what's the coolest historical firearms related thing you've done

Decided to see if I could fit my fat arse into a 16" battleship barrel like some circus clown. I couldn't.

(We have a couple spare barrels at the office that were brought in for a nebulous reason during the 1980s and then left to rust.)
 
Some great stories on here.

While researching my dissertation on the Lee Enfield SMLE rifle, .303 British, and it's role in The First World War, by firing a bunch of these things at Bisley (spiritual home of worldwide long range target shooting, where Ruger got the name for their single action revolver!), I got to shoot a Martini Henry.

These blackpowder cartridge beasts were used by the British Army 1871-88, and chambered in 577/450. The old guy on the firing line took some persuading that I knew how to shoot it without breaking my own face, but relented in the end.

He gave me a very educational speech on the fact that the young lads who fought the Zulus with these in the South African bush were mostly wayyy smaller than me (I am 5ft8 and 140lbs). . . the thing kicked like a mule with the 85grain 'service load' . . . ouch! Great experience though

Hopefully someone on here will have seen Zulu! and will know what I am on about!
 
Bisley (spiritual home of worldwide long range target shooting, where Ruger got the name for their single action revolver!),
Click to expand...

Colt used that name for one of its revolvers long before William B. Ruger was even born.
 
The Hawken Rifle collection in the Carson City NV mint.

Shiloh battle battlefield in particular the sunken road.

Vicksburg men actually climbed those hills under fire.

Jenkins Ferry, AR. This is the rearguard action fought by Union General Steel's troops when they retreated from Camden AR to Little Rock, AR. The tactics used in that battle are the text for all rearguard actions fought since.

Fredricksburg VA. Men actually charged in rank across a mile of grazing fire. One Lt reported, "I was lying on my back contemplating how long it would take for my finger to be shot off if I raised it up when the Col ordered us to stand and charge." They stood and Charged.

Finally, every one must visit the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City MO. It is awe inspiring.
 
I have been there...
Liberty.jpg


Liberty Memorial in Kansas City MO.
 
Bakers Rifle

My wife (British born) got me hooked on "Sharpe's Rifles" the BBC show. Last year she got me a Bakers Rifle, I've fired it a few times, but I'm not a big BP fan, so it makes a nice addition over the fireplace.

Now if she wants to get the uniform, I'm putting my foot down.:p

richard-sharpe.jpg
 
+1 for the Liberty Memorial...first (and only? memory is fuzzy) American WW1 museum.

Shooting a JC Garand match stands out for me. I've enjoyed visiting battlefields, but I just don't connect with the history much.
 
Probably the coolest thing I've done is visit Pearl Harbor. I recommend it to everybody that visits Hawaii. For some, it's grip on their emotions cannot be described, but only felt. I've also visited Fort Michilimackinac dozens of times in my life, where my tribe fought along with the French against the British, and Fort Mackinac on the island many times. Last few times I spoke with the reenactors about their weapons and was even offered some for sale. $$$$
 
My father has a friend that was retired from the Air Force and spent 20 years in the Louisiana National Guard. Before he retired from the Guard a few years ago, he was in charge of keeping up the museum at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, LA. As such, he gave me and my father the all access behind the scenes tour.

We went into all of the museum buildings and got to see just about everything in the museums inventory. We also met with a group of retired WWII vets who ran a shop across the street from the museum that took in old surplus military vehicles and equipment and turned them into exhibit pieces for public display. One of the fellows was a crewmen from the Enola Gay, and was there when they dropped the Atomic Bombs. He was almost 90 years old at the time, and he was the most active of the bunch. He even took us for a ride in the museum's 1914 Cadillac general staff car.

Part of the all access tour was a trip into the museum's gun vault. The vault itself consisted of a small room about 8'x8' in size and it was filled with at least one example of just about every gun ever used by the U.S. or against the U.S. in every major conflict since our country came to be. Everything from flintlocks to Thompson's to AK's and they even had a Lahti anti tank rifle sitting on the floor. It was truly gun heaven.

Aside from that, I've toured through Battleship Memorial Park in Alabama. The USS Alabama is truly a sight to behold, and nothing in the gun world makes you feel smaller than standing next to the barrel of a 16" naval gun. The USS Drum is also quite interesting. Unfortunately my first and only visit occurred in the middle of summer, and a giant armored steel tub with no working ventilation is not the most comfortable of places in 90 degree summer heat. I plan on returning during the winter months this year so I can take time to enjoy every inch of the ship, as I had to rush through it the first time due to the heat.
 
If anyone takes a trip to Yellowstone, they absolutely NEED to stop in Cody, Wyoming and visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the Cody Firearms Museum. The museum is out of this world and will take you two days to look at all of the historical firearms on display!

http://www.bbhc.org/explore/firearms/
 
My first cartridge pistol was a P.38, made in 1944 for the stinkin nazis.

