It was a rainy day in South Carolina, so mowing the grass or a fishing trip was out the window. A friend called me and said that Mckendree Long was down at one of the local flea markets with some old antiques rifles and pistols. Mike, as he prefers to be called, is a retired Army Para Trooper from back in the Vietnam Era. He’s a Civil War/Historical Fiction writer.
Saturday afternoon things were getting late. So Major Mike and I talked about a couple of antique revolvers he had on display and left it at that.
Sunday afternoon he was back with 4 antique rifle and a trio of old revolvers. As far as the rifles go I know a Spencer, Henry and Sharps look like but the 4th Rifle down threw me for a loop. I knew it was a Colt but couldn’t tell if it was a Paterson or a Root. One thing was obvious I was look around $20,000 plus of antiques. Which is pretty much what I have tied up in my whole collection, Major Mike said he had a couple of Colt Lightings laying around which are common. I’ve got an 1877 Colt Thundering sitting at home in the safe. So they’re not that hard to find.
So here, from the top is what we are looking at.
1. A Spencer 1860 (Made 1865) Roman Nose 7 shot, tube magazine, fed lever action. It fired a .50-56 Spencer Rim Fire Cartridge. It was capable of 14-20 rounds per minute. In Sept 1868 a Cheyenne War Chief named Roman Nose led a war party composed of hundreds against some troops at the Arikaree River in Colorado. He wore a “Magic” War Bonnet that made him invincible in battle. When the smoke died down, Roman Nose was off to the Happy Hunting Ground and his name became associated with the Spencer. The Spencer Rifle showed up various battle fields including the Civil War. Abe Lincoln after being presented with one and firing it on the White House Lawn ordered the Secretary of War to purchase some of them. The Politicians and Brass didn’t like the idea since they felt the troops would waste too many rounds. They held that though until Custer's Last Stand in 1876, where troops who were issued single shot rifles paid for it.
2. A Henry “Golden Boy” Rifle, this one was a copy.
3. Sharps 1863 Carbine. A 56 Caliber conversion model that fired cartridges. You could get these ranging from 50-70 calibers. Brings to mind the terms “Mini-Ball and Buffalo Rifle.”
4. An 1855 Colt Root. Designed by Elisha K Root, these cylinder fed rifles, were produced from 1855 to 1856. They are sometimes referred to as Side Hammer Revolvers. They fired a 56 Caliber paper cartridge round. Like Colt’s early Patterson’s they saw service during the Seminole War in Florida.
5. Bottom right. A Colt Navy Model 1851 Revolver made in 1863. Someone had doe a polish job on this one turning a $2-$3000 antique into a $900. Revolver. It was also real loose.
6. Bottom left. Colt Dragoon 3rd version made from 1848 to 1860. This old gal is probably 165 years old. They were usually equipped with a 7.5” barrel, but this one is more like 6. Mike said the gun was originally worth $6,000. But since they only manufactured 6,000 with the shorten barrel she’s worth $10,000. Mike doesn’t do appraisals but has a retired Colonel out at Fort Jackson who does.
Major Mike and I then spent some time discussing the evolution of firearms in America. He’d starting doing research along that line and then got into writing Civil War/History Fiction. I’d started doing the same years ago and have been putting a representative collection of originals and replicas.
http://writersofthewest.blogspot.com/2012/06/visit-with-mckendree-long.html
Here’s article from Writers of the West and it provides some information on Mike’s Service and his career as a writer. When I went over to see him Saturday, I had no idea of his military service record or hadn’t read any of his books. But I was told he had some interesting stuff, was selling a couple of his books, and publicizing a new forth coming one. This one was going to include some historical fiction on Custer’s last stand. We had a long discussion on Custer.
So when comes to my interest in antique firearms. If was nice to actually see and hold a bit of history. I've seen several of these at gun shows and museums. But they're a bit picky about handling them.
