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This feature article, “I Have This Old Gun,” appeared originally in the November 2005 issue of American Rifleman. To subscribe to the magazine, visit the NRA membership page and select American Rifleman as your member magazine.
Left: NRA Antique Very Good—10%-20% receiver case colors. Right: NRA Antique Excellent—80%-90% receiver case colors
These three images (above) actually represent two Model 1890 slide-action rifles in different condition factors.
Model 1890 fans will immediately recognize these guns as Second Models with the takedown screw visible on back of the case-colored receiver. While manufactured only two years apart (1896 and 1898), there is a huge difference in values, based on the original condition factors. The rifle at the top of the page with the corresponding close-up image on the left has very few original receiver case colors left, having mostly worn and faded with a few traces of original finish remaining. Observe finish wear on the sharp edges of barrel, including wrench marks, and how the color of the stock varies, probably indicating sanding and possible refinishing.
The close-up image on the right is a different Model 1890 in much better condition. The color-casehardening of steel or iron parts is achieved by baking the selected gun parts at more than 800 degrees Celsius, while packed tightly in a charcoal and bonemeal mixture. Once the necessary temperature has been reached, the individual components are removed from the baking crucible and quenched with cold water.
The resulting finish is very thin, but as you can see from this gun, very colorful. Superior original case colors (note the vivid blue, green and brown swirling colors) remain on the receiver, trigger guard and hammer. Also observe the near-perfect bluing and lack of finish edge wear on the barrel, slide and magazine tube.
Even though almost 850,000 Model 1890 rifles in various .22 rimfire calibers were manufactured between 1890 and 1932 (retail was $16 until 1917), only a handful remain in this type of superior original condition. Most were heavily used and possibly abused, like the one on the left. Moral to the story: most common guns are not rare. Rather, superior original condition is rare, desirable—and expensive!
—S.P. Fjestad
Once again, the Second Amendment debate is front and center in the news. Whenever people violate the rules of human decency, exposing foundational flaws in our society even a turnip knows will never be fixed with some new law, people scream for action. “Just do something!”
Predictably, the “do something” drumbeat points to proposed new gun laws and a challenge to the Second Amendment in principle. Then the pontificating begins (from those who’ve not read seven syllables of writings by our country’s founders) with, let’s say, creative and again predictable, hot takes.
“The founders never envisioned fully semi-automatic weapons.”
“The founders weren’t okay with people going out and buying cannons.”
And my personal favorite: “The Second Amendment itself says guns are supposed to be ‘well regulated’ so the founders clearly understood, and welcomed, government control over firearms usage and ownership.”
Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
What The Term Really Means
Being in the words business, we at least make an effort to understand the correct meaning and context of important terms. While the phrase “well regulated” sounds like a demand for government intervention to today’s gun-control advocates, it doesn’t take much effort to understand what the term really means.
“Remember, the thinking of the day was exactly the opposite — the government should have little if any control over much of anything related to the individual.”
Much of the angst related to the “regulated” clause stems from the natural evolution of terminology over the years. The way we use words, even the same words, changes over the long haul. Consider …
You used to get “sick” with the flu, or maybe a mild case of irritable bunion syndrome. Or you might get “sick” of someone, like Justin Bieber. However, in today’s vernacular, cool things like cars, video games and half-pipe snowboard tricks are “sick.” This particular word hasn’t just evolved, it’s taken on an opposite meaning.
Once upon a name, “dick” was either a proper name or a synonym for detective. If you called someone “Dick,” you wouldn’t get punched in the face, unless the “dick” caught you robbing a bank.
As for “well regulated,” you might think of it in terms of “properly functioning,” like a finely tuned watch. The word “regulated” had nothing to do with governmental control or oversight. It doesn’t require much intellectual horsepower to remember all those guys sporting wigs and ponytails just finished fighting a war to get out from under the thumb of government regulation. Can anyone really believe the very first post-war action was to say, “Hey, we ought to make sure the new federal government has vast regulatory power over individual rights?”
Remember, the thinking of the day was exactly the opposite — the government should have little if any control over much of anything related to the individual. Who do you think provided all the cannons used by the Colonial Army? That’s right, many were privately owned.
While today we use “regulated” most frequently to mean “controlled,” the word still occasionally serves in its original capacity. Consider those Activia yogurt commercials pitched by Jamie Lee Curtis. She claims it keeps you “well regulated.” Does this really mean government maintains oversight of your … well, you get the idea.
