As you can see, the history of Firearms go back a bit. Say about almost 700 years for the Europeans. Let alone for how far back it was for Asia!
here is some more!
I bet that he didn’t do that twice on purpose or how I discovered recoil MOM!
Even then Folks wanted more firepower!
Thanks for your time! Grumpy
| All American 2000 | |
|---|---|
Polymer framed version of the Colt All American 2000 pistol
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| Type | Semi-automatic pistol |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Reed Knight, Eugene Stoner |
| Designed | 1992 |
| Manufacturer | Colt |
| Produced | 1992-1994 |
| No. built | ~20,000 |
| Variants | Polymer Frame, Aluminum Frame |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | Polymer version 29 oz. Aluminum version 32 oz. |
| Length | 190 mm (7.5 in) |
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| Cartridge | 9×19mm Parabellum |
| Feed system | 15-round Detachable box magazine |
| Sights | Fixed, 3-dot |
The Colt 2000 or All American 2000is a polymer or aluminum-alloy framed, locked-breech, rotary bolt, semiautomatic 9 mm handgun with a magazine capacity of 15 rounds manufactured by Colt.
Designed by C. Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner, it was hoped by Colt that this pistol would recapture their stake in the police market as departments across the United States switched from double-action revolvers to semiautomatic pistols.[1][2][3][4]
However, the pistol was plagued with reports of inaccuracy and unreliability, and is regarded as an embarrassing failure.[5][6]
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The Colt All American 2000 was introduced at the 1990 Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show). It had been a joint venture between Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner of Knight’s Armament over a period of several years. Once the design was handed off to Colt, the two designers had little input regarding the final design.[7]
C. Reed Knight specified that the pistol should have a 6-pound trigger pull. Colt increased this to 12 pounds and extended the barrel and length of the grip frame.[7] The Colt 2000 was made from parts produced by an outside vendor and assembled in the company’s West Hartford facility.
Despite the innovations and bearing the Colt name, the pistol was plagued with reports of inaccuracy and unreliability, and suffered from the poor publicity of having to be recalled in 1993 due to a safety recall.[8] The massive product launch failed and production of the All American 2000 ended in 1994. Colt’s President Ron Whitaker stated that sales volume was not sufficient for production to remain economical.[9]
Colt historian, Rick Sapp, has called the pistol “one of the most embarrassing failures in the company’s history.”[10] Massad Ayoob was particularly critical of the design calling it “sad and ugly with pathetic accuracy”.[11]
The Colt 2000’s internal workings were based on older firearms designs from the early twentieth century.[12] The rotating barrel, for example, was based on that of the Steyr 1912and the roller-locking mechanism was based on a design used by the French Manufacture d’Armes et des Cycles de Saint-Etienne since 1914.[12] These features allow the barrel and slide to work as a unit moving to the rear until the barrel lug rotates into the cam-block and stops. The barrel lugs then align to allow the slide to continue its travel to the rear and extraction and ejection of the spent round occurs. The pistol breaks down into seven major parts for disassembly.[13] Unlike most other polymer-framed handguns, the All-American 2000 had removable grip panels.[14]
An aluminum framed version of the pistol with wooden grips was made in addition to the polymer framed version and both are sought after by collectors of Colt Firearms because of the low numbers produced during their short production run.[13]
The Lebman 1911 Machine Pistol
Texas gunsmith Hyman S. Lehman modified the Model 1907 into what we would now call a “Close Quarters Battle” (CQB) weapon in the early 1930s.
Here is his story By Wiki
Hyman S. Lebman aka Hyman S. Lehman or Hymie Lebman (1903–1990) was a San Antonio, Texas, gunsmith and leather worker. Working out of his saddlery shop and gun store at 111 South Flores Street in San Antonio, Lebman provided specialized and custom made weaponry to several well-known bank robbers and outlaws during the Great Depression.[1][2][3]
United States court documents refer to Lehman as Hyman Saul Lebman.[5] Lebman’s own son, Marvin Lebman, who worked with his father in his gun and saddlery shop from 1937 to 1976, spells his father’s name as Lebman.[4][6]
Born into a prominent Texas family, Hyman Saul Lebman became an accomplished gunsmith and leather worker. During the 1930s, he opened a gun store and saddlery shop at 111 S. Flores Street in San Antonio.[4]
Lebman was frequently asked by his customers to secure unusual weapons, including the Thompson submachine gun built by Colt, which at the time could be ordered through the mail and purchased at gun or hardware stores.
Soon, Lehman began customizing Colt pistols and other small arms, including conversion into fully automatic weapons.[4]
One of his Lebman’s specialties was the “Baby machine gun”, a Colt Model 1911 semi-automatic pistol in .45 Automatic or .38 Super caliber, converted to full-auto fire.
This machine pistol featured an oversized ammunition magazine, a muzzle brake or compensator, and a fore grip adapted from the more familiar Thompson submachine gun.[1][2][3]
Lebman’s son Marvin described his father’s development of the Colt “machine pistol” concept:
Lebman continued to sell his machine pistols and other automatic weapons until the passage of the National Firearms Act in 1934.
