Symbolic ornamentation inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art is a long-standing Western tradition. The author explores the designs of 18th century English gunsmiths who engraved classical ornamental patterns on firearms gifted or traded to American Indians. A system of allegory is found that symbolized the Americas of the New World in general, and that enshrined the American Indian peoples as "noble savages." The same allegorical context was drawn upon for symbols of national liberty in the early American republic. Inadvertently, many of the symbolic designs used on the trade guns strongly resonated with several Native American spiritual traditions.

This is a history of gunsmithing in America. Although the English guild system regulated the trade in the Mother Country, Americans, as usual, preferred freedom to regulation. This book examines the gunsmithing trade in relation to the militia; apprenticeships; labour; tools and equipment; the Frontier gunsmith; and traitors, criminals, and deserters.

The importance of gunsmithing in Virginia during the colonial period is clear. Gunsmiths were found nearly everywhere: in port towns along the coast, in settled inland areas, and - probably the busiest ones - on the frontier. As with most craftsmen, many of these men remain obscure. They left little trace and the records reveal their names only incidentally. With the revolutionary war, gunsmiths of unusual ability appeared.

Continuing the proud tradition of Gunsmith Kinks®, Gunsmith Kinks® II, and Gunsmith Kinks® III, this newest member of the family - Gunsmith Kinks® 4 - presents 569 brand new gunsmith kinks to help you cure problems in the shop, to bring you new ideas for tools and time-saving fixtures for your gun work, to give you lots of solid and useful suggestions for your business and shop -- and, of course, to bring together all the jokes that have appeared in the Gunsmiths Newsletter since Gunsmith Kinks® III came out back in 1993. As an added plus, weve added many brand new Gunsmith Kinks® and jokes that havent appeared in any Newsletter yet. All are shop proven and written by the people doing the work and, every Kink® has a credit line identifying the author.Included are lots of instructions -- 64 pages in fact -- that walk you through a variety of processes - from Color Case Hardening to applying BakeOn finishes. How-to articles reprinted from Brownells BenchTalk Newsletter and a whole chapter dedicated to advice on proven ways other folks have increased their sales and, therefore, their profits. That same chapter has advice and counsel on subjects ranging from customer service, to making a buck and just about every other aspect of the business. 133 pages feature 167 job-specific Gunsmith Kinks® for handguns, rifles, and shotguns.To make finding all this tremendous new information easy -- for info is of no use unless you can find it -- the new Gunsmith Kinks® 4 is cross-indexed with ALL THREE previous volumes Gunsmith Kinks® , Gunsmith Kinks® II, and Gunsmith Kinks® III. If you look up a subject in Gunsmith Kinks® 4, right beside the entry you can see if there is more information on the same subject in one of the other three volumes, and which page to find it on.The sum total of know-how collected here is truly mind-boggling. You, the reader, get to tap into the job files of the worlds best gunsmiths and take advantage of the hours theyve spent figuring out how to fix the problem thats sitting on your bench!

Although called gunsmiths, they rarely labored on guns during colonial times. An important part of the community, the gunsmith most likely focused on other types of metal work, but occasionally assembled firearms. This historical volume chronicles the formative years of the United States through the activities and occupations of its most important community members. It explore the everyday life, responsibilities, social life, and the affect the gunsmith had on the colonial American way of life. Hands-on activities and recipes, sidebars detailing the history and evolution of the profession, and key social studies words are defined in the glossary.

The "bible" of the firearms industry for accurate value information and descriptions of rifles, pistols, and shotguns. The industry standard for over 25 years!

When Meriwether Lewis began shopping for supplies and firearms to take on the Corps of Discovery’s journey west, his first stop was a federal arsenal. For the following twenty-nine months, from the time the Lewis and Clark expedition left Camp Dubois with a cannon salute in 1804 until it announced its return from the West Coast to St. Louis with a volley in 1806, weapons were a crucial component of the participants’ tool kit. In Weapons of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, historian Jim Garry describes the arms and ammunition the expedition carried and the use and care those weapons received. The Corps of Discovery’s purposes were to explore the Missouri and Columbia river basins, to make scientific observations, and to contact the tribes along the way for both science and diplomacy. Throughout the trek, the travelers used their guns to procure food—they could consume around 350 pounds of meat a day—and to protect themselves from dangerous animals. Firearms were also invaluable in encounters with Indian groups, as guns were one of the most sought-after trade items in the West. As Garry notes, the explorers’ willingness to demonstrate their weapons’ firepower probably kept meetings with some tribes from becoming violent. The mix of arms carried by the expedition extended beyond rifles and muskets to include pistols, knives, espontoons, a cannon, and blunderbusses. Each chapter focuses on one of the major types of weapons and weaves accounts from the expedition journals with the author’s knowledge gained from field-testing the muskets and rifles he describes. Appendices tally the weapons carried and explain how the expedition’s flintlocks worked. Weapons of the Lewis and Clark Expedition integrates original research with a lively narrative. This encyclopedic reference will be invaluable to historians and weaponry aficionados.

The popularity of cowboy action shooting has greatly expanded, and so has this indispensable guide to the guns used in the sport. This updated second edition guides collectors, cowboy action shooters, hobbyists and Old West re-enactors through repairing and improving Old West firearms. New additions include 125 high-resolution diagrams and illustrations, five new handgun models, four new long gun models, and an expanded and illustrated glossary.The book offers expanded coverage of the first edition's featured guns (over 40 original and replica models), as well as updated gunsmithing tips and advice. The step-by-step, detailed illustrations demonstrate to both amateur and advanced gunsmiths how to repair and upgrade Old West firearms. This valuable knowledge is passed along to readers by a working professional with years of experience and a great reputation for quality custom gunsmithing work.·

Originally published in 1883, The Gunsmith’s Manual is generally considered to be the first substantive work dealing with gunsmithing exclusively and in detail. A comprehensive introductory chapter, one of the manual’s best qualities, provides the reader with an extensive history of the gun, including the invention of gun powder, the first rifle, and much more. Once acquainted with firearms, readers can then move on to learn how guns were made and used in the nineteenth century, as well as terms used in gunsmithing. The real meat of the book, however, is the authors’ detailed instruction on gun care and maintenance. Specifics are offered on tools, workbench materials and setup, metalworking, working with wooden stocks, common repairs, and the process of browning, among many other topics. You can even improve your marksmanship with these expert shooting tips for a variety of firearms. Although first published in the nineteenth century, The Gunsmith’s Manual is highly relevant for today’s firearms owners and tinkerers. The authors’ recommended procedure for removing a rusted-in screw, for example, is still widely used over 100 years later. You can learn to care for your rifle or shotgun as traditional gunsmiths would have. For both the historian and the firearms enthusiast, The Gunsmith’s Manual is an invaluable learning tool.