Ward’s Western Field 16-Gauge Shotgun

Western Field is a trade name used by Montgomery Ward on shotguns of various makes. In the case of this double barrel break action shotgun it appears to be a variation of the Lefever shotgun called the Lefever Nitro Special made by the Ithaca Gun Company in 1928. Daniel Lefever was the inventor of the first hammerless shotgun in 1878 his company was incorporated with the Ithaca Gun Company in in 1921.

The barrels have been shortened to 20 inches but otherwise this 89 year old double barrel seems to be in remarkably good shape. It probably helped put meat in someone's pot during the Great Depression of 1929-1939.

See:

Lefever Arms Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefever_Arms_Company

A serial number chronology in Walter Snyder's book, “The Ithaca Gun Company: From The Beginning”
http://www.ithacagun.com/pdfs/serialnumbers.pdf

Lefever Arms Collectors Association, production dates:
http://www.lefevercollectors.com/index.php?p=1_14_Production-Dates


Many thanks to user “Researcher01” at shotgunworld.com who helped me identify the manufacturer of this shotgun.

#111-0197
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Colt Single Action Army

My father, Jack Williams (F.E. Williams III), carried this revolver during World War Two. He served in the South Pacific aboard PT128.

It is likely that no Colt revolver is as well known as the Single Action Army (SSA). It is the iconic and almost universal revolver seen in the Hollywood and Television Westerns of the 1950’s and 60’s. You may know it by another name like the Peacemaker, the Model P, the M1873 or just the Colt .45. This one dates from 1906 but it appears that at some point the barrel was shortened. It was also adapted to use the ammunition in use during WWII, the .45 ACP.

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#AntiqueWeapons
#Colt
#Colt45
#ColtSingleActionArmy
#ColtSSA
#SSA
#SingleActionArmy

Rare US Model 1843 Hall-North Breech-Loading Percussion Cavalry Carbine, Seminole War?

John Hancock Hall’s breech-loading design was the first breach loader to be adopted in large numbers by any nation's army. It was patented on May 21, 1811, and adopted by the U.S. Army in 1819.

Dad purchased this timeworn carbine from Bill Parnell the owner of DMC Military Antiques. According to Bill a Seminole Indian had used it as partial payment to cover a doctor's bill. A pharmaceutical rep then saw it and offered to buy it. Eventually the pharmaceutical rep sold it to Bill. Dad knew that these weapons had seen action during the Seminole War and found the possible connection enticing.

This Carbine was also known as the Side Lever Hall. It was manufactured by Simeon North in Middletown, Connecticut and marked with the date 1844 near the breach. The other breach markings are obscure but typically read U.S. / S NORTH / http://MID.L.TN / CONN. The stock is marked with the number 62 & 12. There are obvious crude repairs to the stock likely made to extend its working life.

** Springfield Armory National Historic Site Notes **

"In November 1987, (NPS Curator) Stuart Vogt and Professor Robert Gordon of Yale University, demonstrated to their satisfaction, in a test made at Springfield Armory, that a Hall rifle breech block made at Harpers Ferry in 1838 could interchange with one made by North in 1832. Many more such tests are required to evaluate published claims of interchangeability, and to understand the accomplishments of different armories in the formative period of interchangeable American small-arms manufacture." - Raber, et al.

