Aaron Newcomer
In 1830, at a time when improvements in shotgun ammunition usually involved wire, paper, or increasingly clever mechanical contrivances, J. Jenour proposed something far simpler. He suggested baking it. In an article published in Mechanics’ Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette (No....
Aaron Newcomer
Introduction In the early 19th century, the world of firearms was on the cusp of transformation. Muzzle-loading flintlock weapons had dominated battlefields for centuries, but their limitations in rate of fire and reliability were becoming increasingly apparent. Amid this backdrop of military...
Aaron Newcomer
Nineteenth‑century hunters wrestled with two maddening behaviors from smoothbore shotguns: at one extreme, tightly packed pellets that flew out “like a ball” (the coup de balle), and at the other, errant flyers that blew patterns wide open. Period writers traced both to how the wad pressed or...
Aaron Newcomer
This unique breechloader began life as a Harpers Ferry Model 1842 percussion musket, a .69 caliber smoothbore muzzle-loader manufactured in 1855. Wohlgemuth completely overhauled the musket into a break-action breech-loading firearm. He fitted a hinged breech mechanism into the original stock and...
Aaron Newcomer
Throughout the 1850s, a steadfast devotion to muzzleloading guns defined the British shooting world. Many sportsmen took pride in ramrods, paper wads, and the careful loading rituals they had practiced for generations, viewing the breechloader as a fleeting Continental curiosity. Lefaucheux’s...
Aaron Newcomer
15mm Pinfire Revolver with 15mm and 12mm Pertuiset explosive pinfire cartridges[24] In the gunsmoke-filled world of 1860s Paris, as firearms technology was experiencing a revolution with the widespread adoption of breechloading weapons and self-contained cartridges, a determined inventor named...
Aaron Newcomer
In the late 1800s, a legal battle erupted between two ammunition giants, the Union Metallic Cartridge Company and the United States Cartridge Company, over the technology used to manufacture cartridge shells. The case, which wound its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, offers a revealing glimpse...
Aaron Newcomer
In the tapestry of American firearms history, few threads are as colorful and as intertwined with the fabric of innovation as the story of Charles Edward Sneider and his journey with the pinfire system. This article ventures into the heart of 19th-century America, a time of rapid technological...