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HomePercussion

Percussion

Antiques

Colt vs Collier: Patents Lawsuits and Lawyers Oh My!

December 8, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

“Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier and Artemas Wheeler” is available right now for preorder on Kickstarter: Most of the historical recognition of Elisha Collier comes from the 1851 and 1852 patent infringement […]

Antiques

A Very Rare Confederate Columbus Armory Carbine

November 14, 2022 Ian McCollum 2

Carbines made by the Columbus Armory are particularly scarce, and their history is not really well understood. They were manufactured by John Gray of Columbus SC, whose brother William Gray was a partner in another […]

Antiques

Rogers & Spencer .44 Army: Possibly the Best Civil War Revolver

October 26, 2022 Ian McCollum 14

Amos Rogers and Julius Spencer ran a company making mostly farm equipment in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1859, they took on a firearms manufacturing contract (as mechanical fabrication companies often do) to make Pettengill […]

Antiques

The Sure Defender: An O.G. Knuckleduster Knife Gun

December 8, 2021 Ian McCollum 12

One of the early combination self-defense guns was the “Sure Defender”, with a combination of brass knuckles, a small and finicky wavy-bladed dagger, and a single shot percussion pistol barrel. The rather complex process for […]

Gunsmithing

Lindner’s Improbable Tube-Fed Striker-Fired Caseless Ammo Revolver

December 6, 2021 Ian McCollum 23

Edward Lindner was a Bavarian-born gunsmith who spent much of his professional life in the United States. He was granted no less than 13 firearms patents, and was involved in some very forward-thinking designs. Among […]

Antiques

Unique Rotating Single-Shot Percussion Rifle

November 8, 2021 Ian McCollum 29

This is a very unusual single-shot muzzleloading rifle. It is devoid of markings that might identify it, but appears (to my eye, anyway) to have been built from what was originally intended to be a […]

Handgun

Lebeda 4.5mm Pocket Watch Gun

November 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

Made by one Francis Lebeda, this is an Elgin classic pocket watch with the internal mechanism removed and replaced with a single-shot pistol mechanism. It fires a 4.5mm BB using just a No.11 percussion cap, […]

Accessories

Königliche Marine (Prussian Navy) Colt 1851 Rig

October 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 22

In 1855, Prussian customs officials discovered a shipment of 3,000 Colt 1851 Navy model revolvers (and their accouterments) hidden in bales of cotton being shipped from New York to Russia. Prussia was a neutral power […]

Antiques

The Most Popular Percussion Colts: 1848 Baby Dragoon and 1849 Pocket

October 17, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

The most-produced Colt percussion revolver was not one of the big sexy Army models, but rather the humble 1849 Pocket. It was first introduced as the Model 1848 Baby Dragoon, in .31 caliber. By 1850, […]

Crude Copies

Bilharz Hall & Co : A Crude Confederate Cavalry Carbine Copy

October 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 7

In 1863, the Bilharz, Hall, & Co firm of Pittsylvania Court House, Virginia (now Chatham VA) received a contract to make 1,000 examples of a simple percussion cavalry carbine modeled after the US Model 1855 […]

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