Gordon's Gun Closet

It was Talk Like a Pirate Day this week here in the USA. ‘Tis a silly day, but we thought that since the latest episode of The History Files (#90) was also about pirates, we’d better do a companion show here at the gun closet. Special thanks to friend of the show Jim Wingren for indulging my request for a children’s show type stinger at the top of the episode. Show notes and links: The History Files #90: Pirates (csicon.fm) Ketland Officer’s Fusil (middlesexvillagetrading.com) Swivel gun  (infogalactic.com) “Boarders Away” by James Gilkerson  (amazon.com) Forgotten Weapons (youtube.com) InRangeTV (youtube.com)

Movie gun review time! The Western has seen a resurgence in recent years, and Appaloosa (2008) is one of the better ones. Starring (and directed by) Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, and Renée Zellweger, it’s a buddy-picture with heart and probably one of the best westerns ever made. It also displays a perfect collection of firearms that are, thanks to the actors and the armorer, handled expertly by all involved.   Show notes and links: Project Appleseed (appleseedinfo.org) 7 Witches (2017) (imdb.com) Appaloosa (2008) (imdb.com) Appaloosa – Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb.org)

Movie gun review time! The Western has seen a resurgence in recent years, and Appaloosa (2008) is one of the better ones. Starring (and directed by) Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, and Renée Zellweger, it’s a buddy-picture with heart and probably one of the best westerns ever made. It also displays a perfect collection of firearms that are, thanks to the actors and the armorer, handled expertly by all involved. Show notes and links: Project Appleseed (appleseedinfo.org) 7 Witches (2017) (imdb.com) Appaloosa (2008) (imdb.com) Appaloosa – Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb.org)

The Glock: it might not be pretty, it might not be a classic, but it’s reliable, safe, and it gets the job done. It’s one of the most popular handguns to come out of the 20th century, and we’re here to talk about it. Show notes and links: Western Front Artillery At The Outbreak of World War 1  (youtu.be) The Glock (infogalactic.com) Roth Steyr in a match: Forgotten Weapons Full-auto Glock: FPSRussia

The main segment of this episode was recorded at the 2017 Victorian Heritage Festival in Port Townsend, WA. As a field recording, the sound is a bit wonky, but we hope you enjoy Gordon’s talk on Victorian Military Firearms. There will be a video version of this on our YouTube channel, so be sure and subscribe to the Bad Cat Productions channel and never miss a new episode. Show notes and links: Victorian Heritage Festival, Pt. Townsend, WA (vicfest.org) Bad Cat Productions – YouTube (youtube.com)

He’s the archaeologist with the fedora, the leather jacket, and the whip. He’s the professor I wish I’d had in college, and he knows how to use a gun. He’s everybody’s favorite ophidiophobe… Indiana Jones. It’s a topic so awesome we had to bring in specialist Steve Pelikan to help save us from all the Nazis, face-melting artifacts, and bad prop RPGs. Show notes and links: Wheellock 101: History and Shooting (Forgotten Weapons) Movieing On #122: Raiders of the Lost Ark (csicon.fm) Indiana Jones – Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb.org) IndyGear.com 

He’s big, he’s out for vengeance, and he lets his guns do the talking. He’s the outlaw Josey Wales, the subject of a glorious 1976 Clint Eastwood western, and he’s the subject of today’s movie gun rundown. Spoiler: there are lots of Colts. Show notes and links: Slam Fire Radio – A Canadian Firearms Podcast (slamfireradio.com) Movieing On #229: The Outlaw Josey Wales (csicon.fm) Outlaw Josey Wales, The – Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb.org)

The 18th century was the era of slow muzzle-loading rifles… until Patrick Ferguson came along with his revolutionary (pun intended) breech-loading mechanism. Even though it never really caught on, it paved the way for future developments. In this episode, we take a look at his amazing rifle. Show notes and links: The History Files episode 83: Andrew Jackson (csicon.fm) Forgotten Weapons: Ferguson Breechloading Flintlock (youtube.com) Ferguson rifle Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Durs Egg

Recorded live at the Watson Washington convention on October 22, 2016 (not the 15th as mentioned in the outro). All about the kinds of firearms Dr. John Watson might have carried in his literary adventures with Sherlock Holmes, and some actually carried in film and television incarnations. Show notes and links: The History Files #73: Westworld (csicon.fm) Pumpkin Killing Methods VII (Hickock45) A Gallery of Gunfighters: Eugene Cunningham (amazon.com) Sherlock-Seattle (sherlock-seattle.org) Bat Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

