My
thoughts, feelings and understanding of firearms should be obvious to regular
readers. Let me dispel any question by stating that I believe the well made
firearm demonstrates the absolute apex of man’s ability to design, engineer and
manufacture a tool which can be both functional and pleasing to view. The
results of use by man can be the ugliest and destructive of scenes but that is
not the fault of either the tool or its designer.
There are
firearms in all of my novels that have been released and many of the short
stories. The first mentioned in “Partners” is the Colt revolving shotgun and
later in the narrative its brother the Colt revolving rifle shows up. As with
the Paterson Colts first seen by the public in 1837 these long guns were
revolutionary and their production actually preceded the production of the hand
guns. The First Model Ring Lever Rifle was produced in .34, .36, .38, .40 and
.44 with 8 shot and 10 shot cylinders although the 10 shot may be impossible to
find. This First Model was followed by replacement models with several
improvements and the first shotgun in 16 gauge with a 6 shot cylinder in 1839.
All these
early Colt revolving rifles, despite improvements suffered from similar
problems. They were all very inaccurate with only slight improvements in each
new model. The gap between the cylinder and the base of the barrel was larger
than necessary and allowed too much propulsion gas to escape thereby reducing
the power behind the bullet in turn reducing impact and distance. They had in
most cases (except for an inadequate strap on one model) no frame component
above the cylinder giving the weapon a short life. They also required time,
effort and good tools to disassemble for cleaning.
Walker Colt of 1847
The biggest improvement in the revolving rifle and the Colt
Company in general did not start in either New Jersey
or Connecticut but down south in
the Republic of Texas West Texas to protect their families
and neighbors from raids by the Comanche and the bands of Comanche, Mexican and
whites called Comancheros. It also gave the volunteers an opportunity to eat on
occasion in a country that was short on everything but beans and wild beef.
The Rangers
lost many men in those early battles with the Comanche. The Indian would taunt
the white, perhaps fire an arrow or two and throw a spear and the young (mostly
teenage) whites would fire their muzzle loading weapons. The Comanche would
then fire a half a dozen arrows while the Rangers re-loaded … or tried to.
One of the
Ranger captains or leader of what had been designated a Company; a man named Samuel
Hamilton Walker saw the answer to this problem in Samuel Colt’s invention with
the revolving cylinder. It may be that he owned a Paterson Colt although few
men had extra money for “frills” and it would be a few years before a repeating
handgun would be seen as a necessity and worth more than a “reliable”
single-shot, muzzle loading pistol.
If Captain Walker did own or even
borrow a Paterson he would have
quickly determined that the .31 or even the .36 caliber Model #5 was no match
for what the Comanche could do with his arrows. He therefore drew up a design
enlarging the dimensions of Sam Colt’s early weapons and self-funded a trip to New
York to meet Sam Colt. The weapon they built was intended to be a
“horse pistol”, to be carried in a holster mounted on a Rangers saddle. It
would hold six, .44 caliber balls and be large enough to contain the explosion
from a load of black powder that would send the ball much farther than a
Comanche arrow … if the shooter could learn to hold the weapon and the horse
did not die from fright.
The first Walker Colt was
manufactured in 1847. The ft.-lbs. of energy it was capable of transmitting
would not be exceeded by a hand-gun until Elmer Keith (the cartridge) and Smith
& Wesson (the weapon) produced the .44 Magnum 108 years later in 1955.
(Yes, Ruger released the first
weapon chambered for .44 Mag but S&W was working on it first and had built
a prototype. The cartridge and the weapons where intended for hunting Elk and
deer. I’ll come back to why S&W and Ruger made the first .44 Mags and how
the load came to be created … but later.)
Samuel H. Walker was killed during
October, 1847 during one of the battles of the Mexican-American War. He was
thirty years old and may not have had the opportunity to fire one of his Walker
Colts.
1855 Colt Revolving Rifle in .56
The development of the Walker
and its subsequent success lead to changes in other Colt models. The Model 1855
revolving rifles and shotguns, those depicted in “Partners” had a much stronger
frame with a “top-strap” or frame member over top of the cylinder and
tolerances had been reduced so that less propulsion was lost between cylinder
and barrel. They were generally accurate out to 100 yards and some to twice
that distance. With very little adaptation to lock-screws and center pins
cylinders could be pre-loaded and changed fairly quickly during action,
although not as effective with shot loads as with the .44 or .56 caliber ball
used in the rifle.
