The Penn's Grove record., 1892-09-23
NUMBER 9.
A VERY OLD GUN.


- A8Rtathhk AHe - S~ AS1' 49,
Nearly Two Hundred Yesrs Ago.
DR.. J. W. Moore, Of the Holekamp,
| Grady g. Moore Instrument Company.
Is the possessor Of a a old relic
! which he has on exhibition In his Of
fee on Olive street, between Ninth
and Tenth. It Is a fiintiock rifle
made In ITO. The rifle is a curious
looking contrlvance. Its smooth-bore
barrel is nearly three feet long, and IL
encircled with rings which have BEEF
dipped In gold, and the gold plate
still clings to the iron in scraps. The
| oldest part Of the gun is the cylinder.
This Is composed of six chambers,
each about half an inch deep. But
the cylinder does not revolve auto
matically when the trigger Is pulled.
In order to move it around the hand
Ter has to raise a sharp piece Of iron
that holds the stock to the barrel
through the rings previouslydescribed,
and then with his hand twist the
cylinder into the desired position. 1t
is perhaps the first chambered gun
ever made, and is probably the origi-
| nal from which has evolved the Colts
revolver and Winchester rife. There
is no woodwork about the gun except
the butt. 1t Is made entirely OF coarse
primitive looking iron. Its weight is,
therefore, something s~tupendous
when compared to modern guns.
The loads were evidently placed In
the chambers without shells, and the
| loading must have been done with an
improvised ramrod, as no groove marks
the location Of the ramrod, as is al
! ways the case with old guns. DIR.
Moore purchased the rifle some time
ago from a Texan who had started to
| Chicago with it to sell 1t to a curic
dealer collecting material for an ex-
hibit at the Worlds Fair. The Texan
said he had excavated 1t from this
ruins of an old Spanish fort on Red
| River near GAINESVILLE, Texas. The
| figures "1710" are sunk 10 the barrel
just aboYe the hammer, and these
figures are presumed to indicate the
year In which the gun was made. DR..
Moore prizes 1t very highly, as he
thinks 1t is the only n 10 existence,
unless others be buried in the ruined
| Spanish fort where this was found,
though extensive excavation has
failed to reveal them. 1t must have
been considered an exceptionally val
liable weapon in its day and far in
advance of the guns Of that time, as
it was evidently the first repeating
rifle aver made. The butt is roughly
hewn out Of black walnut and Is
strongly riveted to the frame with
iron bolts. 1t requires the entire
| strength of one hand to cock the
hammer, and 1t takes a strong finger
to pull the trigger, though perhaps
| the hardy pioneer who used 1t to kill
maraudlng Indians could handle the
hammer and the trigger as easily as
can the modern amateur sportsman
his delicately constructed breech-
l)ader. II the gun shot a ball 1t
must have been larger than any bull
let now made, and If the missile OF
death which vas forced through the
long barrel was a load of shot or slugs
1t must have swept a broad territory,
for the bore of the barrel is so large
as to cause a great scattering OF the
contents of the load. The rebound
| of the gun must have been something
| terrific, and would have doubtless
knocked the shoulder out of place OF
any but the most experienced marks
mar of the pioneer days.-St Louis
Globe Democrat.