I Have This Old Gun

The blunderbuss is not uncommonly regarded as a sidebar in firearm history. But in reality, these purpose-built defensive shotguns, within their limitations, were deadly, efficient and widely employed by civilians, the military and law enforcement.

While the Model 1891 Argentine Mauser was an innovative and successful rifle, the Spanish Model 1893 and then, ultimately, the German Gewehr 1898 introduced improvements that, by 1908, Argentina wanted as well.

The Spanish/Basque city of Eibar is one of Europe’s great arms-manufacturing centers, with a history in gunmaking dating back to the 1500s.

Produced by J. Woodward & Sons at the end of the 19th century, this double rifle, chambered for the .500 Express cartridge, was tailor-made for dangerous-game hunting.

In the 1880s, Mauser was not the legendary name in firearm making that it is today, but one of the company's first leaps into cutting-edge rifle design came with the Model 1889 Belgian Mauser.

The Austrian Model 1854 Lorenz rifle musket, designed by Lt. Joseph Lorenz around 1852, saw use in numerous European conflicts and was the third most common longarm seen in the American Civil War—its popularity being right behind that of the U.S. Model 1861 Springfield rifle musket and British Pattern 1853 Enfield.

Many eagle-eyed NRA members viewing the 1993 Western “Tombstone” no doubt recognized the Forehand & Wadsworth British Bull-Dog so deftly welded by actress Joanna Pacula, portraying Big Nose Kate, during a contemptuous card game between Doc Holliday and Ed Bailey.

In 1971, Harrington & Richardson chose to celebrate its 100th anniversary—along with the company’s heritage of building firearms for the U.S. military—by recreating “America’s first general-issue, breechloading rifle.”

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”