former admirer of Napoleon, now bitterly disgusted with him. He even went so far as to scratch homage to Napoleon from his Third Symphony.

More coalition wars, campaigns and skirmishes followed. While Napoleon was on a roll across a vast portion of the European continental mainland, the British were holding their own at sea with their vastly superior Royal Navy. Also, Britain’s island geography made the British homeland more defensible. For the most part, Napleon enjoyed victory in his coalition wars and conquests. Then came his 1812 invasion of Russia. France and Russia had an alliance from 1807, but like so many others in Europe, it deteriorated, and once again, war visited Europe. Napoleon was able to push the Russian forces clear beyond Moscow, and it looked like certain victory for Napoleon, until he experienced a natural Russian advantage: the Russian Winter. Russia has winters like no other, and throughout time, it has aided the Russians in driving off would-be conquerors. Basically the same thing happened to Hitler’s Army in World War II. The bitter cold took a very heavy toll on Napoleon’s forces, who were wracked with frostbite, starvation and disease. What the bitter cold of a Russian winter did not take away from attackers, it sucked into the deep mud of the Russian spring thaw. Mud so widespread and deep that it hinders troop movements and bogs down everything. Even if his men and horses could find food, they couldn’t negotiate the famous Russian mud. It also produces a crop of disease-carrying mosquitoes that won’t quit. For the most part, Napoleon won the battle for Russia. But the Russian habit of leaving nothing behind for conquering forces to take (Scorched Earth Policy) and the winter and spring is too much for any attacker. The Russians burned Moscow, rather than let Napoleon have it. Originally 400,000 strong, fewer than 40,000 soldiers remained of Napoleon’s Army, which gave up on Russia and retreated back to France.

Upon returning to France, some of Napoleon’s generals staged a mutiny, and he was forced to abdicate the throne, and was exiled to the Island of Elba in the Mediterranean. This is a result of the Treaty of Fontainebleu. In his exile, Napoleon was given sovereignty over the island, and while there, put together a small army and navy, but his wife and son were living in exile in Austria. He knew that there was a plan to exile him to another island in the Atlantic, so he escaped from Elba and made his way back to France. When he landed on French soil, a regiment sent to intercept him was instead won over by him, and together they returned to Paris, causing Louis XVIII to flee. Evidently, Napoleon still inspired some fear and respect with his presence. Neighboring Austria caught wind of his return, and acted to raise up a large coalition force against him.

Napoleon reigned in Paris for around a hundred days, and had built up an army of some 200,000 troops. Upon the advance of the Austrian coalition army, Napoleon launched an offensive attack, in an attempt to divide their forces. They met up in Waterloo, in what is now Belgium, and fought. The British forces led by the Duke of Wellington, aided by the arrival of the Russian coalition were able to drive back Napoleon’s forces, which fled in disarray. The coalition forces then marched on Paris and restored Louis XVIII to the throne.

After a brief imprisonment, Napoleon was again exiled, this time to the small island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, very far away from any main land mass. Some members of the British Parliament and even some Lords sympathized with him. There were a few other intrigues, plans of escape and rumors, but further conquest was not to be. Living in Longwood House, the former Deputy Territorial Governor’s decaying mansion, Napoleon’s health declined, and he died of stomach cancer on 5 May, 1821. Napoleon remained buried in obscurity until the French King Louis-Phillipe had his remains returned to France in 1840. He was given a state funeral and intombed at the chapel in Les Invalides, a hospital campus for French war veterans in Paris, where he remains to this day. It is now a famous and very popular military museum that leaves a lasting impression on those who visit.

There are a number of things that Napoleon is noted for, such as having a very profound effect on the history and future of France. He did some bad or questionable things, such as ordering disease-wracked soldiers in his army poisoned, to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy while leaving Egypt. During his reign, he reinstituted slavery in outlying French colonies, and when it came to politics and the military, he was a sly operator. But he also paved the way for the abolition of the loose coalition of Papal States, in favor of autonomous nations, which still endures. From what was once a mass of disorganized sovereign and combative hotspots is now the mighty nation of Germany, for better or for worse, even after its travails of the 20th Century. Continental mainland Europe is now a strong collection of sovereign nations. Many of his Code Civil/Napoleonic Code laws and ideas are still practiced worldwide, including the UK and the United States. While he was in part, defeated by the British, many Brits, including some high-ranking Lords still admired him. He is also viewed as a military genius, having easily proved that through his many conquests and tactics. He also enacted the Jewish Emancipation, which allowed Jews to own private property, and other rights. Oh, I almost forgot; Napoleon’s height. The Duke of Wellington stated that Napolen was approximately 1.7 meters tall, or about 5 feet, 8 inches. A tad under 6 feet. The normal, average adult height.

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