"The stock is of American black walnut and the pores were not filled, but the finished surface received the usual protective coating of linseed oil. The breech-block and the external lock parts show dull colors of case hardening. The ramrod and bayonet are all polished steel. All screw heads are blued. The barrel and all other steel or iron is coated with brown lacquer. As lacquer does not appear on U.S. Government arms after the destruction of Harper's Ferry works in 1861 presumably the formula was lost with the other burned records, because this lacquer is an admirable preservative and of excellent wearing qualities; it is not affected by water, oil or acid; it is tough, hard, and so adhesive that it can only be removed by scraping.
The rifling of this arm, so far as known, different than any other ever used by the government, being as follows: Caliber of bore without grooves .51. Depth of grooves one hundredth of an inch. Number of grooves 16. Pitch, 1 turn in 8 feet. At the muzzle the lands are reamed out for a distance of an inch and a half, which is as far back as the rear edge of the front sight; looking into the muzzle the rifle could easily be mistaken for a smoothbore. Presumably the object was to facilitate loading at the muzzle in case the arm became defective as a breechloader. Possibly it was intended to increase accuracy; in either case the depth of reaming seems excessive.
The breech consists of a receiver, which contains the charge, and to which the lock is attached, it (the receiver) has two shoulders near its muzzle of fore-end, by which it is kept to the barrel and is prevented from recoiling when it is discharged. The receiver is prevented from recoiling wholly by these shoulders, which bear against the core-hardened chocks placed behind the shoulders. But no direct support is given by the butt-piece behind the receiver, nor by the axis-pin on which the receiver turns; on the contrary the receiver does not even touch the butt-piece; a vacancy is left between that and the end of the receiver to freely permit all the expansion which takes place in the receiver as it grows warm with repeated discharges, viz: all the expansion from the back part of the shoulders to the back end of the receiver. That expansion which takes place forward of the shoulders is provided for in the joint where the receiver meets the barrel. The holes in the receiver through which the axis-pin passes are made long for the same purpose, viz: to freely admit of expansion in the after part of the receiver. The bore of the barrel increases gradually in size toward the breech, beginning about one foot from the muzzle and enlarging very rapidly in the last half inch next to the receiver somewhat in the form of a trumpet, so as to be rather larger at the butt than the boThe charge was 100 grains of rifle powder, and 10 grains were used for priming. The bullet was spherical and weighed one-half ounce; its normal diameter was .525; it was shot bare. Owning to the escape of gas at the breech the muzzle velocity was several hundred foot seconds less than that of the regulation muzzle loading rifles.
The sights are fixed, and in order to allow for the obstruction of pan and hammer they are offset from the vertical axis of the barrel. The bayonet lug is offset and the front sight carried on the lug is also offset to one side. In altering these arms to percussion at a later date the sights were not changed although with the percussion type the sights can be carried on the vertical axis of the barrel. As the receivers of practically all models of this arm are interchangeable and as the markings are almost always on the receivers, a great deal of confusion has been caused by putting flint receivers into arms that were never made flintlock, but that were of the percussion period only. The offset was necessary on the flintlock and was not used on the percussion but it is not uncommon to find Hall carbines with flint locks and with sights on the vertical axis of the barrels which are totally obscured by the pan and hammer.
The socket bayonet used on this gun can be distinguished from other bayonets of the period by the slot for the stud; the slot having an offset recess to accommodate the sight.
A unique feature of the action generally overlooked by the student of this arm is the adjustable hair trigger. This consists of an adjusting screw passing through the sear by means of which any desired trigger pull can be secured and is a refinement in a military arm many years in advance of its day.
The three bands of this arm are retained in their position by pins or rivets passing through the stock but as this method was extremely unhandy when dismounting the piece it was later changed to the regular band spring method." - Fuller

