I am a threat to public hygiene.

An important pair of cased Gustave Young style factory-engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolvers, USA 1863

Both revolvers with a 7.5", 36 cal. barrel provided with brass cusp foresight, marked "- ADDRESS COL. SAM.L COLT NEW-YORK US AMERICA -". Both revolvers with working mechanism, three snaps and working trigger safety lock. Frames stamped "COLTS PATENT". Brass grip bands. Grips of walnut briarwood, decorated with a silver star on one side and an emblem depicting an Aztec coin on the other. In both Colts, "E" code marked above or below the serial numbers on the frame, barrel and grip bands. The revolvers are engraved with very similar patterns, in the typical style of Gustave Young with scrollworks on punched dots, present at the breech, on the sides of the frame and, in segments, on the grip bands. These alternate with skilfully undecorated areas (to avoid overburdening the appearance and slenderness of the pistols) and other small decorative elements, such as small frames on the nozzles and around the markings, shells on the back of the grips and wolf's heads on the sides of the hammers. There are slight differences in the decorative motifs between the two revolvers. One of the two trigger guards is marked "2". In a wooden box, probably adapted but not recently, containing some accessories: a powder flask marked "COLTS PATENT", a Colt-type bullet mould, a disassembly tool and some containers.

Lance Head from Funen, Denmark dated to the 2nd Century CE on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark

This lance head from the Roman Empire was found among numerous other weapons in what is thought to be a votive offering in Vimose, Funen. While the Roman Empire did not extend into much of Scandinavia but the colonies traded and travelled with the nations there. There are records of Danish aristocrats serving in the Roman army as auxiliaries. Offerings like this suggest that they brought their weapons back to be offered up in a religious ceremony.

On the lance there is a depiction of what is thought to be an animal, perhaps a horse. This would perhaps suggest it was used by a cavalryman. Due to its small size it is most likely a Lancea, a light spear used for thrusting over arm (as depicted in carvings) or thrown from horseback.

Viking Age Sword Discovered on School Trip in Norway

A six-year-old boy on a school trip in Norway has uncovered a sword believed to date back more than 1,300 years.

Henrik Refsnes Mørtvedt found the weapon while out with classmates in Gran, eastern Norway. He noticed a rusty piece of metal protruding from the ground and picked it up, thinking it was an old tool or scrap iron.

Instead, it turned out to be an ancient sword.

Teachers contacted local archaeologists after seeing the object.

Experts later identified it as a single-edged iron sword from the late Merovingian Period or the early Viking Age.

The Merovingian Period lasted from around AD 550 to 800, before the better-known Viking swords with double-edged blades became widespread across Scandinavia.

Despite centuries underground, the sword has survived in good condition. The blade is heavily rusted, but its shape remains clear. Parts of the hilt are still hidden beneath layers of corrosion and soil.

Archaeologists said the pommel and guard resemble a “Type F” sword identified by Norwegian scholar Jan Petersen in his 1919 study De Norske Vikingesverd (“The Norwegian Viking Swords”). His classification system is still used today when identifying Viking and early medieval weapons.

Type F swords are normally dated to the first half of the ninth century.

Researchers believe the find could offer more information about the period between the Merovingian era and the rise of Viking culture in northern Europe. Single-edged swords from this time are less common than later Viking weapons, which makes discoveries like this important for archaeologists.

The sword has now been taken to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. Conservators will clean and preserve the weapon before carrying out X-rays and metallurgical testing.

The analysis may reveal how the sword was made, how old it is and whether it saw combat or ceremonial use.

Norway regularly produces archaeological discoveries because erosion and farming often expose buried objects. Even so, experts say it is rare for a child to uncover a weapon of this age during an ordinary school outing.

Henrik has since appeared in Norwegian media, where he has already been jokingly described as a future archaeologist. Video from a local interview shows the young boy proudly holding the corroded weapon that had remained hidden beneath the soil for more than a millennium.

Medicine Chest, England, c. 1830

Reiger Manual Repeating Pistol M1889 with brass frame.

