Iconic Firearms - what do you think?

[mickey]

the webley range of handguns in particular the ric model one of the best actions you will come across in a stock standard handgun

[IrishGunner]

Okay... Time for the big guns. If you are an American Civil War buff or if you've ever been to a Civil War battlefield, you're familiar with the M1857 12-pounder "Napoleon". The iconic cannon of the American Civil War. The North produced more than 1100 of these guns; the South managed to make about 525. Of the approx. 653 artillery pieces at the Battle of Gettysburg, at least 244 were Napoleons. There are today 133 Napoleons at the Gettysburg National Battlefield.

Edited February 10, 2013 by IrishGunner

[Chris Boonzaier]

Marine version...

I have one of those.... i bought it specifically to fondle while smoking cigars... I thought it may set the mood.....

[Chris Boonzaier]

My cigar baby....

[Brian Wolfe]

Smokin' nice Tommy. (yes, pun intended).

Regards

Brian

[peter monahan]

There's your SMLE with bayonet and one being fired by, I think, a Tuareg tribesman.

Edited February 20, 2013 by peter monahan

[Douglas Jr.]

Well impossible to be more iconic than this one...

[Brian Wolfe]

When you are right you are right, Douglas.

Was there ever a more beautiful pistol?

.

Regards

Brian

[IrishGunner]

When you are right you are right, Douglas.

Was there ever a more beautiful pistol?

.

Regards

Brian

Brian, you might want to look again at Post #4 for a "more beautiful pistol"... Or even this one... Another iconic firearm. Just my alternative opinion.

[IrishGunner]

When you are right you are right, Douglas.

Was there ever a more beautiful pistol?

.

Regards

Brian

Or even the Walther PPK

[Mervyn Mitton]

IG - how did the Thompson vary between the models you list ? I see the one Chris is showing is that it has a long

mag. and not the round one. Mervyn

I have a .38 Police special - I suppose that even that could be called iconic - certainly tens of thousands of US Police

have - and possibly still do, carry them. Mine is a Taurus - made in Brasil - for Smith and Wesson and has the 2" barrel.

I also have a Taurus 6.35 pistol - it fits the Beretta leather case from WW2 perfectly. Mervyn

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi Irish,

I would have suggested that perhaps you were suffering from blunt force trauma to the brain caused by artillery concussion but you have posted some very good examples to back up your opinions. The decoration on the PPK is spectacular to say the least. This post was bound to generate a lot of differences in opinion due to personal preferences. Not everyone in the world would recognize frearms as some of the best examples of enginerring genius as we would. I find the 1897 "Broom Handle" Mauser to be a rather chunky and awkward firearm, as an example, and feels awkward in the hand and is not very nice to fire. However, the engineering is wonderful and add the wooden holster/shoulder stock and you have a deadly weapon that is very accurate. I miss mine (sold it...I'm an idiot!).

So, no argument from me on your choice I only wish I could afford all of them for the collection.

By the way, so far everyone has posted iconic weapons without question, well done fellows.

Regards

Brian

[Douglas Jr.]

Bryan,

Thanks for your kind words.

Regarding the Mauser C96 (Broomhandle), it is for sure as bulky as it can be, but a major classic.

Below I'm bringing two examples: a C96 Wartime Commercial (accepted by the Autro-Hungarian Army) with matching stock and a C96 from Persian Contract (also with stock - non matching).

Wishes,

Douglas.

[Douglas Jr.]

Oh, shame on me: I was forgetting another classic: the P.38.

Here are one made by Walther (ac 44) with softshell holster and other by Mauser (byf 44) with a hardshell holster. Both made in the same month, June 1944.

Douglas

[Douglas Jr.]

IG - how did the Thompson vary between the models you list ? I see the one Chris is showing is that it has a long

mag. and not the round one. Mervyn

Mervyn

Mervyn,

Basically, Thompson Submachine guns are divided in five basic models:

M1921 - Fifteen thousand were produced by Colt for Auto-Ordnance fitted with Cutts compensator, finned barrels, vertical foregrip and the Blish lock. It could used box type magazines or 50 / 100 rounds drum magazines.

M1928 - Same as above but so called upon its adoption by the US Navy and USMC. The gun was only modified internally to decrease a little bit its rate of fire.

M1928A1 - Introduced right before Pearl Harbor attack. Major visual modification was the replacement of the vertical pistol grip by a horizontal forend and the provision for a military sling.

M1 - M1 was standardized in April 1942 as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M1. Rate of fire was reduced to approximately 600-700 rpm. First issued in 1943, the M1 uses a simple blowback operation, the charging handle was moved to the side, and the flip-up adjustable Lyman rear sight was replaced with a fixed L sight. In addition, the gun ceased to accept drum magazines and only box type (sticky) mags for 20 or 30 rounds were available. In addition the Cutts compensator and finned barrel were also dropped.