Get out your six-guns for part two of our look at real gunfighters like John Wesley Hardin, Luke Short, and Jesse James, and the guns they preferred… plus a few comments on the new (2016) Magnificent Seven. Show notes and links: The History Files #71: Magnificent 7 (csicon.fm) Movie Sign with the Mads – Magnificent 7 (apple.com) Cowboy Pumpkin Carving with a Colt 45! (Hickock45) The Story of the Outlaw: Emerson Hough (amazon.com) Jesse James Johnny Ringo Wyatt Earp Doc Holliday Billy the Kid Luke Short John Wesley Hardin The Shadows of the Past – gunfighters Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

We love our silver screen gunfighters, but what was the reality? This week we look at some of the gunslingers of the past and their favorite shooting irons as we get ready for the release of the re-make of “The Magnificent 7”. Show notes and links: Prince Rupert of the Rhine Queen Anne “turn off” Pistols: An Illustrated History of Their Impact – Jeff Kinard John Coffee Hays  “Wild Bill” Hickok Ned Buntline Autry Museum of the American West  (theautry.org) Eugene Cunningham (tshaonline.org) Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s a classic… it’s the Thompson submachine gun, beloved of Chicago gangsters, Wild West heroes, and the Allied Forces in World War 2. We’ve been trying to keep the episodes around 30 minutes, but this one is so fun to talk about that we went a bit long. Show notes and links: Thompson Submachine Gun – YouTube (Hickock45) Russian M1870 Galand Revolver (Forgotten Weapons) Little Caesar (1931) Edward G Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Saving Private Ryan (1998) Thompson submachine gun John T. Thompson Combat! (1962-67) The Omega Man  (1971) Today’s special music: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner (Warren Zevon cover by Jiri) (youtube.com) Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

This week we look at the iconic Maxim Gun, the world’s first true automatic machine gun, and a weapon which set the stage for the high-intensity conflicts of the 20th Century which cost the lives of millions of soldiers during WWI and WWII. Show notes and links: Wheellocks – Real or Fake? (Forgotten Weapons) The Wind and the Lion (1975) Dir. John Milius. Sean Connery, Candace Bergen, Brian Keith. Gordon’s Gun Closet #4: The Wind and the Lion (csicon.fm) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean – Trailer (trailer) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) Paul Newman Breaker Morant (film) (1980) Ribauldequin or “organ gun” Puckle gun Chambers Swivel Gun (historicalfirearms.info) Gatling gun Gardner gun Nordenfelt gun Maxim gun Maxim second prototype machine gun – animation Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

Although it only saw service for a few years, the Martini-Henry has a firm place in the pantheon of historical long arms, especially of the late 19th century. Join us as we follow its ups and downs through many conflicts and countries. Show notes and links: The Pedersen Device (Forgotten Weapons) Zulu (1964) – Full Movie (youtu.be) The Man Who Would Be King (1975) The Four Feathers (1939 film) ‘The Four Feathers’~ Full Movie (1978) Jane Seymour, Beau Bridges The Four Feathers (2002 film) Martini–Henry Snider–Enfield Gordon’s Gun Closet #7: Lee Enfield (csicon.fm) Zulu Dawn (1979) Bad Cat Shop at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

A marvel of 19th century ballistic engineering, any of the various incarnations of the Sharps rifle is a treasure. This week we talk about the history and development of the brainchild of Christian Sharps. Show notes and links: Roth Steyr 1907 at a Run-n-Gun Steel Match (Forgotten Weapons) Classic Single Shot Rifles – YouTube (Hickock45) Lyman Sharps Model of 1878 Chapter 2 (Hickock45) Quigley Down Under  (1990) Sharps rifle Samuel Chamberlain – “My Confession” 1st United States Sharpshooters (Berdan’s) Billy Dixon’s impossible shot at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls Bad Cat Store at Zazzle

This is the audio from Gordon’s “Victorian High Tech Firearms” presentation at Westercon/GearCon on July 2, 2016. It’s an extra-long episode: bonus! Apologies for the inconsistent sound; all part of the joy of field recording. If you’d like a version of this with the images that accompanied it, we’ll be putting it up on YouTube in the near future. You can also visit Gordon’s Blog for some relevant images in the meanwhile. Show notes and links: Small Arms of WWI Primer 029: Japanese Arisaka Type 30 (C&Rsenal) M60 Woods Walk  (hickock45) Gordon Frye’s History Ramblings: Victorian High Tech Firearms (historypundit.blogspot.com)