One of the bad men encountered near
the start of Partners is carrying a Smith & Wesson. This would be the Model
# 1 ½ or a “first issue revolver” in .32 rimfire. About 23 thousand where made
from 1865 to ’68. S&W had purchased a patent for a “bored-through” cylinder
which allowed them to be the first to sell cartridge firing hand-guns. They did
not produce a “heavy” revolver until the Model No. 3 First Model Single Action
of 1870 in .44 S&W American (centre fire) and a few in .44 Henry (rimfire).
S&W also sold a revolving rifle
from 1879 to ’87. It was the Model 320 (in .320 S&W rifle caliber).
However, due to the experience the public had with the Colt revolving long guns
and some of the less than uplifting talk about the then 25 year old weapon the
S&W 320 did not do particularly well and less than a thousand examples were
produced.
One of the bad men has a “Springfield
.56” which Frank simply fires over the lake to unload. This would be a U.S.
Model 1861 Percussion Rifle or Musket made for the Federal Government by a
variety of contractors some even made by Springfield Armory. Thousands of this model rifle (and musket)
were made and carried throughout North America and regardless of what might be
stamped on the weapon – Alfred Jenks & Sons, William Mason, Remington,
Savage or almost two dozen contractors – was usually called a Springfield.
S&W Model 1 1/2 Second Issue in .32
One of the partners and one of the
bad men carry a “Spencer.” This would be two of 107,000 Spencers produced
between 1863 and ’67. Those produced during the Civil War (and receiving an
endorsement from President Lincoln) fired a .52 caliber rimfire cartridge,
seven of which where held in a tube magazine in the stock and fed to the breach
by a lever which also served as a trigger guard. Despite their hurried and mass
production for use by Federal or Northern soldiers these weapons were very
accurate and well regarded. As is the case even with today’s rifles where one is
mystifying in its accuracy and the next supposedly identical weapon can’t be
counted on to hit the wall of a barn from inside some of the Civil War Spencers
supplied uncanny accuracy at distances only expected from weapons used for
plains buffalo hunts.
Spencer Model 1860 carbine
In addition to his Spencer carbine
Frank is also carrying, in a holster, a Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver. From 186
to ’73 more than 200 thousand were produced in .44 with either a 7 ½ or 8 inch
barrel.
Colt 1860 Army Civilian Model .44
The one other firearm that comes to
mind from the Partners novel is the Henry, or “Golden Boy” as it was sometimes
called before the 1866 Winchester
which also had a brass receiver, took over that name. The Henry is only
mentioned once or twice (and not carried by a character) and appears on the
front cover, so I’ll include a little information about it.
The Henry was developed from the
Volcanic. The Volcanic was built for a .38 rimfire Smith & Wesson style
cartridge. The Henry was built for a .44 caliber rimfire cartridge (24 grains
of black powder) designed specifically for it. About 13 thousand were produced
from 1860 to ’66 when Winchester
(who owned the patents) produced the Model 1866. The Winchester
was also made in .44 rimfire and about 170 thousand were made between 1866 and
’98.
While chasing down the man who
murdered BC Police officer Jack Lawson the partners, now four in number have a
variety of weapons but the action is confined to a variety of double barrel
shotguns as was the case with the actual or historical chase. The bad guy, One
Eared Charlie Brown uses a Manhattan .36 or “Navy Type” which were made from 1859 – ’68 and had some
similarities to both the Colt ’51 Navy and the Colt ’61 Navy.
That pretty well covers the weapons
in Partners. The weapons in The Great Liquor War and Homesteader: Finding
Sharon are naturally very different since the stories take place 20 years later
and many changes where made in those years. Another decade passes before The
Making of Jake McTavish and Cattle Business so there are many changes again.
For example, by 1900 bolt action rifles where replacing lever actions in
popularity and national defense ministries and their governments where learning
that it was cheaper to issue good weapons to soldiers than to replace and
retrain them when they were inadequately equipped.
More about the weapons in other
novels later.
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