M1A1 - The M1A1, standardized in October 1942 as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M1A1. The main difference between the M1 and M1A1 was the bolt. The M1 bolt had a floating firing pin and hammer, the bolt of the M1A1 had the firing pin machined to the face of the bolt, eliminating unnecessary parts. Other differences were that the reinforced stock was standard, the protective ears on the sight were standard and the magazine catch. the last US contract for Thompson SMG was finished by February 1944. By then the Thompson was supposed to be gradually replaced by the M3 Grease Gun, which hadn't been acomplished by the end of war.

Douglas.

[IrishGunner]

Great response Douglas! I was just going to answer the change in foregrips! Thanks for the assist.

[Brian Wolfe]

That's the in depth information we like to see in our posts.

Many thanks Douglas.

Regards

Brian

[Brian Wolfe]

British Pepper Box Pistol

 

Maker:  Charles Osborne 1830 – 1850

Cal:      9mm (measured, research show these could be 13.9mm as well)

O.A.:    8 inches

Barrel: 2 ¾ inches

 

Ever since the days of the first pistol one of the main problems was in having only one shot before the need to reload was necessary.  In the case of multiple adversaries the only answer was to carry more pistols; two being the most practical considering the size of the pistols of the day.  Attempts were made to add a second barrel and smaller pistols were developed, still there was a need to be able to deliver more than one or two shots before reloading.  Also until the invention of the percussion cap any pistol with more than two barrels was a design nightmare, not to mention the cost of such an engineering marvel.

 

                                                               http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-1801-0-48891100-1422374393.jpg        http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-1801-0-77441100-1422374424.jpg                         

 

Around the mid 1850s revolvers were becoming popular; the biggest drawback was the price tag for one of these multiple round weapons.  Another problem with early revolvers was the loss of propellant gasses due to the gap between the cylinder and the barrel.  In answer to these two problems the multiple barrel pistols were born.  The example here is a bar-hammer pepper box pistol c.1849.  This is a six barrelled percussion cap pistol with the hammer mounted on the top of the pistol in the form of a bar.  The pistol ammunition, in this case measuring 9mm, was loaded from the muzzle of each barrel as one would any black powder pistol preceding this design.  A percussion cap was pressed onto each percussion nipple and each time the trigger was pulled a freshly loaded barrel was presented for firing. On the edge of each muzzle you will see groves filed into the metal used to indicate which barrel had been loaded and which ones were empty.  This, of course required the person loading to start with the barrel with one filed mark and progressing through each one until the one with six groves was reached.  These pistols were not designed to be loaded “in the fieldâ€, more accurately, on the street, and were “charged†at home before leaving.

 

                                                          http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-1801-0-97947000-1422374476.jpg                 http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-1801-0-73601700-1422374504.jpg              http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2015/post-1801-0-02418200-1422374536.jpg         

 

The biggest advantage of the pepper box over the revolvers, in the day, was cost.  These were a lot less expensive to make and therefore cheaper to purchase.  The biggest disadvantages were the difficulty in reloading when outside the home and accuracy.  These were smooth bore pistols and suffered from the same inaccuracy problems of all smooth bore muskets.  The pistol, especially the British made Colt pistol of the time, was “rifle bored†giving them greater accuracy because they shot a bullet-shaped projectile through a rifled barrel rather than a ball through a smooth bore.  It should be noted, however, this six barreled pistol had the same accuracy of any smooth bore pistol of the same barrel length of the time period and of those that preceded it.  All short barreled pistols, of any time period, including today, are suited to close range use.

 

Certainly the short time period in which these were made makes them one of the rarer types produced; a foot note in the time line of handgun development.

 

Regards

Brian

 

[Mervyn Mitton]

Brian  -  good description and illustrations of an important change in firearms.  From these developed the Tranter and Adam percussion Revolvers  -  and of course the Colt's which changed history.  We need more of this type of descriptive  article.    Mervyn

[Marc hun]

Some iconic weapons of the last 100 years imho who can name them (without google lol)

[Brian Wolfe]

Hello Marc,

Allow me to extend a belated welcome to the forum.  I've been distracted for a while, therefore just looking in once in a while, and then somehow missed your post. I see the good old SMLE .303 and the FN FAL but that it for me without going to the "books" or the internet.  Rather than cheating I will submit my response and thereby refresh this post on the open forum. 

Please keep posting when you can, even though this section is not one of the more active ones it is an interesting one.

Regards

Brian

 

[terrylee]

Zulu War Era Martini Henry rifles and bayonets

[Brian Wolfe]

Germany’s MP40

 

No other firearm is as iconic with WWII and the Third Reich as the 9mm submachine gun, known as the  MP40. 

 

Designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer it was heavily used throughout WWII on all fronts by infantry and paratroopers. Due to its relatively slow rate of fire, 500-550 rounds/minute and using a light round, the 9X19mm parabellum round it was a very accurate weapon.   Like most sub machineguns the range was fairly limited with an effective range of 100-200m and a maximum of 250m, however within the effective range it was quite deadly. 

 

The specimen shown is from my collection.

 

Regards

Brian

 

[BalkanCollector]

I must agree with you Brian! MP40 has always been my favourite. You've got a great looking piece in your collection.

[ksg]

When it comes to iconic guns, you really can’t get past this one.

 

Kjell