Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Remington Model 1861 Navy percussion revolver manufactured circa 1862, one of about 6,000 produced. Traces of a cartouche remain on the left grip panel, indicating military acceptance. The Model 1861 was Remington’s .36 caliber Navy-si...
When I was a kid growing up around marshes in the northeast, I used to pick up empty shotgun shells whenever I found them in the weeds, left there in duck season. 12 gauge was the norm, with the occasional 10 gauge hull spotted. I never found 20 gauge shells back then, but I did find my fair shar...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have an Argentine Hafdasa Ballester-Molina semi-automatic pistol manufactured 1938-1953. This is Argentina’s licensed copy of the Colt 1911 design chambered in .45 ACP (marked as 11.25mm). Hafdasa (Hispano-Argentina Fábrica de Automóviles S...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a 1955 Colt Courier in .22 LR, one of an estimated 3,000 manufactured 1953-1956 before being phased out in favor of the Colt Agent. The Courier was Colt’s attempt at a lightweight compact revolver for plainclothes police and civilian co...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Smith & Wesson Model 50 Chief’s Special Target, one of 568 manufactured in the range 930J45-936J19. The factory letter states this shipped March 27, 1973 and confirms the Model 50 was manufactured as special orders with no standard...
These days, the gun world is obsessed with all things tactical and self-defense oriented, but it wasn’t always that way. In the days before and after World War II, gun mags were oriented more towards the Fudd market, and people cared about hunting and outdoors living in general. And in that...
In the world of handgun optics, there are a few trends that are penetrating the industry right now. For one, people are in love with enclosed emitters. There are a bevy of benefits behind enclosed emitters that make them desirable to new and veteran shooters alike. Another trend is solar-powered ...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a W.H. Kleft telescope and flintlock cane gun manufactured in the early 19th century. In 1814, Kleft was granted British patent 3837 for a walking staff containing pistol, powder, ball, screw telescope, pen, ink, paper, pencil, knife, and draw...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a sequential pair of engraved Dreyse needle fire self-cocking revolvers, serials 11054 and 11055, manufactured 1864-1872. The Dreyse needle fire system ranks among the first practical cartridge-based small arms, bridging paper percussion cartr...
There is nothing more inherently Fudd-coded than a lever-action rifle. Lever guns bring to mind images of post-war deer camps, or classic ammunition advertisements of broadbrim-hatted shootists facing down grizzlies, or bagging a ram across a rocky canyon. Of course, the classic lever guns in tho...