I couldn't hit the paper with it, at 33 feet. This was 4, 5 years ago.

An older gentleman at the club named Bob saw me firing it, and he gave it a whirl.

1" group, in the 10 ring, first time he handled it.

Ever see the movie "The French Connection"? Well, Bob was on the actual case and was an incredible shot, in his 80s. He passed away not very long ago. If Bob couldn't bore the ten out of a target at 25 yards, he was angry with himself- one in the nine and he was 'shooting badly'

Another old gent at the club named Mike, who I haven't seen in a while, hope he's OK, saw me cleaning that P.38 and we got to talking. I put it together, and he asked if he could inspect it. I said sure.

Mike whipped that thing apart like an old pro, which he was- he was a US Army armorer in WWII, and he told me that right after the war, they were finding piles of Lugers and Walthers, here, there, everywhere, and officers would bring him rusty pistols they found, and tell him to make them a pistol that worked. I imagine that in 1945, Mike new as much about a P08 and a P.38 as did the average Wehrmacht armorer in '40
 
I once visited the Gen George Patton museum at fort Knox, Kentucky. There were lots of the general's personal gear he used during WW 2, including a large glass case that held the Infamous Revolvers he carried with the Elephant ivory grips. (Not Pearl !! :eek: I guess most of you know that story). Me being a Gen Patton Fan I was thrilled to see his famous Sidearms.
 
I visited the museum when my son was doing his training there but I missed Patton's sidearms. I thought they were in West Point but I did see the car he died in.

The time I was there, they had a special exhibit on Elvis Presley, who served in Germany in an armored division. There is a statue of him in the town he served in, which was the same town my son was stationed in before he went to Iraq.
 
Back in the mid-80s, I was stationed at Ft. Monroe, VA and got to go into the the arms room of the Casemate Museum located inside the walls of the old fort and look at and handle the firearms that weren't on display. There was was everything from an original Brown Bess musket to a spankin' new-in-the-box .30 cal. water-cooled Browning MG and a M-1 Thompson SMG and everything in between. Lots of Civil War era Springfield rifle muskets, Colt revolvers, swords, sabers, cutlasses and bayonets.

The next coolest place was Yorktown battlefield and in no particular order Chancelorsville, Fredricksburg and Manasses.
 
Leaving out going and looking, the coolest thing I actually did with historical firearms was pull the trigger.

On a Brown Bess musket.

Darn it, it was an indoor antique show and I had to be satisfied with a good spark from the flint.

Bart Noir
Who thinks those small soldiers carried a large heavy Brown Bess musket.
 
I don't know why I didn't think of this before. There are extremely interesting guns to see in museums and there are extremely impressive guns in museum but I think the guns that I got the most pleasure and delight out of seeing in person, as it were, were Ed McGivern's guns at the NRA museum just up the road from here. Ed McGivern was just an exhibition and trick shooter who was highly devoted to his art. He wasn't heroic or anything like that but it's just something to see the actual revolvers he talked about and illustrated his book with. I do not believe I've seen any other guns so closely associated with an individual so well known in shooting circles. I've seen Thomas Jefferson's pistol at Montecello and Lee's revolver at Arlington House but they don't even come close to being so interesting to me.

Where are Elmer Keith's guns?
 
When I was on clinical rotations I ended up in a pharmacy (privately owned) and the owner and all employees were all hunter/outdoorsman types like myself. Needless to say we hit it off. I can honestly say I've never been to any other pharmacy where it was commonplace to bring firearms for each other to look at. Potlucks featuring harvested game were bi-weekly occurences. We went hunting and came in late during dove season etc.

I should clarify this was an infusion pharmacy which means they made IV medications for folks who needed to have IV meds but are able to administer them by themselves. So while the occaisional customer did show up, by and large medications are delivered so it wasn't like we had to set the guns down to help customers...

Anyway, I went shooting one weekend with 2 of the employees. One of the firearms they brought was a civil war era blackpowder rifle, I don't remember the details because I'm not really in to that stuf. I was given the impression that these types of guns are generally collectors items and not still shooters, but he takes it out once or twice every year and shoots it. And I was lucky enough to be along that day and got to shoot a piece of history. It was pretty cool.
 
Jeepers! I did not go to the Imperial War Museum when I was in London but I did manage to spend a morning at the National Army Museum, which was within walking distance of where we were staying while we were there. It is perfectly safe to walk anywhere in London, you know. However, I'm not a native English speaker (I am an American) and I had a lot of trouble understanding people.

I also visited some regimental museums in Edinburgh Castle but by then I was overloaded with images, although I remember Mons Meg and the One o'clock gun. It's safe to walk anywhere in Edinburgh, too, by the way. Seeing a guy juggling a chainsaw was memorable, too.
 
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