The 1886 Winchester model rifle has become the most expensive single gun ever to be sold at an auction. At a price tag of $1.265 million, the Rock Island Auction Company in Illinois, the gun remains in prime condition even at 130 years old. The price is justified because of the rich history it comes with.
This rifle was given as a gift to Captain Henry Ware Lawton who capture Apache leader Geronimo in 1886. The captain’s friend, and ‘brother-in-arms during the Civil War’, Lieutenant George E Albee (who was working for Winchester guns at the time) gifted this gun to him as a token of appreciation for his achievement.
Capturing Geronimo was on top priority for the American and Mexican authorities at the time and this feat was hence considered one of remarkable value.
The rifle is also a pioneer in setting standards among others worldwide, in addition to its easy lever action that offered ‘unprecedented stability and power.’ It is a collector’s treasure, no doubt. Did you know that there is a tradition of yelling ‘geronimo’ while jumping off a plane, and even that comes this spirited Apache leader?
Apparently, sometime in the 1940s during a feasibility study by the US army on soldiers parachuting from airplanes, one Private decided to use this name in play of dare with his fellow soldiers. He was teased that he would forget his own name after jumping the airplane. and to prove that he wouldn’t, he announced that he would yell ‘Geronimo’. The name stuck, and became an official usage in the ‘501st Parachute Infantry Battalion in 1941, which was the first combat ready parachute unit, they put “Geronimo” on their insignia and most of the troops would yell it as they jumped from the planes’.
READ: Antiquorum to put rare and antique timepieces under the hammer
And the word Geronimo itself was put by Mexican soldiers who were trying to capture the invincible Native American who fought them all single handedly using just a knife for defence. The soldiers cried out to their Saint Jerome for help. And hence. Stories and stories, are what becomes us humans, aren’t they?
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Now there is a man who always been a Stud
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N.S.F.W.- Picture Dump
This is when those classes on Escape & Evasion might come in handy! Grumpy
New Cartridge for 2021: 6.8 Western
Forgive me, but I thought that one of the teaching points we got from all the “short magnum” cartridges of a couple decades ago was that these squashed little cartridge cases can cause feeding problems? Or have there been developments in feeding ramps which I missed and that take these problems away?
Regardless, I can confidently predict that this new thing is doomed to failure, because if serious shooters like me can’t get their hands on their favorite .260 Rem, 6.5x55mm, .270 Win or even 6.5mm Grendel and 7x57mm — actually, cartridges of any description — what makes the Brains Trust [sic] at Winchester think that we’re going to run out and buy a new rifle for a new cartridge that has an uncertain heritage?
Pro tip for the ammo guys: get more existing ammo types into the pipeline first — yeah, I’ve heard your excuses for the shortages, and I only half-buy them — before you start fucking around with exotic new ones.
And frankly, I fail to see how much better the 6.8 Western is going to be than any of the cartridges I listed above — and Chuck Hawks would probably agree with me.
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