On a visit to Constantinople, Samuel Colt gave a custom gold inlaid revolver to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and informed him that the Russians were buying his pistols. The Turkish ordered 5,000 pistols. Colt neglected to tell the Sultan that he had used the same tactic with the Russians.
guns
In the Wild West, it was most…
In the Wild West, it was most common for 6-shot revolvers to only be loaded with 5 rounds (the ‘Cowboy Load’). A live bullet in the chamber below the hammer of a 19th century single-action revolver can be set off with a sharp knock, hence it was not desirable to carry one fully loaded.
According to secret service agents…
According to secret service agents, Ronald Reagan carried a pistol in his briefcase when he was president, “just in case you guys can’t do the job, I can help out”. Reagan acquired a pocket sized pistol after college in the 1930s “and kept it lovingly the rest of his life”.
According to Texas Bankruptcy…
According to Texas Bankruptcy laws, you can keep 1 house, 1 car, 1k use limit in bank account, a bible or other religious text, and 2 guns.
David “Carbine” Williams…
David “Carbine” Williams, who helped invent the M1 Carbine, was a convicted murderer and created innovative gun ideas while in jail. He was convicted of the shooting of a sheriff who busted his illegal moonshine still. He was released after his family argued his inventions could help America.
The CIA has a “Heart Attack Gun…
The CIA has a “Heart Attack Gun”. The gun would shoot a dissolving dart that would cause what appeared to be a natural heart attack. The dart would only leave a small red dot and the poison would denature so quickly, it would unlikely be discovered in autopsy.
In the civil war, the commander…
In the civil war, the commander of the Union “lightning brigade” personally took out a loan to buy his soldiers advanced new repeating rifles because the government would not supply them. Using the firepower advantage afforded by the new rifles, his brigade proved extremely effective in combat.
The WWII era B-29 bomber…
The WWII era B-29 bomber didn’t require fighter escorts because it had a computer aided gunnery systems that allowed incredible firing accuracy against attackers. One B-29 was attacked by 79 fighters at once, but was able to fight them off and down 7 of them in the process.
During combat, a US Marine…
During combat, a US Marine’s rifle jammed, so he called customer service to help him fix it.
In 1917 you could order…
In 1917 you could order a belt-fed machine gun from a Sears catalog: “Machine guns are used largely by police organizations, home guards and municipalities in case of riots.”
During the WW1 Germans protested against the use of shotguns…
During the WW1 Germans protested against the use of shotguns in trenches by the Americans arguing Hague Convention forbid to employ arms that cause unnecessary suffering.
In Japan, you are equally likely to die from being…
In Japan, you are equally likely to die from being struck by lightning as you are from being shot by a gun.