Guns Of The Wild West

by Curtis, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780762423200
• ISBN10: 076242320X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-17
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

This book is a lavish photographic exploration of some of the most famousuns of the Wild West For those with an interest in American history andporting, this book is a fascinating and authoritative look at some of theost famous guns of the Wild West which have been drawn from the collectionf the Cody Firearms Museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody,yoming. Known as "The Smithsonian of the West", this grand museum complex isome to many treasures related to the history, art and ethnology of themerican West. Guns of the Wild West showcases more than 50 of he actualeapons used by some of the most famous American gunslingers includinguffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley and John "Jeremiah" Johnson. Written by theurator of the Cody Firearms Museum, this beautifully photographed book usesuthoritative descriptions accompanied by engaging stories to place theeapons in context.

Author Biography

David Kennedy is the curator of the Cody Firearms Museum of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. A lifelong student of history and firearms technology, multi-discipline shooter, and US Army veteran, he has appeared on the History Channel and has lectured extensively on the role of firearms in both museums and society, as well as the topic of firearms safety.

Table of Contents

The Exploration of the West
America's First Art: The American Long Rifle	p. 12
Possibilities of Discovery: Early Air Rifles	p. 15
Signs of Economy: Trade Muskets	p. 17
The Army's Standard: The US Model 1803	p. 19
Big Guns to the Mountains: The Hawken Rifle	p. 22
War and Expansion
Sometimes, They All Go Off...: Pepperbox Pistols	p. 28
A Captain, a Company, and a Concept: The Colt Walker	p. 31
The Standard Reinvented: The US Model 1842	p. 33
Sam Colt's Other Revolver: The Revolving Longarms	p. 36
The South's Shotgun: The LeMat Revolver and Carbine	p. 39
Two Navies for the Army: The Colt 1851 and 1861 Navy Revolvers	p. 42
"Givilizing" the West
The New Standard: The "Trapdoor" Springfield Rifle	p. 48
From Civil War to Plains War: Indian-Modified Sharps Carbine	p. 51
Sport and War: George Custer Remington Rolling-Block	p. 53
European Guns, American Battles: Webley Revolvers	p. 56
The Yellow Boy: Indian-Modified Repeating Carbines	p. 58
Working and Fighting
Hunting for Hides: The Sharps Buffalo Rifle	p. 64
A Smith & Wesson with Western Union: A Smith & Wesson Number 3	p. 67
A Little Known Success: The Evans Repeating Rifle	p. 69
Riding Shotgun: The Coachgun	p. 71
Two Guns and Two Gunmen: Colt Lightnings and Thunderers	p. 73
The Economics of Ranching: The Remington Rolling-Block	p. 77
The Next West: The US Model 1899 Philippine Constabulary Krag Carbine	p. 79
Firearms of Distingtion
German Beer, German Guns: Meunier Schuetzen Rifle	p. 84
The Last Gun of a Mountain Man: A Colt Frontier Model Revolver	p. 86
Politics, Guns, and Gifts: A Winchester Model 1886 Rifle	p. 88
Art and Embellishment: A Winchester Model 1866 Rifle	p. 90
Trade and Transportation: A Winchester Model 1897 Shotgun	p. 93
"Modern" Manufacture: A Winchester Model 1873 "1 of 1000"	p. 95
Celebrations and Sales: A Winchester Model 1876	p. 98
Representations of the West
The Guns of Buffalo Bill	p. 104
Little Sure Shot: Annie Oakley	p. 110
The West Through Art: Frederick Remington	p. 114
"Some Day I'm Going to Marry That Man": Plinky Topperwein	p. 117
Writing the West: Zane Grey	p. 119
From Cowboy to Actor: Gary Cooper	p. 121
The "Showman Shooter" Behind the Scenes: Herb Parsons	p. 123
The Changing and New West
Only Good For One Thing...: Suicide Specials	p. 128
A Great Designer, a Girl, and a Gun: The Winchester Model 1894	p. 130
Marketing for the New West: A Savage Model 1899	p. 132
A Strange Find From the Past: The "Chicken Coop" Gun	p. 134
The West Revisited: A Ruger Super Blackhawk	p. 136
Marketing Our Heritage: Commemorative Firearms	p. 138
Playing Cowboy: Modern Replicas	p. 142
"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!": Modern Air Rifles	p. 146
Modern Hunting Arms: Winchester and Remington Bolt Action Rifles	p. 148
Glossary of Firearms Terminology	p. 151
Bibliography	p. 154
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.