September 2017 Newsletter
This Newsletter Goes to Over 20,000 Firearms Collectors,
Enthusiasts, Historians and Professionals Worldwide
Over 5000 Vintage Gun Catalogs, Books and Manuals from the 1840s to the 2000s
Inside:
Parts Suppliers, Gun Makers, Brands & Models, Appraisers
Serial Numbers by Year for your Gun |
|
|
Back issues: you can view the newsletter on our website. For a downloadable copy of our catalog of reprints or manuals this will take you there. Also, we have Interesting downloads at our website. Please forward this letter to your friends.
 Michigan Woman Killed by Hippo"Hippo attacks on humans are rare and solid statistics are difficult to find. A report by the Wilderness Medical Society in 1995 estimated that between 200 and 300 people are killed each year by hippos." (that seems to be a fair number to me given their limited range and numbers in the wild-ed)
Prosecutors want to keep a former state senator off the Detroit City Council general election ballot after he finished second in Tuesday's primary despite serving a 10-month sentence for shooting at his ex-wife's car. AP Story August 10, 2017.
Half of Detroit’s 8 mayoral candidates are felons
A Study in Current Affairs
 I was visiting my daughter last night when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.
"This is the 21st. century, Dad" she said. "We don't waste money on newspapers. Here… use my iPad."
I can tell you this….. That darn fly never knew what hit him.
Emails about Sunglasses/Rain and Cruise Control/Rain:
 Wear polarized sunglasses when driving in rain during the day. First and foremost, forget about driving in an absolute downpour — instead, get off the road and wait out the storm. However, during light to moderate rainfalls, polarized sunglasses will help the driver see more clearly.
The second part of most of these emails has to do with driving in rain. The email says if you engage the cruise control under those conditions you risk an uncontrolled skid if the car hydoplanes. That advice is correct.
Deathbed Bequests
The slender man lay on his deathbed. He knows the end is near. His nurse, his wife, his daughter and two sons, are with him. He asks for two witnesses to be present and a camcorder be in place to record his last wishes, and when all is ready he begins to speak:
"My son, Bernie, I want you to take the Ocean Reef houses."
"My daughter Sybil, you take the apartments between mile markers 100 and Tavernier."
"My son, Jamie, I want you to take the offices over in the Marathon Government Center."
"Sarah, my dear wife, please take all the residential buildings on the bayside on Blackwater Sound."
The nurse and witnesses are blown away as they did not realize his extensive holdings, and as Doug slips away, the nurse says, "Mrs. Pender, your husband must have been such a hard-working man to have accumulated all this property."
The wife replies, "He had a paper route"
thanks to John Campbell
The History of the AR-15
The AR-15 is an amazing gun. Originally designed way back in 1959, it saw extensive service during Vietnam, and is still the choice for many looking for a lightweight, reliable assault rifle.
The technological advances represented by the AR-15 when it was first released are hard to overstate. It was designed around a new, lightweight cartridge than allowed infantry troops to carry much more ammunition than previously, and the accuracy of the new rifle greatly improved the effectiveness of US combat troops.
Having been through many, many variants since it was first invented, the AR-15 is also one of the most popular choices for modification. A huge range of pre-modified AR-15s are now available, and for the true enthusiast there are plenty of opportunities for making an AR-15 totally unique.
Colt AR-15 Sporter SP1 Carbine
Doing so is not only fun, but also helps you to build the relationship with your rifle that true infantry men seek. If done correctly, you can create a weapon that feels like an extension of your body, and this can hugely improve your shooting performance.
Almost everything on an AR-15 can be modified, improved, and made to fit your specific needs. The AR-15 Upper Reciever is one of the most modifiable parts of the gun, and swapping out the standard receiver for an after-market version is a great way of getting more out of your rifle. There are a great number of mods available, that will do everything from improving your iron sights, to suppressing muzzle flash, or simply making your gun lighter.
Similarly, a very popular modification that is a great place to start if you are new to modding an AR-15 is to swap out the standard sights for a more advanced optical system. Getting a red dot sight, in particular, can greatly improve both your target acquisition and accuracy.
