In 1852-53, the Watervliet Arsenal in New York produced 1,500 fencing bayonets for the West Point Academy. These were made for practicing bayonet fencing with live opponents without risk of injury. They were comprised of a regular bayonet socket fitted with a holder and thumb screw for a “blade” made of whale baleen and a soft leather ball at the tip, filled with gutta percha or cork. The baleen (a pseudo-tooth from a filter-feeding whale) is a flexible and resilient material ideal for this sort of application, in many ways usable like we use polymers today. While the converted sockets are not too difficult to find today, intact complete bayonets are extremely rare. The apocryphal story is that hundreds were sold to Bannerman’s as surplus, but rats got into the barrels and ate all the baleen. Whoops!
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An Economy Model WWSD: The Civil Defense Rifle
The initial rollout of the WWSD2020 rifles has been slow, as a shortage in a couple key components (primarily carbon fiber hand guards) has been a bottleneck in completing rifles. However KE Arms and Brownells, […]
Accessories
Vintage Match Gear: P.J. O’Hare Sight Covers & Tool
Specialized hobbies have always been a market for specialized gear, and competitive target shooting is a perfect example. Today, we have a set of P.J. O’Hare sight covers form the 1920s or 30s, along with […]
Lever Action Rifles
Winchester Lever Action Development: Model 1895
https://utreon.com/v/wvG-KHIAwQ0 Carbine Rifle We have reached the final iteration of the Winchester lever action rifle development story today, the Model 1895. This was another John Browning design, although the locking system is basically the same […]
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