When Chicago bootlegger Roger “The Terrible” Touhy was arrested in Wisconsin on July 19, 1933, one of Lebman’s “baby machine guns” was found in his car. Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, and several known associates of the Dillinger gang were also customers.[6]
A full-auto Lebman Colt belonging to Dillinger was found at one of his hideouts in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 31, 1934, as well as one left behind at the Little Bohemia Lodge three weeks later.[1][2][3]
His most famous customer was perhaps Baby Face Nelson, whose earliest known purchase of weapons from Lehman occurred while visiting San Antonio in early 1933.
Lebman, who always maintained that he knew nothing of his customers’ gangster connections, did business with Nelson and the Dillinger gang for another year and a half.[4]
In November 1933, Lebman had Baby Face Nelson, Nelson’s wife, and Nelson’s henchman Homer Van Meter at his home for Thanksgiving.
Less than two weeks later, Tommy Carroll was sent by Nelson to pick up a shipment from Lebman. Carroll was forced to turn back upon reaching San Antonio when, on February 11, 1934, he shot and killed Detective H.C. Perrow.[1][2][3]
A month later, Nelson used one of his special automatics to kill federal agent W. Carter Baum and seriously wound two others during the shootout with authorities at the Little Bohemia Lodge on April 22.
Although this gun was never recovered, the FBI were able to trace the gun left behind by Dillinger by its serial number to the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut.
From there, authorities followed the trail to a large Fort Worth pawn shop and firearms distributor, Wolfe & Klar, who sold the unmodified weapon to Hyman Lebman.
There was no federal law against civilian ownership or manufacturing of machine guns at that time, and the National Firearms Act was passed only a few weeks later.
Prosecutors did consider charging Lebman with possession of a .45 pistol given to him by another gangster that was later traced as stolen from a U.S. military armory, but could never establish that Lebman knew of the gun’s actual origin.[1][2][3]
Ironically, by furnishing the FBI with a trail of traceable and unusual weapons, Lebman’s activities contributed to the eventual downfall of Nelson and several other gangsters.[4]
Lebman continued to face legal problems. He was tried for violation of a Texas state law passed in October 1933, which restricted possession of machine guns. Lebman was initially convicted of violating that law in 1935 and sentenced to five years imprisonment.
He later won an appeal and his second trial resulted in a jury deadlock, and Lebman never served a day in prison.[6]
Federal prosecutors suspected jury tampering in the retrial, specifically with the lone holdout juror, but were never able to offer any evidence to support their suspicions.
Despite a five-year effort to reopen the case, the Texas state attorney refused to hold a third trial. The case was eventually dismissed in 1941.[3]
In 1976, after developing Alzheimer’s disease, Lebman retired from gunsmithing and stopped selling firearms, reportedly after pressure from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.[4][7] Lebman died in 1990.
Lebman’s son Marvin continued to sell custom leather boots, saddles, and Western wear from the Flores Street shop until the shop closed for good in 1995.[1][2][4]
Merwin, Hulbert & Co. were not manufacturers or makers of guns. There were a group of New York City gun and sporting goods dealers who had a major interest in Hopkins & Allen Firearms of Connecticut and had Hopkins & Allen make guns for them under their own name.
Sometimes they sold guns marked with the Hopkins & Allen name, and some guns were marked with both names, but all were made by Hopkins & Allen in Connecticut.
This is a Large Frame 1st Model Single Action revolver chambered in .44 Merwin & Hulbert (the case on this cartridge is smaller in diameter than that used on a .44 Russian, and is similar but shorter than a .44 S&W American). The 1st Model differs from the 2nd Model in that it has scooped cylinders and a side plate, while the 2nd Model doesn’t have a side plate and has a shorter cylinder bolt.
The 1st Models are rare, having been made from 1876 to in or around 1878, when the 2nd Model was introduced. This revolver was likely made in either 1877 or 1878 (due to its 1877 patent markings on the barrel). This revolver was made with Merwin Hulbert proprietary chrome finish and sports bone grips that have attained a great looking yellow color with age.
The revolver is in about Good condition with a gray bore and light wear in the rifling. The action is great for this style revolver, with very little play in the barrel lockup.
Although revolvers made by Hopkins & Allen were not normally considered high quality, the Large Frame Single Action revolvers were considered to be on a par or better than revolvers made by Smith & Wesson at the time, and the chrome finish that Hopkins & Allen achieved was second to none.
The tolerances held in manufacturing these pistols were so tight that loaded cartridges would stay in the cylinder when the barrel was pulled forwards while only the empty cartridges were ejected.
Several infamous gunfighters, outlaws and lawmen used Merwin & Hulbert revolvers, including Jesse James, Pat Garrett, Pearl Hart, Bob Dalton and Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, attesting to the reliability of these revolvers.
One strange looking survivor from the past!
I bet that this was a surprise to somebody at one time or another!
