R.L. Wilson - The History and Art of the American Gun: The Art of American Arms

Other books by R. L. Wilson

The Peacemakers: Arms and Adventure in the American West*

Winchester: An American Legend *

Colt: An American Legend *

Winchester Engraving

Colt Engraving

Winchester: The Golden Age of American Gunmaking and the Winchester 1 of 1000

Samuel Colt Presents

The Arms Collection of Colonel Colt

L. D. Nimschke, Firearms Engraver

The Rampant Colt

Colt Commemorative Firearms (two editions)

Theodore Roosevelt, Outdoorsman (two editions)

Antique Arms Annual (editor)

The Book of Colt Firearms

The Book of Colt Engraving

The Book of Winchester Engraving

Colt Pistols (with R. E. Hable)

Colt Handguns (Japanese)

Paterson Colt Pistol Variations (with P. R. Phillips)

The Colt Heritage

The Deringer in America (with L. D. Eberhart, two volumes)

Colts Dates of Manufacture

*Also in French, German, and Italian editions.

Copyright 1995 by R. L. Wilson

Photographs copyright 1995 by Peter Beard, Douglas Sandberg, Jonathan Shorey, and G. Allan Brown

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

Published by arrangement with R. L. Wilson

Book and cover design: Martin Moskof

Design assistant: George Brady

Front endpaper: From top left, cased Remington New Model Army, no. 29, factory engraved and with etched cylinder and loading lever and ivory grips; gold-inlaid and engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy, no. 23498, a tribute (c. 1992) to the artistry of Gustave Young, by modern master Paul Lantuch; pair of S&W No. 2 Army revolvers with etched decoration attributed to Tiffany & Co. or contemporary New Yorkbased artisan, nos. 26510 and 29950; S&W New Model No. 3, no. 27916, factory engraved c. 1892; exhibition embellished and cased Colt Single Action Army, no. 50932, engraved by Gustave Young and positioned on lid of its rare leather-on-wood, velvet-lined case; cut-for-shoulder-stock Colt Model 1860 Army, no. 183226, with leaf-style scrollwork; from center left, rare example of a gun engravers pattern book, by G. Ernst (Zella, Germany), c. 1840; left-handed Sharps Model 1853 Sporting Rifle engraved by Gustave Young for factory exhibition use; cartridges and screwdrivers from Cased Winchester Model 1876 rifle presented to Colonel Gzowski, no. 53072, of .50-95 Express caliber, an extraordinary gift to Queen Victorias A.D.C. for Canada, 1884 (note birds-eye maple case and selected pages from a rare copy of Winchesters Highly Finished Arms catalogue of 1897); Gustave Youngengraved Colt Third Model Dragoon revolvers at right, from rare rosewood cased set, nos. 16474 and 16476author discovered documentation for these revolvers in factory ledgers, indicating shipment April 30, 1884; they were factory showguns for many years. (Private collection).

Frontispiece: Masterpieces of arms: relief-sculpted and engraved Winchester Model 1866 rifle, no. 109651, by J. Ulrich, above title page from Winchesters Highly Finished Arms catalogue of 1897; Colt Single Action Army at center, no. 40958SA, from a pair by Frank E. Hendricks; standing at left is the finest pre-World War II Colt Single Action Army no. 50932, nickel plated and blued with checkered ivory grips; S&W at top left New Model No. 3, no. 27916, in .44 caliber; Tiffany & Co. silver-mounted Art Nouveau Winchester Model 1886 at bottom Paris Exposition 1900 showgun, no. 120528; above the Winchester a deluxe Colt Model 1851 Navy, no. 23498, done in Gustave Young style by Paul Lantuch; pair of rhinoceros sidelocks from .577 Holland & Holland double-barrel rifle, no. 35577, with engraving and sculpted steel by K. C. Hunt; steel eagle patchbox engraved by Gustave Young on the unique left-handed Sharps Paris Exposition Model 1853 sporting rifle, with etched cylinder from Remington New Model Army no. 29 to left of buttplate; top pistol a tribute to late-seventeenth-century flintlock Parisian gunmaking by modern master Monte Mandarino, from a work in progress; folding knives at left center by H. Frank and a Victorinox Swiss Army by Andrew Bourbon; at bottom, the American Eagle by Tiffany & Co., commissioned, in a series limited to ten Colt Model 1860 Army revolvers, by the U.S. Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, 1992. Blue leather casing made by Arno Werner for pair of Colt Single Action Army revolvers gold-inlaid, engraved, and ivory-gripped by John E. Warren. (Private collection).

Back endpaper: Six contemporary masterpieces of flintlock arms by Monte Mandarino, tributes to European and American gunmakers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At top, curly maple-stocked German long rifle, c. 1720, the relief-carved stock inlaid with silver wire representing the influence of the French baroque style of twenty-five years earlier; flush gold inlaid and engraved barrel and chiseled and engraved steel mounts; engraving by Daniel Goodwin; 38-inch, .58-caliber barrel. Second down, a maple-stocked and relief-carved American longrifle, representing the transitional style from the heavier, shorter Germanic Jaeger rifle to the longer and more slender Pennsylvania or Kentucky rifle; the stepped wrist and heavier butt of the Jaeger rifle are combined with the lighter, longer barrel of the evolving longrifle; the flintlock pistol one of a pair of Louis XIV Parisian holster pistols of the 1690 period; pistol with its mate and the gold-mounted fowling piece below comprise a set, or garniture, and are gold-inlaid and chiseled en suite; pistol decorated with scenes depicting war and confrontation, while its mate is decorated with scenes of peace and victory; 14-inch smoothbore barrels of 20-bore; third long gun down, a Georgian rifle of the 1740 period, with pattern-welded barrel by Judson Brennan and the Getz brothers; English walnut stock profusely inlaid with sheet silver and silver wire, with mounts of chiseled steel done in the English rococo manner; .58 caliber, with 28-inch barrel; fourth long gun down, a Louis XIV Parisian fowling piece of the 1690 period, the English walnut stock heavily inlaid with 22-karat sheet gold and gold wire; the mounts heavily chiseled steel rendered in the French baroque manner, as is the barrel; foresight a 22-karat gold carp swimming toward the muzzle, its dorsal fin serving as the sight blade; 48-inch barrel of 20-bore; American or Kentucky longrifle reflecting general style and architecture of the Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) school of gunmaking, c. the Revolutionary War; .50-caliber Douglas swamped barrel of 42 inches; relief-carved maple stock with designs showing strong influence of rococo style; steel mounts, engraved by Daniel Goodwin, former Colt factory engraver. Pattern book and loose page at left center by G. Ernst, Zella, c. 1840; page at right center from Winchesters Highly Finished Arms catalogue of 1897. Colt Model 1860 Army revolver, top right, the American Eagle by Tiffany & Co., commissioned by the U.S. Historical Society and engraved and gold-mounted by Andrew Bourbon. Pair of Colt Single Action Army revolvers by John E. Warren, gold-inlaid, engraved, with carved ivory grips and finished in gray case hardening and bluing, c. 1970. (Private collection).

The Gene Autry Colt Dragoon revolver (above), a gift from his wife Jackie, with Cowboys and Indians theme. Inset, the Royal Armouries Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, with theme of trees from which gunstocks traditionally produced.