Smith and Wesson 625

A formidable beast, chambering .45 ACP ammo in what are known as "full moon clips" (lower left). These function as a speed loader, enabling a fast, 6-chamber reload. I used to be able to toss a moon clip of full metal jacket round nose into the chamber from a foot away. Reloads are FAST. I mean FAST.

Little big man

North American Arms Mini-revolver in .22 magnum. The whole thing is less than 5 inches long. Concealable, handy, and convenient, with just enough punch to do the job in an emergency. I don't have a CCP, but there are times and places where a little friend in some backpack or pocket is worth the risk. As the man once said, "It's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6".

I do a lot of hiking, kayaking, beachcombing, etc. all by myself - sometimes, one feels the need to have some 'defense in depth' in teh more desolate areas of our environs. This is also my "hotel gun" when I'm on the road. I never travel with a loaded cylinder, or even with the cylinder and the frame togehter in the same bag. Once I'm checked in, however, all bets are off...

While you're waiting...

For my sorry ass to come up with another Friday-based theme, here's a compact 1911 by Llama, the Spanish gunmaker. It's not a Colt, even though it's a clone, and it's a fine shooter. .45 ACP.

Old Slabsides

Nothing to see here. Just a standard Colt 1911 in .45 ACP, with an aftermarket 2-port compensator in place of the stock barrel bushing. Nice shooter. Big holes. All from a design that'll be 100 years old in two years.

Big brass shell

This brass shell casing is an old Winchester 10 gauge shotgun shell. It has an interesting story behind it. A few years ago, whilst working for a client at their offices at an old farm house in New Jersey, I found this old shell in what we called "the Muskrat Room". It is one of several artifacts I found on the property, including an old horseshoe nailed to a tree out back.

Fast forward a few years, and I finally got to meet my wife's (then, fiancee's) best friend, Marianne. Marianne was later to become my wife's maid of honor at our wedding. In talking to Marianne, I got to telling her about my job and where I worked. As it happened (it's a small world), the house in which my office was located used to be the home of her (my wife's friend) grandmother. She vividly remembered the house and hunting for Easter eggs in the yard, and she even remembered the "Muskrat Room". She didn't know that my client had bought the house years after the death of her grandparents.

Now here's the spooky part - Marianne also remembered (as a little girl) an old horseshoe that was nailed to a tree in the yard. Well, imagine her surprise when I went into Flintlock's Arsenal and retrieved that very same horseshoe for her to keep. I also gave her an old door lock that we found in the barn out back - probably dating from the original 1700's part of the house.

Well, long after I gave her that old horseshoe, and even after she was my wife's maid of honor, I myself was honored when Marianne asked if I would be willing to officiate at her wedding ceremony. I promptly joined the Universal Life Church, and performed said ceremony on the beach in a beautiful and highly secular exchange of vows. I count this as one of my favorite 10 experiences in my entire life, along with my own marriage and birth of my son.

Back to the shell - this I kept. I now use it as a slide for a lap steel guitar that I refinished last year. Go to my My Space Band page to hear some of my blues music (if not this slide or guitar). I can't play slide with this shell without thinking about the improbable chain of events that surround it.

One big hole puncher...

This is a 14.5 mm x 114 mm heavy machine gun round (tracer). This was a Russian (or former Soviet) round. More can be found out about the cartridge here. It has been removed from its brass cartridge case but is unfired. Based on markings, this one is an armor piercing incendiary round, and is very much "ert" with respect to the incendiary filling. Probably won't be throwing this into the campfire anytime soon...

More stuff (someone) pulled from the (beach) #4

This big nasty is a 37 mm shell (don't worry, it's inert). It's stamped "LOT N14-2-1 1943 37 MM M51 B" on one of the ferrules (the "4" is italicized because it's not too legible - some fool appears to have used this as a tack hammer at some point). This piece was given to me many years ago by a benefactor who claims to have found this at an undisclosed location within Fort Miles, Delaware, now part of Cape Henlopen State Park. The problem I have with this questionable provenance is that the M51 B was an anti-tank gun, and would not really have any business at a coastal defense installation. Furthermore, I have seen no evidence that these were even deployed at Fort Miles, although mobile artillery may have transitioned in and out of there extensively. Anyway, I'm suspicious of this thing's reputed origin.

