The Colt 1849 .31 calibre Pocket revolver

The Colt 1849 Pocket .31 Revolver

The Colt Pocket 1849 (top) and the Colt Navy 1851 are very similar in design and function, the main difference being one of size

Samuel Colt produced many guns during his career and the little .31 Pocket Revolver was his most successful model with well over 300,000 sold.  This tells us quite a lot about the period of American westward expansion from the 1840's onward and perhaps also offers some insights into the often complex relationship America enjoys with guns.  After several disappointing attempts involving small revolvers without loading rams, Colt got it right and produced the model of 1849 which featured several improvements including a loading ram.  After the end of the Civil War sales of military firearms dropped suddenly and the civilian market experienced a simultaneous expansion.  People don't generally spend money on guns unless they feel they need them.  The West really was a dangerous place back then and everybody from travelling salesmen to miners wanted a personal protection pistol that could be carried easily in a pocket or belt.  Some models even had a stagecoach holdup scene engraved on the cylinder and others a Ranger and Indian fight  which reflected some of the common personal safety fears of the period.  It is interesting that a rather underpowered five shot percussion revolver was more popular than some of the more powerful single shot weapons available at the time.  A good muff pistol or doule barrelled "Derringer" could fire a .4-.6 calibre ball with more lethal effect.  The attraction must have been the availability of five shots and the psychological effect that might have had on both the possessor and the assailant.  Large Knives feature prominently in the photography of the period and were probably carried both as tools and defensive weapons.  A frightened or desperate individual with five loaded .31 chambers and big Bowie knife was unlikely to be trifled with.

A selection of Civil War revolvers.  The Colt 1849 .31 at the bottom is easily the smallest

On San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, gamblers sometimes referred to such hideout guns as a “fifth ace.”  The large belt model Colt, which sold for around $16-$18 each in the East, was selling for as much as $250-$500 apiece in the West. Even the less expensive .31 calibre model commanded prices around $100 on the West Coast.  It is a debateable point whether a stage coach traveller confronted with a group of desperadoes with huge 6-shot .44 Colt Dragoon revolvers would have been well advised to open fire with a small .31 calibre 5-shot pocket gun.  However, Despite its small calibre and small charge of black powder people obviously felt safer for having it.  There mst have been some very tense moments in taverns when some commotion or other resulted in everybody whipping out a revolver and looking for a target.  During the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides purchased the pistols with their own funds. They carried the 1849 Pocket models for close combat situations. For decades during the mid-19th century, adventurers worldwide praised these little Colts in the highest terms.  This is surprising when one considers the weight of a .31 ball is about 48 grains or the same as some .22 bullets  and at a velocity of 700 feet per second it produced 52 foot pounds of energy which is about the same as a modern high velocity .22 round we would use to hunt rabbits.  By comparison A Colt .45 peacemaker could work up 300+ foot pounds.  It was definitely not powerful but if it prevented an opponent from skewering you with his bayonet then it really was an excellent investment.  It was probably useful too in a touchy situation. A misdealt card, a mining claim dispute, a defence of a lady’s honour or perhaps an expedited bank withdrawal might all be eased along through the use of a Pocket Colt. The simple brandishing of the firearm could even elicit the desired reaction. There are a few accounts of gamblers using the Pocket Colt  - this one from the nineteenth century caught my attention because it seemed so bizarre to be somehow credible:

These gormless looking young western adventurers are ready for trouble with their new Colt revolvers, knives and fashionable clothes.  One can only hope trouble didn't find them before they acquired some life experience.

"An argument broke out between the two about the last hand played, both shouting and then finally standing to confront each other.  In the heat of the exchange, the proprietor reached into his cash cigar box on the board and drew out what looked to be a pocket pistol….taking aim, he fired.  The other man threw both hands to his mouth as he stumbled backwards toward the front door, he fell backwards over the front porch and broke the cross bar of the hitching post as he hit the ground.  The whole crowd from the store went rushing out with the proprietor leading the group yelling about how sorry he was to have shot his friend over a simple hand of cards. As they gathered around the victim, they were amazed to see him stand up coughing and gagging.  With that, he stumbled to one of the still standing posts and heaved something that hit the ground with a thud.  One of the men picked it up, spat on it to wash it off and found it to be a bullet slug.  The story ends with all the boys going back to the poker game, apologies and “sorrys” exchanged….Oh, and more drinking (of course) to clear the boy’s throat…..the two gents involved remained the closest of friends well into their old age".  Apparently, in this case the powder was damp otherwise a .31 calibre ball in the mouth might have been more serious.  

.31 balls from Henry and a .31 Pedersoli ball and bullet Mould from Henry Krank and, for comparison, a .22 lr and a 9mm bullet

There is another wonderful story about a Union Army general who tried to ban his men from carrying non-issue Colt Pocket Revolvers.  Apparently he was sitting in his tent when there was a bang outside and a lead ball came through the tent, hit the ground and bounced harmlessly off his boot.  The culprit was an officer who had fumbled his revolver as a result of drinking a little too much hooch.  The enraged general banned non-issue pistols on the spot; a command that was most likely quickly forgotten about and ignored.


There are considerably more stories about people getting shot with modern small calibre bullets than .31 balls and there have been a number of famous assassinations.  In 1880 George Brown, a former Canadian Premier and owner of the Globe newspaper in Toronto. was shot by George Bennett with a small Colt, probably an Open Top Pocket Model.  Bennet had previously been fired for drunkenness.  A struggle resulted in Brown being shot in the thigh.  The wound was not considered serious but sepsis set in and he died a few days later.  Bobby Kennedy was killed in 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan using a .22 calibre Iver-Johnson Cadet revolver.  John Hinckley  jnr  wounded several people during an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981 using  a Röhm RG-14 .22 LR revolver and all recovered although White House Press Secretary James Brady who was hit in the head died of his injuries in 2000.  In 1981 when Mehmet Ali Agca wounded Pope John Paul II in an assassination attempt.  A 9mm Browning was the weapon used and despite massively serious abdominal wounds the Pope's life was saved by modern medical science.

