The Guns That Won The West

Thanks Chester
John Browning, Benjamin Henry, and King were Winchester. Winchester doesnt really exsist anymore but only in name. A couple years ago they were bought out by FN, a belgian gun maker, same that makes some of Browning guns. Its kinda been my feeling the Oliver Winchester was mostly a business man and a financer. Until 1886 all lever actions were modified Henry/Volcanic designs. John Browning Designed the 86, 92, 94, 95 and many more bolt actions and machine guns for the military. Finally Mr Browning went out on his own and started his own line of firearms.


My Favorite Browning rifle was the WWII BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). My Great Uncle carried one of Mr Brownings Rifles in the battle at Leyto where he was killed. He said in a letter and I have the letter written to his brother. "No one wanted the BAR cause it was so heavy, everyone picked the M1s but I like the BAR, she can really talk"

The 1858 Remington Revolver



The 1858 Remington was Remington’s reply to the Colt revolvers. It was a common sidearm in the American Civil War in the northern army. The Confederacy tried duplicating it using brass frames but the brass frame was a little on the weak side. It was much stronger and faster to reload then a cap and ball Colt making it highly desirable. They were offered in .44 and .36 caliber. The 44 having a 8 inch barrel and the 36 having a 7 3/8 barrel. There were three progressive models; the Remington-Beal’s Army & Navy (1860-1862), the "Old Model" Army & Navy (1862-1863), and the New Model Army & Navy (1863-1875). The three models are nearly identical in size and appearance. Subtle but noticeable differences in hammers, loading levers, and cylinders help identify each model. The Remington 1858 made its way into the west. Buffalo Bill Cody stated once when speaking of the 1858 Remington, “it never failed me”. Later models were converted to metallic cartridge revolvers but looked identical except for the loading gate on the side.


Civil war era pistol ammunition came in paper combustible cartridges. A envelope glued to the base of the projectile contained the powder charge. The paper cartridge was dropped in the empty chamber and rammed home with the loading lever. The bullets were pre greased making this a fairly fast reloading gun.

The Schofield Smith & Wesson Revolver



The Schofield S&W Revolver was a Top Break Open Pistol designed at the request of Maj. George W Schofield. Production began in the 1870's. The US Army adopted the .44 S&W American calibre Smith & Wesson No. 3 revolver 1870, making the No. 3 revolver the first standard-issue cartridge-firing revolvers in US service. It was supplemented by the Colt Model 1873 Peacemaker later in 1873. The Schofield could be loaded much quicker that the Colt revolver, when one breaks the pistol open it automatically ejects the casings and the empty chambers are all exposed at once for reload. In 1875, the government required that the ammuntion used in this gun be the same as the 73 Colt Peacemaker, however they deisgned a round shorter than the 45 Long Colt called the 45 Smith and Wesson. The 45 Smith and Wesson could be used in the 73 Colt Peacemakers, but the 45 Long Colt could not be used in the Schofield so the govt contract was dropped. The Schofield was quite common in the American West. The revolvers were offered in .44 Schofield,.44 Russian, .41 Henry Rimfire, .44-40, 32-44, 38-44, as well. These were used by Frank and Jesse James, Cole and Jim Younger, John Wesley Hardin, and Bill Tilghman historically.



On another note: I have been shooting a reproduction 1847 Colt Walker off and on the last couple of days and have found some new information. I have found that the recoil at full charges is enough to release the loading lever latch, but if kept below 43 grains of pyrodex P powder this is not a problem. Also research has shown that a full 60 grain charge will prematurely wear out the barrel wedge in 200 shots. So i guess the lesson is to stay around 40 grains and the pistol will do what it is supposed to and last much longer. Just a safety/helpful info note.

This is the Krag Jorgensen US Magazine Rifle. These photos are of a 1898 Model probably made in 1900 or 01. Their were slight changes during the short exsistance of it service from 1892 to 1903. Models 1892, 1896, 1898, and 1899 were produced in both rifle and carbine versions. Approximately 500,000 were made at the Springfield Armory based on Norwegian gun designers Johannes Krag and Erik Jorgensen's European models. The Krag saw little use in the west since the west was much tamer by the 1890's. Soldiers carried them some as a occupation force in the west but few if any saw action. It was used in the Phillipino-American War, Boxer Rebellion, And the Spanish American War extensively. They held 5 shots in their self contained side loading magazine, which is perhaps the Krags most noticable feature. They were chambered for 30-40 Krag ( Caliber 30, U.S. Army) the first smokeless powder cartridge ever adopted in the US. On the side of the action their is a Magazine Cutoff Switch, this stops rounds from being able to be chambered from the magazine. They had several downfalls as a combat rifle, mainly the time it took to load the magazine with loose rounds. Other combat rifles of the time used stripper clips, the benefit of stripper clips were quickly seen when the Krag faced them in battle. The Krag also did not have enough locking lugs on the bolt to give it any extra strength. In the early 1900s these could be bought for as little as $4.00 when they were released from the Govt. Even with their shortcomings they still hold the reputation of having the smoothest bolt ever made. Many of these were later years sporterized into hunting rifles.