Sam Bocetta
|
|
It is now just hours before Florida is clobbered by hurricane Irma and days after Texas was drowned by Harvey. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all our friends and colleagues whose lives have been changes by these awful storms. Rob and Abby
Oh, please buy through our website. We like the auction sites but that costs commission money and every buck helps keep us in business. Thanks!
- Military weapon collectors will find scores of manuals and descriptions all in one place here:
We offer website categories to give some broad divisions of origin (under the four main categories are a couple of our favorites):
- British and Commonwealth The above will take you to a load of British publications as well as those of Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa and Canada
- German, Austrian and Swiss We do a load of publications from German speaking countries, many printed in German.
- ALFA Arms of the World (German - Eng, Sp, Fr, Eng text) 1911 Gun Catalog Wonderful book of main line and unusual guns from around the world- swords, ammo, accessories and all sorts of oddities like two pages of palm guns, see the index. Egypt, Argentina, Belgian, Brazil, Chili, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Italy, American, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Serbia, Spain and Turkey you name it! One of the greatest catalogs of arms and outdoor living ever published.
- WUM 1932 (German- Eng, Fr, Sp, & Ger Text) Gun & Sports CatalogAnother milestone catalog even bigger than the 1911 Alfa, again check the index for more things than you can imagine.
- Waffen und Schiesstechnischer 1943 Leitfaden fur die Ordnungspolizei (color) Wartime catalog a must for German military collectors. Also available in B&W- see the website.
The website has these specialty categories (among others):
Big Game Hunting (in addition to all the manufacturer catalogs we offer):
19th Century Favorites:
- James Bown 1876 & Son Enterprise Gun Works & Sporting Goods
- Fisher, Homer - 1880 Catalogue, NY, NY
- GW Turner & Ross 1883 Fire Arms Gun Catalog, Boston
- Hodgekins & Haigh c1883 Guns & Access Catalog, NY
- Curry and Bro., 1884 Catalogue, San Francisco
- A. Ross Co. 1884 Firearms Catalog, Boston, MA
- EC Meacham Arms Co. 1885 Gun & Sport Goods Catalog, St. Louis
- John P. Moore 1886 Catalog, NY
- John P. Lovell 1887 Gun Catalog, Boston
- John P. Lovell Arms Co. 1890 Gun Catalogue, Boston
- George W. Harder 1890 Illustrated Gun Catalogue, Williamsport, PA
- Fletcher, Jenks & Co. 1891 Guns & Sports, Detroit, MI
- EC Meacham Arms Co. Gun Catalog 1893, St Louis
- Ingersoll, Robert & Bros. Sporting Goods & Sundry 1894 New York
- Gemmer, JP Catalog - 1898, St. Louis, Mo
Pre-war Favorites (1900-1939)
- Dunham-Fulton Gun Co. 1905 Catalog, Oshkosh, WI
- Frank P. Hall Co. 1910 Gun Catalog, Columbus, Ohio
- Greer & Lang 1914 Gun & Sporting Goods Catalog- Wheeling W. Va.
- Hingston Smith Arms Co. Ltd. 1915 Catalog, Manitoba, Canada
- John Pritzlaff 1915 Gun & Sport Goods, Milwaukee, WI
- Galef Sporting 1925 Catalog, NY
- Von Frantzius, P c1928 Gun and Sport Catalog, Chicago, Ill.
- Oppelman 1930 Imported & Gun Catalog, Lynchburg, VA
- Bourne & Bond Guns and Hunting Catalog 1933-34, Louisville, KY
- John B. Varick Co. 1934 Gun Catalog, Manchester, NH
- Elmira Arms Company 1934 Gun & Sport Catalog, Elmira NY
- Galef, JL 1939 World's Fair Issue Gun, Fishing & Sports Catalog, NY
- Howe's Greatest Bargain Book 1939-40 Catalog, Cooper's Mills, Me
Unusual Weapons:
- Charles Osborne & Co. 1905 - (UK) Firearms & Sports Catalogue Check out the alarm guns with rockets to catch poachers! Great period catalog.
- Dardick Magazine-fed Revolver Handgun c1959 Strange triangular bullets!
- Dardick c1958 Magazine-Fed Revolver Flyer, New York, NY
- Smith & Wesson 1968 Mercox Dart Projectile Gun Catalog Tear gas, Dye Marker, Hypodermic, High Explosive... what do you need?
