Category: Arms & Armament
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Inside the Henry Rifle
The Henry rifle was a giant step forward in rifle technology, eventually becoming the iconic Winchester 94, which is still produced today. Some historians, like Philip Leigh, are of the opinion that its widespread adoption might have shortened the war as much as a year. Ian at Forgotten Weapons takes a very in-depth look at […]
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Pepperbox and Army sidearms
Cap and Ball takes a look at the Pepperbox revolver. It’s generic term for a pistol that revolves the entire barrel assembly rather than just the cylinder, and was quite popular in the 1850s. At least a few were probably used in the Civil War, and they were certainly in use then by civilians. As […]
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Short Takes
Cap and Ball is at it again, this time with a P56 Enfield Short Rifle. This is the shorter version of the more common P53 Rifle Musket used extensively by North and South. The P56 (which also came in the slightly different P58 and P60 models) was a favorite of Confederate sharpshooters, both because of […]
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Another Look At Timothy Murphy
If you are familiar with the Revolutionary War and especially the battle of Saratoga you’ve probably heard of Timothy Murphy. According the story, Murphy, one of Daniel Morgan’s riflemen, shot British general Simon Frazier off his horse with a double-barreled rifle at a distance of 300 yards, thereby winning the battle and perhaps even saving […]
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Origin of “Sniper”
In some previous posts we’ve looked at the origin of the word “sharpshooter,” tracing it back to the early 18th Century in German and to the last part of that century in English, when it passed from German to English. But what about “sniper?” Turns out that goes back pretty far as well, although its […]
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A Confederate Whitworth
Auctioneer James D. Julia has a rare Confederate Whitworth up on the block. This one even has the four power Davidson telescope. The brass tube Davidson scope was adjusted for elevation by turning the knurled knob on the right side of the forearm. This loosened the clamp on the left side so the 1-1/2″ bar […]
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Wheellocks, Fergusons, and Sharps
As part of our continuing look at old weapons, we go back some 500 years to the beginning of the modern era and the first really practical firearms. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons does the honors, and first up is the wheellock, which dates back at least to the early 1500s and probably before then. […]