About 200 years ago, Americans fought for and declared our independence from Great Britain in 1776. If you’ve seen The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson, you’ll remember how they loaded those muskets from the business end of the rifle. Pour in the powder, ram in the ball and wad. Slow process indeed.
About 100 years later we were fighting each other in the US Civil War. In 1876, soldiers were using rifles like the Sharps breech-loading rifle with paper cartridges loaded from the breech. This is the area just in front of the bore (barrel). So folks were actually loading their firearms from the proper end – I’ll bet that was easier. 😂
Paper cartridges gave way to metal cartridges that are virtually identical to what we use today. We can give credit to Colt and Smith & Wesson (S&W) for creating some fabulous revolvers to use those metal cartridges and establish them as a standard.
The S&W Model 3 was in service at this time. It’s a single-action, top-break revolver. Let’s break that down for those of you who are new to revolvers. Single-action means the trigger performs a SINGLE action on the hammer: it lets it fall. So this pistol needs to be cocked with your thumb before it will fire. Top-break means that just like a shotgun, the gun breaks in half between the stock/grip and the barrel. Neat gun. I have a replica made by Uberti and it’s a blast to shoot.
Sam Colt produced his famous Single Action Army (SAA) about the same time (1873) and it was a great hit. It felt better in the hand and was well made. Loading the Model 3 was faster because it broke open and you could drop in six cartridges at the same time with a speed loader (yep, they had those 150 years ago) while the Colt SAA was one round at a time through the loading gate. I know you’ve seen these in the movies. This is the famous Colt Peacemaker. I also have a replica of this fine pistol from Uberti. I should have bought stock in their company!
I recently acquired a Colt New Army double-action revolver. Double-action means the trigger can perform TWO actions on the hammer. It can simply drop the hammer, like the single-action revolver or it can both cock and drop the hammer, a double-action. Colt provided a provenance letter stating that my Colt was sold to the US Army in a batch of 250 guns delivered in 1900. This is a beautiful handgun with some weathered walnut grips. Having served in the US Army myself, this gun is pretty special to me. It served in our military during both WWI and WWII since the venerable Colt M1911 was in short supply.
Just last month I acquired an old German handgun. It was manufactured in 1916 and used by the German Army during WWI and WWII. Get this: the floor plate of the magazines are made of wood! This gun is the impetus for this article. Georg, pronounced GAY-org, designed this gun based on an earlier model he had helped design with Hugo Borchardt in 1893. Georg’s last name was Luger. This might sound familiar. Georg’s pistol had the now famous “knuckle” joint that went up and down as the gun was fired, instead of a slide going back and forth. I KNOW you’ve seen this gun in every old war movie. This was one of the first successful semi-automatic pistols.
His Parabellum Pistol was adopted by the Swiss Army in 7.65mm (.32 Auto.) The German Navy adopted the Parabellum Pistol in 1904, but the German Army wanted something more robust. So Georg invented the 9mm Parabellum cartridge for his new gun. In 1908 the German Army adopted the Pistole 08 and it remained the standard sidearm until 1938 when Walther’s P38 replaced it. I have an original Walther from 1943 used by the German Luftwaffe.
Luger named the pistol and cartridge “Parabellum” from a Latin phrase common in his day, “si vis pacem parabellum,” meaning, “If you seek peace, prepare for war.” This very same 9mm Parabellum designed by Georg Luger in 1908 is exactly what we’re firing out of our 9mm pistols today! 116 years old, the 9mm Parabellum normally has Georg’s name on the cartridge headstamp. It says, “9mm Luger.”
Next time you open a box of 9mm Luger, pull a cartridge out and look at the head stamp. Smile and say to yourself,” Thanks, Georg.”
To quote Paul Harvey, “And now you know the REST of the story.” 🙂
Shoot safe. Shoot often, and shoot with me!
JoeGLOCK