The Winchester Model 1873 is an obvious pick for this list. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA Gift of the Olin Corporation, Winchester Arms Collection. 44-40 Winchester Centerfire Cartridge, date: ca 1875. 4) Winchester Model 1873 Lever Action Rifle Winchester Model 1873 “1 of 1000.”. But it was his Model 1851 Revolver that became his first commercially successful handgun. His first revolver, the Paterson was not the ticket, even though it inspired other revolver designs. Most Top 10 lists brag on the Colt Single Action Army and for good reason, but if Colt hadn’t found financial success earlier in the company’s history, then that gun wouldn’t have been invented. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA Gift of James H. Julia Auctionsģ) Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolver Sam Colt’s Personal Pair of Colt Model 1851 Revolvers. 2) Hall Breechloading Rifle Hall Breechloading Rifle Photo courtesy of James D. During a time when smoothbore muskets were the infantry gun of choice, the long rifle was an iconic symbol of American revolutionaries during the War for Independence. These beautifully designed rifles (initially flintlocks) were popular in the making of America. The American long rifle goes by many names – most notably the Pennsylvania or the Kentucky. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY, USA Gift of Olin Corporation, Winchester Arms Collection, 19 Buffalo Bill Center of the West 1) American Long Rifle American Long Rifle. But here’s a list of guns that certainly have impacted our country both at home and abroad. I recognize it may be kind of ballsy to narrow the list down to ten firearms – especially when Chris Kyle did it so well. Thus, there have been an innumerable array of firearms produced during the lifespan of the United States. The Royal Armouries is fortunate enough to have on loan the Colt that belonged to rancher John Tunstall, whose murder ‘Billy the Kid’ set out to avenge in 1878.Since before the Second Amendment, Americans have used firearms to shape our history. Popular with the military, agents of the law, and with criminals, it was said by a former train robber that ‘a Colt’s forty-five makes all men equal’.
Probably the most famous of the Old West guns, the Colt six-shooter became renowned as the ‘gun that won the West’. Remington’s version featured two barrels that lifted up for loading and is featured in reproduction form in ‘Django Unchained’ (2012). Named after gunmaker Henry Deringer, ‘Derringer’ became a generic name for a small, concealable weapon for very close range self-defence, carried in a vest pocket or lady’s muff. A lesser-known weapon of the period, it appeared recently as a plot point in BBC One’s Victorian police drama ‘Ripper Street’. This wasted less propellant gas on firing, making it prized for its accuracy amongst Confederate snipers in the American Civil War.
The British Whitworth rifle resembles the better-known Enfield Pattern 1853, but features hexagonal rifling and was designed to fire a close-fitting, hexagonal bullet. The LeMat appears prominently in 2010’s martial arts/Western mash-up ‘The Warrior’s Way’. This was a lot of firepower when the revolver was introduced in 1856, and it went on to find favour with the Confederate States in the American Civil War. The LeMat was unusual in that its cylinder held nine shots instead of the usual five or six, and because it had an extra shotgun barrel mounted underneath. The 1873 model is the best known, even starring in its own movie: Winchester ’73 (1950). Its mechanism would later inspire the Maxim machine gun. Winchester 1873 Rifleīased on the 1860 Henry Repeating Rifle, the famous Winchester featured a tube magazine with an enormous capacity for the time and a rapid-fire lever action. We thought we’d introduce you to a magnificent seven guns from our collection you may see in the hands of your favourite cowboys and cowgirls. Welcome everybody to the wild, wild west.