Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Show us your Guns!

Yahoody

One Too Many
Messages
1,112
Location
Great Basin
IMG_E1578 (2).JPG
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,780
Location
New Forest
Engraving armaments seems almost perverse, given the intention of the said gun. But the intricate work knows no bounds as this matched pair of engraved and gilded French percussion lock duelling pistols, displayed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, clearly show.
Dueling_pistols.jpg
That 'shotgun' Edward, could possibly be the Winchester repeat rifle.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,078
Location
London, UK
Ah! Yes, I see it now - I think the cropping in the first photo and the black barrel made it look sawn-off on my phone. Nice pieces.

I've always assumed the embellishment and ornamentation on these guns was part of the selling; as distinct from military issuewhere you takewhat you're given (and they'll keep cosmetic utilitarian to keep the price down), it makes sense that there would be a market for folks who want their gun to look just a bit fancier. Duelling pistols were, of course, the property lagely of the gentry. I should imagine when you'd challenged someone else, you wanted to be able to pull out an impressive looking set of pistols as a demonstration of your place in society. (The class system gets everywhere!)
 

Yahoody

One Too Many
Messages
1,112
Location
Great Basin
Shortly after man first picked up a piece of wood to use as a weapon he started to embellish his weapons. The embellishments continued through the Bronze Age and into steel. A tour through most any European museum will show examples of the intricate art of metal work in arms. The same can be seen in any culture, world wide.

Men are and have always been superstitious. Any object that is capable of taking or saving a life if likely to be given credit for powers beyond human comprehension. Not unlikely that embellishment soon follows.

Tut's dagger made from a meteorite approx 1320 B.C

tut-dagger.jpg



This is supposedly an accurate recreation of a 6th Century Saxon sword.

saxon.jpg


16th Century French armor

french3.jpg
 
Last edited:

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
I
I've seen Tut's dagger in the Cairo museum. At the time (1987) it was displayed in a glass case and I could lean over it and get a look at the dagger from inches away. It still retains much of its polish and it was a memorable experience to see my own face reflected in the oldest dateable iron weapon.
Recently watched a documentary on the Tut trove, from recent restoration and preservation work, to reconstructing a chariot embellished with gold leaf.

One thing mentioned was the meteorite dagger. The experts wondered if they knew the celestial origins of the metal, and posited that perhaps the strike was witnessed, and the metal retrieved as a gift from the gods.

Fascinating stuff.
 

Yesteryear

One of the Regulars
Messages
240
I added another classic to the collection recently, the Walther PPK! This one is chambered in 9mm Kurz (380 ACP) and holds 7 rounds total. The PPK has a nice double-to-single action trigger, which is very smooth and crisp. I think it looks great in stainless steel, contrasted by the black grips. This is a new production model, made earlier this year. The slide and slide components were made in Ulm, Germany. The frame, which is the actual serialized part, was made in Fort Smith, AR, USA. This way the gun is officially "made" in the United States, and Walther can get around the asinine US import laws for the US market.
PPK 380.jpg
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,144
Messages
3,075,057
Members
54,124
Latest member
usedxPielt
Top