I Have This Old Gun

Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the French military were in desperate need of a new service rifle. Their answer was the Model 1874 Gras, which was largely an update to the earlier Chassepot design.

People carrying small firearms for personal protection is not a new concept, and in the middle of the 19th century, many pocket pistols were designed with self-defense in mind. One such gun, the Brown Manufacturing Southerner Derringer, was among the earliest cartridge-firing self-defense guns.

The U.S. military's first official breechloading service rifle was the Trapdoor Springfield, and of the line of guns that saw use throughout the late 19th century, one of the most refined was the Model 1884 Trapdoor.

French Charleville muskets are a fascinating study in improvement, having evolved from a loosely uniform pattern to what was likely the first military longarm with truly interchangeable parts.

As our country was celebrating its centennial 150 years ago, Oliver Winchester dominated the lever-action market with his Models 1866 and 1873 and was just introducing the Model 1876.

RG Industries was established in Miami, Fla., to manufacture—using many German-made parts—the smallest Röhm-pattern handguns for domestic sale, including the RG 14 revolver chambered in .22 LR.

It all had to start somewhere, and for handheld firearms in Europe, Genesis is what we call the "handgonne" or hand cannon, a simple metal tube lashed to a wooden tiller.

Following Remington's bankruptcy in 1888, a number of the company's unsold Model 1875s were discovered, and it was decided that something could be made from them.

The De Lisle "Commando Carbine," as it came to be known, provided British special operators with a suppressed firearm that could be used to take out targets without arousing the attention of nearby troops.