"The first combat service with the Hall rifles occurred during the Black Hawk War of 1832. During that year, nearly 1,200 Hall rifles were issued to the Army. All companies of the 6th Infantry received Hall except for the light company which was issued the Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle. The war was short and the Indians were quickly subdued.
The Army would have a much more challenging conflict in the Second Seminole War beginning in December 1835 and lasting until 1842. This was a guerrilla war in the swamps of Florida that the Army would find much more difficult to win. To fight the war, in 1836, General Winfield Scott called hard bread, bacon, Hall's rifles, fixed musket ammunition, and muskets - in that order. Scott wanted to arm as many as 3,700 soldiers with Hall rifles from Augusta Arsenal. Lacking sufficient Halls to arm all the troops, the volunteers were given their choice of the Hall or Common rifle. During the war, over 2,200 Hall rifles were sent to the troops in the field. The 6th Infantry arrived in Florida in September 1837 and was stationed at Fort Brooks and probably still maintained their rifles from the Black Hawk War. Due to the Hall's heavy recoil, the troops in the field found that the buttstock broke easily. A further problem was that, after only a few firings, the breech would become so fouled that the breechblock would not open. At the Battle of Okeechobee on Christmas Day 1837, elements of the 1st, 4th and 6th Infantries, along with the Missouri Volunteers, attacked the Seminoles. The attackers had to cross a swamp to engage with the Indians. In the attack, the five companies of the 6th lost its colonel and many of its company officers and noncommissioned officers. The Army was able to outflank the Seminoles and caused them to break off the battle. In the engagement, the army suffered 26 killed and 112 wounded, while the Seminole casualties came to 11 killed and 14 wounded. The battle had lasted a liWhen war with Mexico broke out in 1846, the State of Tennessee issued 179 flintlock Hall rifles to its troops leaving for the front. Company 'E' of the 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteers was issued Hall rifles with bayonets. The company was dismounted and acted as infantry. The 1st was attached to Kearny's Army of the West and saw field service at Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1848, the Regulars were issued 88 Hall rifles. In Mexico a few percussion Model 1841 Hall rifles were in the hands of Captain Enock Steen's Company 'E', 1st Dragoons, while most of his company had Hall carbines. At Buena Vista, Captain Steen saw a Mexican officer watching the Dragoons positions from a distance. He called for the company's best shot who went forward to get a shot at the officer. At 400 yards, the solider fired at the Mexican officer with a percussion Hall rifle. The officer was history. After the war, the Dragoons maintained one percussion one percussion Hall rifle per company for hunting purposes." - McAulay.

"Hall rifles were not very much favored by troops, this in spite of their manifest superiority over muzzle loaders, from the standpoints of speed and facility of loading, particularly in 'constrained positions,' other than standing, and from the important advantage of safety from overloading, a common fault in the use of muzzle-loaders under excitement and strain of combat. The primary cause of disfavor, other than the traditional conservatism of the military accustomed to muzzle-loading arms, was the considerable gas leakage at the breech, disconcerting the firer. There was also some loss of powder due to this cause. The muzzle velocity was some hundreds feet per second lower than Model 1814 and 1817 rifles, due to this gas escape." - Gluckman

"The 2,000 rifles manufactured between 1824 and 1826 (Type I) are distinguished by having their barrel bands retained by band springs on the right side of the stock. The balance of production (17,680) made between 1828 and 1840, have pins driven through the bands and the stock, distinguishing Type II production. Many of these rifles were altered to percussion just before and in the early months of the American Civil War." - Schwing

"While European gunmakers experimented and produced various individual breechloaders, there was little demand to encourage progress. The chief inhibitor was a lack of flash prevention at the breech. Even the breechloader invented by Colonel John Hall of Maine in 1811 suffered from this defect to some extent, though it enjoyed a moderate success. In the Hall, a separate section at the rear of the barrel was pivoted up by a lever for charging with powder and bullet, lowered and locked, and the flintlock primed. Two thousand were produced in the Model 1819, more later, some in percussion-lock. Many were used in the Seminole War of 1827 and later in the Mexican War. The first model was flint-lock; later ones percussion." - Barry E. Thompson, Man At Arms, March/April 1980.

References:
Fuller, Claud E. THE BREECH-LOADER IN THE SERVICE. 1816-1917. N. Flayderman & Co. New Milford, Ct. 1965.
Gluckman, Arcadi. IDENTIFYING OLD U.S. MUSKETS, RIFLES & CARBINES. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1965.
Hartzler, Daniel D. & James B. Whisker. THE SOUTHERN ARSENAL. Old Bedford Village Press. Bedford, Pa. 1996.
McAulay, John D. RIFLES OF THE U.S. ARMY 1861-1906. Andrew Mowbray Inc. Lincoln, R.I. 2003.
Raber, Michael S., Patrick M. Malone, Robert B. Gordon, Carolyn C. Cooper. CONSERVATIVE INNOVATORS AND MILITARY SMALL ARMS: AN INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY, 1794-1968. Raber Associates. South Glastonbury, Ct. 1989.
Schmidt, Peter A. HALL'S MILITARY BREECHLOADERS. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 1996.
Schwing, Ned. 1998 STANDARD CATALOG OF FIREARMS. 8th E

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Salon Parlour Rifle, Zimmerstutzen
By Miller & Val.Greiss, München c1870

The German word Zimmerstutzen roughly translates to “room”, "saloon" or "parlor". Zimmerstutzens were made for indoor target shooting, which was supposedly a very popular pastime in the 19th Century. These 4mm cap-powered firearms are considered by many to be the forerunner of target air rifles.