- Federal Gas Protection Laboratories 1934, Pittsburgh, PA Store Holdup, no problem, just gas everybody!
- Heckler & Koch/Dynamit Nobel G11 Caseless SMG c1981 - Caseless Ammunition!
- Westley Richards & Co. 1812 - 1912 Centennial Catalog Punt gun- 1" bore shotguns! Just mount this baby on your skiff and take out the whole flock! (for more punt guns, enter the word "punt" in the search bar at the website)
- WW Greener c1950 Harpoon Gun Catalog (the ultimate arrow!)
- FLOBERT - ALL CATALOGS Odd little guns that were often shot indoors at parties!
- Evans Gaming Company 1909-1910 Cheating Equipment (Illinois) "Pocket book Hold Out. A 1908 Invention. By simply laying your Poket Book in front of you... you are ready to operate. By a slight pressure... you cause the receiver to Palm your hand to bring cards at will...". Dice, cards, roulette, carni games, all of it.
- J & E Stevens 1924 Cap Pistols, Mechanical Banks, Toys Etc. Even a bank that today would not be considered politically correct.
Of course the Bannermans are the best! And we think the 1927 catalog is best year. The Bannerman company lasted for 100 years and Jane Bannerman at age 92 gave us permission to reproduce the catalogs.
Francis Bannerman was the first person to think of selling surplus war goods to the public rather than scraping them. He also supplied whole countries with weapons and had a wonderful store in NY I remember as a youth. When the City Fathers of New York discovered he had hundreds of tons of explosives stored in the basement of his store at 579 Broadway they invited him to move them. He bought an island on the Hudson near West Point and built a castle to serve as an armory. It is still there, well, most of it anyway. The catalogs sold everything you can imagine- cannons, buttons, swords, rifles, saddles... A must for any collector.
Gratis too:
|
|
Volume 7 Issue 4
The featured pistol in this article from the latest issue of Arms Heritage is a Colt 1911 .45 ACP caliber automatic pistol made by master miniature maker Raymond Hutchens of Indiana... There is no improving on this miniature. It's as perfect as can possibly be made.
A mere $19 gets you a year of new subscriptions but also access through the archives to 6 1/2 years of the best research and most interesting articles in the collector world. Check in at Arms Heritage Magazine
|
|
(Dear Rob) Reference your August 2017 Newsletter. Not to be a nit-picker, but if that is the muzzle end of the barrel and front end of the magazine tube sticking out of the toe of the saddle scabbard in that picture of the "Indian Fighter," the firearm in his scabbard is not a carbine, but rather a full rifle, what Winchester referred to as a "Sporting Rifle." From the buttplate to the muzzle it is too long for a carbine, the buttplate appears to be a rifle type, not the less-curved carbine buttplate, and the front end of the rifle is sticking out enough that were it a carbine, you could see the barrel band, not used on the rifles and not visible in the picture. I own two original Winchester Model '73 Sporting Rifles, by the way, so am very familiar with them. Just thought I would point it out. John Moss
Hi John, Thanks and of course you are right, I should have caught that when I copied the caption of the picture. Apparently the grips of the revolver are not right either. I'll make the corrections next month. Cheers, Rob
(Dear Rob) Reference your August 2017 Newsletter. Hard rubber grips on a colt 1880 ? Ray Pond
Hi Ray, I'm certainly not an expert on old Colts so I believe what I am told, what do you make of it? Rob
Dear Abby : Received the book Spanish Pistol Makers 1875-1950- Joe Vorisek .....great !......you have rescued an obscure but important resource for the Spanish pistol collector from extinction......Thanks !!......Hector
Dear Abby, I am looking for a pic of an early model 37 in the box. I need to see how all the components of the gun were laid out and pack in the box. would you have anything like that?
Glenn, No I'm sorry, I'm afraid not. Abby- Readers??