,

Apparently this single prototype was offered to US Army Ordnance as a possible repeating rifle for the US Army in 1877.  The army had rejected many other repeating lever action and bolt action designs in favor of the single shot breechloading Trapdoor, so it is quite possible that the maker of the rifle was trying to utilize the army’s favored weapon, claiming cost effectiveness as a selling point..

The maker of this rifle removed the cleaning rod and in its place inserted an 8 round tube magazine.  Then a repeating mechanism was added to the breech.  By working a lever in front of the trigger guard a cartridge was removed by spring mechanism from the magazine and placed on a rising block.  The user would then insert the round into the breech by hand.  In a way this rifle is technically not a repeating rifle, but a hybrid between a repeating rifle and a breechloader since the user still had to eject spent cartridges and insert new cartridges by hand. All the mechanism did was advance rounds in the magazine.

Magot Pump Action Rifle

In 1880 M.M. Magot patented a slide or pump action repeating rifle in France. Brevet or patent No.138979 protects a repeating rifle with a tube and rotary magazine in its butt. The rifle worked by pulling the pump handle, the vertical grip that sits below the barrel, to the rear to cycle the rifle’s action. This ran the operating rod on the right side of the firearm dropping the breech block, extracting and ejecting the spent case and allowing a new round to enter the breech. 

I’ve been unable to find any information about Magot himself but his rifle was not patented in the US or the UK. According to the Cody Firearms Museum, which now hold the rifle and copy of the original patent drawings, the Magot had been produced in France in limited numbers in the early 1880s.

In 1894 Francis Bannerman, who manufactured the Bannerman-Spencer Model 1890, the first commercially successful pump action shotgun, sued Winchester for $10,000 in damages. He believed that Winchester’s Model 1893 infringed on the patents that he owned. In response Winchester scoured European patent archives for earlier pump action firearm designs.

In 1895 the Winchester Repeating Arms Company purchased both an example of the Magot and the patent itself, paying $7,500 for the rights to the design. Along with three designs from Britain, Magot’s patent was used to refute Bannerman’s claims in court. In June 1897, the courts found in favour of Winchester, in part because of the earlier designs, like the Margot, that they had found. 

The Magot had a complex action that appears to be open to the elements when cycled. The example pictured above (chambered in .44) and the original patent drawing for the design are held by the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. 

Sources:

Images: 1 2

“Corporal of the 3rd U. S. Veteran Volunteers, Summer 1865″, by Don Troiani

The Polish BAR — The  Browning wz.1928

When John Browning invented the Browing Automatic Rifle it became popular with all kinds of people; soldiers, guards, police, federal agents, gangsters, bank robbers, and ordinary citizens.  Likewise it was highly sought by nations all over the world.  One such variant the Browning wz 1928 was a model used by Poland before and during World War II.  

Serving as Poland’s best light machine gun, the wz 1928 was very similar to the American models of BAR’s.  However, the wz 1928 had some modifications specifically for the Polish Army.  First and foremost the caliber of the BAR was changer from .30-06 to 8x57 Mauser, a cartridge that was much more plentiful in Europe at the time.  Like most European model BAR’s, the wz 1928 included a pistol grip and shortened stock, making it easier to wield in the offhand shooting position.  The original peep sights were replaced with v-type notch sights, and the barrel was lengthened for greater accuracy.  About 10,000 were produced and purchased from Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, with another 14,000 being produced by Poland under license.

The Enouy 48 shot revolver,

Sauer double barrel swivel breech Bar pistol, early 20th century.

Bar shots

This ammunition shown here was typical during the Age of Sails, especially from the 17th to the 19th century.

The bar shot was mostly a shot of two hemispheres, connected with a bar. This type of ammunition was used to damage the mast, sails or rigging. Immediately behind this is an extended bar shot. This was like a bar shot, except that it expanded during firing and could inflict even more damage. Below this is a bar shot consisting of two whole balls. This is also shown by the two single balls where only the bar is missing. However, this munition had the disadvantage that if it was fired from too far away, it no longer hit properly. Therefore, it was used more at short range.