This elaborately embellished Zimmerstutzen is approximately 41” x 14” x 3.5” overall with the sight extended. The barrel is 25.56” long and has a floral silver inlay at the breech and muzzle. The manufacturer's name and city, “MILLER v. VAL. GREISS in MÜNCHEN”, is also inlaid on the barrel in silver.

Zimmerstutzen Rifles:
http://www.pyramydair.com/article/Zimmerstutzen_February_2011/82

Josef Miller and Valentin Greiß:
http://www.damascus-barrels.com/German_Research/miller_and_val_greiss.html

111-0263
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#Zimmerstutzen

The Spanish Adarga (heart-shaped shield)

Unfortunately, unlike most of the items seen here, this one wasn't in my late father's collection, but it is too interesting not to share.

"This heart-shaped shield, or adarga, is composed of two thick layers of rawhide, laced together with narrow thongs. A painted and lace-outlined design of a royal crown surmounting a coat of arms of Spain adorns the shield. The "Pillars of Hercules" represent the Strait of Gibralter, between Spain and Africa. The lion and castle represent the old Spanish kingdoms of Leon and Castilla (Castle), and the central fleur-de-lis stands for the French Bourbon rulers of Spain after 1700. The shield probably belonged to a military officer serving in northern Mexico during the late 1700s. The shield was undoubtedly made and painted by a professional artisan." Excerpt of 1966 Conservation Report of the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/hispanic_period/milframe.html

**

For my friends who are interested in Spanish Colonial History, you might enjoy checking out the ARCHIVES OF ALAMO DE PARRAS at Texas A&M University.

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/archives/archives.html

I find the Weapons and Equipment and Glossary Of Terms particularly interesting.

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/hispanic_period/milframe.html

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/hframe.html

Rough 18th Century Escopeta,
Possibly Spanish Colonial?

This well used Escopeta (Shotgun) has likely seen many repairs and modifications over its long and active life. The stock appears to have been cut down and adapted to accommodate a replacement barrel. The miquelet lock likely belongs to the stock, but it looks to have been modified to use percussion caps, probably in the first half of the 19th century.

111-0346
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#Miquelet
#Flintlock
#Percussion

St. Augustine Excavated Spanish Morion Or Cabasset

A Morion is a type of open helmet used from the middle 16th to early 17th centuries, usually having a flat brim and a crest from front to back. Cabasset may be a more accurate term for this helmet because it lacks the large comb often associated with Morions. The stalk-like projection on the top resembled a pear stalk from which the name Cabasset is derived.

This helmet was excavated on St. Augustine Florida's Anastasia Island near the Alligator Farm in the early 1960's. The man who found it patched the holes and painted it, then wore it for years in the St. Augustine Easter Parade. When my father, F.E. (Jack) Williams, spotted it he offered to purchase it, then did his best to return the helmet to its as found condition. 

Battle Of Loxahatchee Reenactment

Congratulation to the Loxahatchee Battlefield Preservationists, all of the reenactors, and the Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation Department! I can't imagine how the event today could have gone better.

The Battle Of Loxahatchee was the last large engagement of the Second Seminole War. It occurred near Jupiter Florida, at today's Loxahatchee Battlefield Park, on January 24, 1838. Taken together, the Seminole Wars were the longest, most deadly and expensive Indian Wars in United States history.

From October through May the Loxahatchee Battlefield Preservationists conducts free guided tours of the Battlefield every Saturday at 10 am. More information is available here:

http://www.loxahatcheebattlefield.com/
https://goo.gl/maps/rfVmapfwBGo #LoveFL