This episode is dedicated to what could be called -until recently – the right arm of the British Empire. It’s the Tommy’s best friend, the Lee Enfield. Show notes and links: War Thunder on Steam (steampowered.com) War Thunder – MajorGeeks (majorgeeks.com) Muzzleloading Flintlock Words Used in Everyday Language (Nature Reliance channel) A Pair of Arresting Montenegrin Gasser Revolvers (Forgotten Weapons) Gordon at Westercon 69 (westercon69.org) Lee–Enfield  James Paris Lee  M1885 Remington  Martini–Henry  The River War, by Winston Churchill (complete text at gutenberg.org) Stripper clip 

Saddle up and holster your six guns, it’s time to ride fast and shoot straight as we look at the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting with special guest Morgan Blanchard. Guns, targets, and big hats… the usual. For extras, including a video of Gordon doing Mounted Shooting, head over to Gordon’s Blog. Show notes and links: JP Enterprises MHI Cazador Rifle. – Monster Hunter Nation (monsterhunternation.com) Bren vs Spandau part two – or Lloyd against the fan-boys (youtu.be) C&Rsenal  (youtube.com) Doc Savage Westercon 69 (westercon69.org) International Practical Shooting Confederation (ipsc.org) SASS-Home of Cowboy Action Shooting NCOWS – National congress of Old West Shootists CAS city – The World of Cowboy Action Shooting Walton & Taylor Mercantile  River Junction – Victorian-era clothing Old West Reproductions®, Inc.  Packing Iron: Gunleather of the Frontier West: Richard C. Rattenbury, Janet Begley, Norm Flayderman Jack Stewart Historic Saddlery CMSA-Cowboy Mounted Shooting Assn.

This week we take a good long look at the colorful history of the musket. From the earliest “hand gonne” to the good old Brown Bess and Charleville, from Germany to England to the Americas, there’s a lot to talk about. Light your slow match, knap your flint, of course be sure to keep your powder dry, and for supplemental pics and info be sure to visit Gordon’s blog. Show notes and links: animagraphs (bearingarms.com) Analysis of  WWI material for Battlefield 1 (Forgotten Weapons at YouTube) Battlefield 1 Official Reveal Trailer Bren vs Spandau – which was better? (Lindybeige at YouTube) Captain Alatriste novels Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics: by Bert S. Hall History of the Art of War in the 16th Century, by Sir Charles Oman Musket  hacken busche or “hooked gun” (scroll down a bit) Rifles and Shotguns: The Art of Rifle and Shotgun…  Warren Hastings Miller (some text on the hacken busche) Arquebus  Falconet 16th century drill in modern illustrations (syler.com) Jacob de Gheyn II  (16th century illustrator of the drill manual) Wars of Louis Quatorze: Musket and pike drill (poor copy of de Gheyn’s work) The Arquebus & Matchlock Musket Page (nice animation of the above) Maurice, Prince of Orange  wheellock fowling piece (scroll down a bit) Fusil  Brown Bess Charleville musket How to fire a Matchlock musket – English Heritage Event (Dan Snow’s History Hit)

When it comes to movies chock full of guns, John Milius’ classic semi-historical adventure, The Wind and the Lion, is going to come up eventually. Released in 1975 and set in 1904 in Morocco and the United States, it tells a story very loosely based on the kidnapping of Ion Perdecaris by the Mulai Ahmed el Raisuli, Last of the Barbary Pirates. We took the liberty of excerpting some of Jerry Goldsmith’s sweeping score to enhance this episode. Capt. Jerome, USMC: Captain Jerome, United States Marine Corps, and you are my prisoner, sir. The Bashaw of Tangier: You are a very dangerous man, Captain, and your President Roosevelt is mad. Jerome: (saluting) Yes, sir! Show notes and links: Hardcore Henry (2015) (imdb.com) Half in the Bag Episode 107: Hardcore Henry (youtube.com) ‘The Magnificent Seven’ teaser trailer (guns.com) Future Firearms for Writers – tinker talks guns Ornate Saxon Double Barrel Wheel Lock (youtube.com) REAL BULLET PROOF CAPTAIN AMERICA SHIELD vs. LIVE AMMO!  (youtu.be) Winchester 1873 Found in Great Basin National Park (bearingarms.com) The Wind and the Lion (Original Theatrical Trailer) (youtube.com) Review of The Wind and the Lion (dvdtalk.com) The Wind and the Lion (wikipedia.org) 1904: Teddy’s Big Stick (capitalcentury.com) The real story behind the film. Wind and the Lion, The – Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb.org)