(Dear Abby) I am looking for information on the Winchester 52 rifle. I am looking for a diagram that shows all the parts with their part number. I have a early gun, mostly referred to as a "A" or a pre "A. Would one of your catalog's do that? Would this 1941 catalog be the one I am looking for? Edwol40 (Ebay)
Hello edwol40... The catalog you asked about is a sales catalog with no parts information. I think this one would be what you need: Winchester 1934 Gun Component Parts and Sights Catalog
Hi Rob, Received the completed copy of number Ideal 34 today. Just what I had been looking for. Thank You. Bob
Thanks to Doug Elliott for the missing pages! Rob
(Dear Rob) Stevens No. 41 Tip Up Pistol .22 Caliber: I am hoping that you have a publication showing the parts of the Stevens Tip Up Pistol No. 41. I took one apart and need to reassemble the pistol. Salvador Esqueda
Dear Salvador, I'm sure we do but unfortunately in those days they just showed you a flat plan of the parts and not an exploded view (which only came into general usage after 1945) so I don't think that would be much help reassembling the pistol. Cheers, Rob
Thank you Abby. I am so happy I discovered your company as I love older firearms. you will be hearing from me again. thank you again. Tim
(Dear Abby) Mauser 1926 Original Small Bore Rim Fire Rifles Catalog: does this book give year born on dates of the different models mauser??? mainly the model # ms 420b 5 shot 22lr awaiting your answer so I can buy. raubrione-26 (Ebay)
Dear Rau… No. This is an advertising piece printed before the weapons were manufactured to sell them. I know of no source for serial number/date information, sorry. Abby
(Dear Abby) Vickers 1940 Water Cooled Machine Gun Made Easy: Thanks. I am buying it for my father's 96th birthday. He was an expert with that machine gun in the Irish Army, during the 40's! Best regards, Noel
|
|
(Dear Rob) I am not happy with one of the catalogs I received on my latest purchase. It is identified as Savage 1909 Arms Company Catalog No 35. Specifically the trimming of the reprint is very poor leaving a bright white margin varying from 1/32" to nearly 1/4" or more. Not satisfactory for adding to my collection. Per your offer, I will agree to give you positive feedback (Ebay-ed) in return for refunding my money. The reason I am willing to do this is because I have purchased from you before and know that usually your product quality is very good. John Wright, Columbus, Ohio
Hi John, As you probably know from your previous purchases everything we offer with only a few exceptions has a white border. This feature comprises a portion of our agreement with most OEMs to distinguish our copies from original pieces. Manufacturers do not like it if we make perfect forgeries of originals and neither do ephemera collectors. It keeps our lawyers happy too.
Your complaint states that we cut the white border in a sloppy manner. I will be happy to send you a replacement catalog for free or you may return that one for a refund. Let me know the cost of your first class postage and I’ll refund that too should you choose that route. If you choose to ask for a free replacement you may keep the poorly trimmed one. I only want it back if you ask for a refund.
Best wishes, Rob
(Dear Rob) Thank you for your prompt reply. Unfortunately your first paragraph offends my sensibilities and my experience with your company. That said, I will take care of the trimming problem myself. (The word "sloppy" is not contained in my email to you.) Fortunately I have an original of pretty much every annual catalog produced by Savage from 1895 through the early 70's and the only need I have for reproductions is to point out to beginning collectors how to distinguish between factory catalogs and reproductions such as the two I just received from you. As you probably know , neither of them are copies of true originals as they are both missing the original covers and substitute the original first page to look like a cover. So, essentially what has happened here is that you have pissed off a formerly happy customer by trying to skate around a "Guarantee" for a lousy $15 or whatever the cost was. Keep your money and keep your guarantee, I don't need either one. The feedback will be what it will be. JW
Dear John, Forgive me, what did I say that offends you? I combined your shipping which is no easy thing to do at EBay, I sent you the publication in a timely manner and I answered your complaint quickly and I thought fairly.
I explained why we leave the border around our publications and I offered to refund your money and pay return shipping or send you a free replacement. I used the word sloppy not to annoy you but rather in a self-critical manner to admit our failing. I’d like to know what I can or could have done to help?
By the way, our project is to preserve these wonderful old publications before they are all gone, something we have been working on in our retirement for 15 years. Why not let us add your originals to our scanned collection for future generations? That way you can have some of ours for free. Best wishes, Rob
|
|
Gun Model & Makers, Parts Suppliers & Appraisers
|
Maker-Model Cross References:
Firearms Appraisals:
Mike Rich, owner of I HAVE THIS OLD GUN. Send Mike an email to get started. His charges are modest.
We get hundreds of calls about PARTS:
Serial Numbers and Corresponding Dates:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
