If the US had an official rifle, what would it be? The 1903 Springfield, the Garand, or the Winchester Model 70? My pick would be the granddaddy of all rifles, the Hawken, complete with its half-stock, heavy barrel, and big bore. It is a departure from earlier rifles of the
Great Britain’s role in America’s early history has been one of both adversary and ally. From the fight for our nation’s independence in 1776 to Great Britain’s attempt to invade the United States during the War of 1812, the British Empire was ever-present. This included the capture and burning of
The Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, exhibits a remarkable collection of famous Western firearms. This includes a cased pair of heavily engraved, gold- and silver-plated, elephant-ivory-gripped, .36-caliber Colt Model 1861 Navy revolvers believed to be owned by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. A marshal superstar in his time, Custer is
One of my favorite black powder pistols is extraordinarily difficult to shoot. In fact, it is often difficult to hit anything with it at any great distance at all. It is cumbersome, clunky, and unwieldy, and it is the oddest-looking contraption a person will ever lay eyes on. That’s because
When we think of the guns of the Old West, we tend to picture the big-bore revolvers like the Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army, Smith & Wesson’s top-break sixguns, and perhaps the Remington Model 1875. Nevertheless, citizens packed a myriad of small, concealable, single- and multiple-shot derringers and revolvers
One of my favorite Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) games is the Wild Bunch match. Introduced a number of years ago by the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), the match is based on the 1969 Western epic “The Wild Bunch,” directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest
