I Have This Old Gun

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.”

Introduced to the public as part of Winchester’s elaborate display at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the resultant Winchester Model 1876 was appropriately christened “The Centennial Rifle.”

Just after the Civil War, Remington Arms began producing its Model 95 "Double Derringer," which would become one of the most popular guns the firm ever made.

The old saw “never bring a knife to a gun fight” is somewhat moot when one is armed with a Rodgers knife pistol—a clever percussion-fired defensive arm composed of both blades and barrel. To be sure, by the mid-19th century when this particular piece made its appearance, combination arms were nothing new.

The Uzi submachine gun is one of the most iconic and recognizable firearms of the 20th century. As a highly successful design with more than 10 million produced to date, it has spawned numerous copies, licensed and otherwise, and has been manufactured everywhere from Belgium to southeast Asia.

One of the more unique firearm mechanisms seen in history is the wheellock, which used a spinning, serrated wheel to create sparks from a piece of iron pyrite.