The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-07
The Various Changes That Have
Been Made During the Last
Few Years.
Dueling Pistols Were Once tho
Pride and Protection of Chiv-
alrous Gentlemen.
D~erringers and Pepper. Box es-PrOgrea
of the Revolver TOward-CrAck
Shots OF the Present.

firearms that will give you an idea OF some
of the changes that have been made since
have betn dealing in them"
Tho speaker was 4 local dealer in fire
arms. He led the New York News reporter
into a part of his establishment that SCENE
to be set apart for pistols and revolvers OF
all sizes and styles.
Some Of the pistols were of a pattern pop.
ular many years ago. For instance, there
was the derringer that one hardly ever sees
in use nowadays, and near them were a few
old pepper bo1es' and. an exhibit Of lonc
single-barreled dueling pistols. These
showed somewhat in contrast with the
modern target pistols, the heavy army re-
volver, and the bright nickel-plated toys
that are so popular with the general public,
and that manage to do a good deal of mis-
chief, as the police can tell you.
1--WE have on hand" said the dealer,
s'specimens that will show the changes in
the style of shooting irons for the past
forty years, and they have been not a few,
I assure you.
Some forty years ago. continued the
gun-maker, ''men were very MUCK given to
meeting on the dueling field, and in those
days of pistols and Coffee and all that,
makers of shooting arms used to be called
upon to turn out some very fancy and ex-
pensive work. There WAS many a southern
gentleman in those days who valued his case
of dueling pistols above his favorite saddle
horse, which was not strange, since his life
sometimes depended upon the trusness of
his weapon. His pistols were made for him,
and he never hagglsd over the price,"
Here the dealer opened a case near at
hand and tool out . pair of old-time duel
ing pistols. They we're single-barreled and
the barrel of zach was a foot long, tho
bore being about half Al inch in diameter.
The whole Of the weapons, barrels, stocks,
On the stock of each was a horn projecting
SO that it would separate the thumb from
the rest of the hand and keep the pistol
from jumping up when held. Altogether
the pistols we're formidable. In the case
That held them was a circle of steel used
for cutting patches for the round ball used,
and there were also bullet moulds, a pow
der flask, and caps, making up a full duel
ing outfit.
"That outfit cost a good deal Of money
when it was made, bnt it would not sell
very high now" said the gunmaker, "ex-
sports have their case of duelinR pistols as
their fathers had. But that is more a fad
than anything else. Many Of them keep
the outfits that their fathers left them as
heirlooms, and pretty curious affairs they
are too. But when dueling declined, why
You see they are too long and unwieldy to
carry about, and q smaller and more oom-
pact instruments had to be devised. In tar
get shooting the dusling pistol held its pop
ularity for some time. bat it had to give
way to more modern instruments
Tho urr 1nolor O~oip ~~Dl-On| n v1on~~
shat had its time Of great popularity. It
WAS a short, ugly looking instrument, with
two barrels, one alongside of the other, on
the plan of a double barrelei shotgun. 1t
was a flint-lock, too, OF an old make. The
flash pans were on top of the barrels, which
were of bronze, and the whole of tho Weap-
on was carefully engraved.
That is the style of the old derringer,"
said the gun dealer, but it is not at all the
best style. There were others that were
better and more popular. Perhaps the sin
gle-barreled derringer was the most in
was. 1t shared honors with the bowie knife
at the time when gambling ran 80 high on
tho Mississippi river steamboats,, and many
a wicked fight it figured in, too. Later
they brought out double-barreled derring-
ers with one barrel on top of the other.
derringer held its own up to and
during the war in spite Of the introduce
ton of the revolver and the enterprise
with which 1t was used. One very wicked
form of q derringer came out during the
war. 1t was a three-barreled weapon. with
the barrels arranged vertically one above
the other. A bowie knife could be slid out
beyond the muZzles when required. So if a
man was cornered with his gun empty he
was still sure of having a substantial knife
in his hand.
1.-The improved revolver in the end drove
I'm 100. e A.. IL ID.
very few of them are made, tho demand for
them being from places remote from New
York. Yet, in it's time, in the days of des-
perate hand to han encounters, it was
probably as good a weapon as could have
been had.
1T is somewhat strange" continued the
man of shooting-iron knowledge, 'how
slowly the revolver became popular, when
you look at the rsvolvers We are making
now. The reason for it was that the gun
makers would turn out heavy, cast-iron
affairs that were too clumsy to be carried
about. Then. i'll the early days it was slow
work loading the cylinders with powder and
ball. Then the metal cartridge came and
revolutinized the business. A number of
tlrst-claGs firms that are still in the bust
ness started TO make light, efficient wea pons
and they succeeded. Since that time they
have gone on improving, until they are
turning out relvovers that are we'll nigh
perfect. We are making the best revolvers
in tho world now, / think, whether Of the
heavy kind used in the army, or of the
light pattern that can be carried in your
hip pocket"
What is the popular weapon among our
New York crack shots in target works. the
gun dealer was asked.
1T is a long barleled target pistol, very
much like the dueling pistol that was used
before tho war;" was the reply.
For a time after the war revolvers were
generally used in target practice. But some
how they were not exactly what was wanted.
So some of tho makers of firearms set to
work and introduced n s~ingle-barreled
weapon that speedily became popular. 1t
was very like the old dueling pistol both in
size and weight, but it was made to use a
cartridge; the other did not. The weapons
were found to be very accurate in the hands
of n good shot: the cartridges were compare
lively cheap, and the whole weapon efficient
and trustworthy.
80 with some improvements it has held
Its own. and is likely to with the experts.
In fact. l am told that this style of pistol is
likely to be found useful in tho hunting
fields. or course, il can only be used on
small game and by skilled shots, but men
of that class take more pride in bringiny
down game with such a shooting
iron than with \ small cannon or n shot
gun. 1t would be evidence of their clever
ness.
'Of course there are mighty few men
skilled enough to kill n partridge with n
weapon of this kind. But there ara those
who can do 1t, and the number il likely
TO increase. or course, pot-huntcra will