Regardless, check out the folks at FortMiles.org. This base actually captured a Nazi sub, so that at least should be worthy of respect, never mind that many of the old casemates are now sealed off and New Jersey tourists scramble all over the place like so many jogging vegan hipster fucktards.

More stuff I pulled out of the water #3

This is a 30 mm x 110 mm shell casing pulled from Chincoteague Bay in around 1992. The base is stamped: "1944 HP LOT 142 20 MM M21A1". It's hard to tell where this came from - probably not an aircraft since they were not shooting these big calibers out of aircraft until somewhat later, although surplus ammo may have been used later. The modern "Vulcan" on the front of an A-10 Warthog is 20mm.

Given the caliber and the length, this most likely came off of a Navy or Coast Guard gunboat in or shortly after WW2.

Let's do cannons #8

Not black powder but cartridge. 12 Gauge shotgun to be exact. Another gift from Mac. Behind it is a 12 Gauge salute round - I wouldn't try shot in this one. The string and the board indicate that I've shot this one with popper loads (i.e. salute round). Every New Year's Eve...

Here's another view of the breech...

It's time to be Frank with you...

Frank Wesson, that is. Here we have a Frank Wesson and Gilbert Harrington (aka Wesson and Harrington) Number Two .22 caliber revolver, First Type. It's thought that, along with it's predecessor Number One, less than 10,000 were made.


This little revolver is kind of cool, because the cylinder is bored for seven rounds instead of the typical six. Of course with .22 short, that seventh shot may have made a world if difference in a defensive situation. Let's just say that you wouldn't want to throw down with Doc Holliday with just this...

This little pistol (I say little because its only 6 1/4 inches long) was also made in that gem of a city, Worcester, MA, sometime between 1874 and 1879.

Honey, go play with that outside...

Actually, don't.


This funny guy is a late 19th century "parlor pistol", chambered in .22 caliber "caps". These cartridges were even shorter than the diminutive .22 short, and were basically the bullet propelled by the fulminate primer in the rimfire cartridge.

Believe it or not, pistols like this were very popular in Victorian times and were used indoors as part of "parlor games", knocking over tiny metal targets or making holes in paper. This activity was probably less dangerous than darts, although chronic lead and mercury poisoning may have resulted in long term health issues.

Imagine: it's the late 1800's - you and your closest friends get together in the living room after supper and drink brandy, play charades, smoke cigars, play cards, have a seance, and then bust out the parlor pistols for a friendly target competition with the fireplace as your backstop. Of course, this was long before "Twister", or even "Naked Baby Oil Twister" was invented...

And to think, nowadays you yobs sit around watching "American Idol" and eating "Hot Pockets".

So much for modern conveniences...

My, what a LITTLE pistol you have...

And now for the very small...

This little guy standing next to the standard U.S. Quarter is a single shot, breech loading .22 caliber (short, not long rifle) "vest pocket" pistol. It is unmarked except for a serial number, and the barrel is not rifled. The frame is brass and the grips look like rosewood.

Based on the frame design and the push-button plunger opening mechanism, this piece is probably a Marlin (although copies of this design abounded). If it's a Marlin, it would have been made between 1863 and 1867, according to Flayderman.

I've actually shot this piece (I know, I know...but it's mine and I'll do with it what I like). Even though it's so tiny, there's no recoil just because of the diminutive size of the shot and load. There's a short list of what a .22 short round will punch through, and human flesh is on it. A piece of 1/4" plywood is on it too, although a piece of 1/2" plywood is not. Pages 1 - 89 of a hardcover book are on it, but pages 80 - 345 are not. Anyway, the bottom line is that this piece could hurt someone (you'll put an eye out with that thing!) but is not likely to be lethal...unless it's 1865 and you've never heard about the germ theory of disease. In fact, due to the state of medicine, back then this pistol was probably a lot scarier and potentially dangerous in the Civil War than it is today.

I always imagine the original owner of this pistol was a prostitute or showgirl who kept it tucked into her garter. She'd probably be able to put down an over-rowdy client with it "real-quick like" given her proximity to his hurty bits...