this is a very nice piece...i like the arrangement of it. i think this would make an awesome charcoal drawing. would you mind if i were to use this image to create one?

joe

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Joe
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Your work is really good, so go for it.

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God forbid that I help DA make money with my work.

Thanks for letting me and thanks for the compliment I will let you know when I get started on it.

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Joe
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the peacemakers were revolutionary in many aspects they were a great weapon. How many more peices do you have in your collection? these are great peices you have shown on here.

I like pistols more than revolvers most of the classics get my attention real good.

The SAA and the Schofield are the only two "originals" in the collection, and of course the Schofield is actually a 21st-century copy, albeit by the same manufacturer. The truth is that the single actions, even the newer ones, are too expensive to keep. At one time I had a Smith & Wesson New Model #3 "American" in near mint condition, but I was young and foolish, and the old gun tripled in value within a year after I sold it. I actually ran into it almost thirty years later, though I fear the owner thought I was a nutcase claiming to have owned that particular #3 in the past. But I remembered the serial number, oddly enough--it was only five digits.

I have maybe fifty more modern pieces, mostly S&W revolvers, but also a couple of Colts (Python and Diamondback), along with Rugers and Springfield autos. I do have a WWI / WWII vintage M1917 Smith my uncle was issued in 1942, though. I tracked its manufacture to June of 1917.

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God forbid that I help DA make money with my work.

Actually, the Peacemakers weren't so much revolutionary as evolutionary. Colt revolvers had been around since 1836, but S&W did most of the really revolutionary stuff. They had cartridge guns as early as 1857 and adapted the same technology into the first successful lever action rifle, the Henry, in 1862. The big topbreak models came along in 1870-71, while the cartridge model Colt didn't really appear till 1873, when Rollin White's patent on the bored through cylinder expired. Colt marketing was good, but S&W did a lot of business overseas; counting the guns licensed for manufacture by the Czar, the various Russian models totalled something like 600,000 before production stopped.

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God forbid that I help DA make money with my work.

wow thats a lot of history you have there even if it is in reproductions and copies. I bet you have good aim having that many firearms in your collection.

isn't it interesting that after thirty years you can remember a short number to certain item? I always think its interesting that people can remember quirky little facts or items after a long time.

wow I didn't know that I'll remember that I roam around the net finding respectable and correct sites for info and I used to watch Tales of the Gun on the history channel haven't seen that for a while though...

I worked at Navy Arms in Ridgefield, New Jersey for a short time back in the 70s, and at that time it was becoming the preeminent maker of accurate replicas of the Civil War era and earlier. Since then they've branched out into cartridge weapons, including a very good replica of the Smith & Wesson "Russian," which was the topbreak the Czar's armies ended up with.

The big "American" models in .44 Russian were quite popular in the Old West, and in fact the James and Younger brothers liked them. A .44 American taken off Cole Younger upon his capture after the Northfield, Minnesota raid in 1876 sold at auction a few years ago for over $216,000. Gary James had the privilege of firing a few rounds through it on Tales of the Gun two or three years ago.

The Russian ammo was out of production for many years, but now that the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) is gathering a lot of popularity, the empty .44 Russian brass is pretty easy to find if you're willing to load it yourself. I'm going to get a Navy Russian one of these days, but I also want a Berdan Sharps; the two of them will set me back about two grand, which I don't have right now.

Such is life. All the toys cost money.

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God forbid that I help DA make money with my work.