Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-07
SMALL ARMS DISPLAY
AT NATIONAL MUSEUM
Specimens of Weapons From Various
Foreign Countries in the
Collection.
Earliest Form of Hand Gun Classed
as Crude Affair''-Ancient
Flint Lock Exhibited.

Flint Lock EXhi blted.
1 Specimens Of military and other
, forms of firearms from England,
| France, Russia. Japan, Germany and
many other countries are now to be
seen in the small arms exhibition of the
United States National Museum. The
| exhibit includes some HOO individual
pieces and probably comprises the
best general collection in the United
States. considering that there are rep
resented examples of military rifles,
| pistols and revolvers, sporting shot
guns and rifles. target rifles and pis-
| tolls and numerous odd and unusual
pieces relating to the development of
| firearms.
| Although the discovery of gunpowder
is attributed by some to China, there
| is no positive evidence that the Chi
nese ever made use of it. At an early
period they produced certain kinds Of
| fireworks. accounts of which came
| through Persia, Egypt and the Moorish
countries in southern Europe. but gun
powder for use in firearms. it is be-
| lieved, originated in Italy. Spain Or
Germany. While cannon of a sort were
built in the early part of the fourteenth
! century, hand firearms were slow to
| be adopted on account Of their unfe
1891 that they are known to have ap
| peared i'll Germany. while Europe in
general did not take them UP until
! the middle of the fifteenth century.
Earliest Hand Gun.
/ The earliest form of hand gun was 3
! crude affair fired by the applicat ton
of burning match to the touchhole
The first improvement was the mount
ing Of the match on a springless lock
or cock. which cater, upon the addi-
ton of a spring, became known as
the matchbox. Examples Of this early
weapon from India. China. Afghanis-
| tan, Japan, Formosa, Arabia, Morocco
and Mexico are in the museum col
/ lection.
| The next development was.the wheel
lock gun. about 1915 or 1917, fired by
spark struck on Jyrites by a rough
ened wheel revOlved by a spring Speci-
mems of this type of gu and pistol
from Greece, Germany and England
are also to be seen in the museum ex-
| hibit.
! form OF fintlock. called the snap
haunce, followed in 1870 This substitute
ed. in place of the wheel a lock, which
held in it's jaws a piece of pyrites. and
when released hit the cover of the pan
striking Il spark which ignited the charge
! OF powder. A pair of pistols of this type
! from Constantinople illustrate the prin-
| cipe well Further improvements in the
! Snapllaunce resulted in the fiintlock gun
| in which piece OF flint replaced the
| py-riteS Examples of this style are more
| common and some sixty are included in
the museum collections. representing
| nearly every country, and well fllustrat-
ing the various changes and improve
mentS made.
Breech-Loading Pattern
| One OF the most Interesting and VAL
liable arms in the collection is the John
! Cookson fintlock breech- loading nlaga-
! zine gun made in 1856, which las a mag
azine in the stock capable Of holding ten
| rounds OF loose powder and bullets One
NOV ement of Il lever feeds the ammuni-
| ton into the barrel cocks the hammer
and primes the pan. In spite Of the Eng
| fish name of the maker, this odd piece
is believed to be of Spanish origin on &C
count of its general type and the style
of it's decoration. 1t was probably
brought to Maryland by the early Eng
fish colonists; at least it was found in
Baltimore and conf1scated in 1863, and
held by the government until 1867. when
it was thrown away. In 1883 it was pur-
| chased Tor a small sum and put in It's
present perfect condition by a gunsmith
Of Baltimore, from whom it was secured
| by an American collector and presented
| to the museum.
! From a military point of view, the
| design of this gun evidences great ad-
vance of it's time, for, with the maya
zine charging appurtenance. ten shots
could be fired in but little more time
| than is required with a modern maya
zine gun. Altogether. the antiquity.
design, workmanship and beauty Of
this gun makes 1t most valuabl and
| RENAL kab BILE relic.
| The collection also contains several
pill-lock. and the percussion cap guns.
which followed the f1int-lock, and the
Prussian needle gun. and the French
Chassepot, which appeared somewhat
| later.
The development of the gun and am
munition in the United States is we'll
| illustrated by series of historical
cases showing the types used in the
| succeeding wars from the French and
| Indian TO the war with Spain, thus
(, connecting closely history and inven-
ton.
Foreign Makes.
While many foreign guns are repre-
scented. they are not all OF the latest
patent, or of the type now in use in
the European war. In the case of our
military rifle, however, the latest de-
velopments are shown and it is interest
orally known as the 1903 model, though
it has been improved upon since, is to be
found in three separate series. the target,
game and military, showing that it is
suitable, with different sorts of ammuni-
ton to many uses.
| Some of the museum specimens are the
donation of individuals, others are from
American manufacturers, the War and
Navy departments and the patent of1ee.
The collections from the government de-