The Ones That Didn’t Get Away

The Ones That Didn’t Get Away

I’m A.D.D. in the extreme. Have been all my life. If you’ve ever been associated with someone who has attention deficit, it can be a real “trip.” One idea births another idea and that one sprouts two more. Pretty soon, ideas seem to be coming rapid-fire and life...

Colonel Colt and His Pistols

Colonel Colt and His Pistols

For nearly two centuries, Samuel Colt's firearms have been changing the course of history. And the legacy lives on. By all indications, he never should have succeeded in life, and if he had listened to what others told him, the name of Samuel Colt would probably be...

The Legacy of James Purdey & Sons

The Legacy of James Purdey & Sons

In the long and storied history of gunmaking, there is no name more renowned than that of James Purdey. His rise to fame began 200 years ago, give or take, when he opened a small shop at 4 Princes St., Leicester Square, London, for the purpose of making and selling...

Great Writers and Their Guns

Great Writers and Their Guns

If the thought that literary liberals once hungered for London doubles doesn’t fill you with doubt, then read on. Russian author Ivan Turgenev, whose efforts to free the serfs produced the Sportsman’s Sketches, bought a Joseph Lang gun. Ernest Hemingway acquired a...

The Illustrated Gun

The Illustrated Gun

From exquisitely decorated pistols to firearms adorned with precious materials, the world of fine firearms has provided ample opportunity for artistic expression throughout the centuries. In the past, every royal palace in Europe featured a cabinet d’arms  displaying...