I even have my personal .22 story that testifies to the lethality of the .22 lr hollow point high velocity bullet.  As a very young man I often helped my father, who was a master butcher, to slaughter beef.  He used a Cash Captive Bolt Pistol that was extremely lethal on cattle.  On one occasion he had a misfire followed by a jam while trying to slaughter a very frightened and aggressive Hereford heifer.  The captive bolt barely broke the skin and the animal made a determined attempted to crush him.  I was holding my Brno .22 hunting rifle and he shouted to me to put her down quickly. He had trained me well and I knew how to place the bullet in the brain at a distance of about three yards.  The animal fell instantly and there was no need for a second shot.  The animal weighed about 900 pounds.

Charging the cylinder with powder and seating a percussion cap is a very fiddly procedure especially on a cold day with numb fingers.  That cavalrymen could do it while on horseback is quite amazing

A wad between the ball and the charge in a percussion revolver is a good idea as it reduces the likelihood of a chain fire which occurs when hot gases from a fired cylinder ignite an unfired cylinder.  Normally wad punches are expensive but this one is from a set of leather tools and happens to cut a .32 wad

The affinity for weapons and the willingness to resort to violence is more pronounced in some societies than others and is in itself a  complex area of study.  Personal protection weapons were commonly carried in British and Irish society until relatively recent times but the phenomenon has endured into the present in the US.  Middle Eastern societies are also more weaponised than European societies. Guns ownership but not the carrying of guns is common in many societies and there tends to be a lot of guns in post conflict societies.  The American frontier of the 1800's was a society in conflict with itself and with Native Americans and experienced generalised lawlessness.  Every dog has his day and the second half of the nineteenth century was the time of the Colt Pocket Revolver.

There is an anomaly regarding the velocity of the Pocket Colt and also several other black powder firearms.  The published ballistic data often doesn't match that  recorded by modern users.  For instance some sources claim 1,000 feet per second for the Navy and Single Action Army revolvers but modern users find that a full chamber may produce a velocity far less than that.  Perhaps the powders available in the late nineteenth century were so much better or perhaps modern black powder substitutes are less powerful.  Whatever the reason there is the possibility these old firearms were almost as lethal in their day as their modern successors.

The little .31 Colt hits about 3 inches high at 5 yards; 6" at 10 yards and so on.  This is in keeping with western gamblers' lore (aim for the belt buckle!). 

These days there is so much material on You Tube that even serious-minded people take the odd peek to see what our transatlantic friends are up to.  A recent search turned up a young intellectual who demonstrated the effectiveness of his Uberti/Colt Pocket .31 by demolishing a cinderblock with 5 shots.  Assuming he had no interest in fabricating video footage (he even recorded a failure to ignite)  the experiment shows that the .31 ball has considerable energy and possibly more than a .22 lr.  The cinder block didn't explode but each successive shot knocked off a respectable chunk of conglomerate and the fifth shot was not really necessary as it hit a pile of  rubble.  As a value for money firearm for the enthusiast the Uberti is certainly worth consideration. Henry Krank advertises them at £292 or €337 and a .31 mould costs around £23.  Used models in top condition fetch around £175 with accessories.  If one uses scrap lead to cast balls, the cost per round for a cap and powder is around €0.10 or €0.50 to load five chambers.  It takes several minutes to load and fire one 5-shot cylinder so a shooter can get a lot of range time for €5.  This compares very favourably to the cost of feeding a 22 rifle.

Given the ballistic similarity between the .22lr  bullet and the .31 pistol ball it is reasonable to assume the .31 was equally lethal at point blank range. It is interesting that as time passed the firearms used in assassinations became much more powerful; probably because victims of shootings with small calibre weapons were surviving as a result of the use of Penicillin to combat infection.  The Pocket Colt of 1849 continued in production until the 1870's when it was replaced by metallic cartridge revolvers like the Colt Open Top Pocket Model in .22 Short and Long calibres and the Colt New Line in calibres from .22 to .41.  These were in turn replaced after 1880 by small semi-automatic pistols like the Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket pistol in .25 ACP.  Guns were getting smaller and more powerful but the western frontier was becoming more peaceful and fewer people felt the need for personal protection.  Today the pocket pistol is represented by even more powerful small pistols like the Glock 26, a 9×19mm "subcompact" variant designed for concealed carry and introduced in 1995, mainly for the civilian market. (I found it an inaccurate little beast to shoot).  The original Colt Pocket model of 1849 has been replaced by ever more powerful and efficient firearms but none have quite achieved the appeal of the original as evidenced by the fact that 170 years after its introduction it is still in demand by collectors and enthusiasts with original customised models fetching six figure prices.

The (very expensive)  Sinclair arbor press (loaned for the purpose by Mike Ryan RFD) was never intedned for seating round balls in a revolver cylinder but seems to work nicely.  The cylinder ram on the Colt Pocket .31 develops enough leverage for .31 but not .33 balls

My example of a  Uberti/Colt 1849 came from a friend who just decided to sell it and get something more powerful.  It was made by the Italian manufacturer, Uberti, which has a reputation for producing the best Colt replicas.  I already had considerable experience with the .44 Colt Navy - not all of it pleasant as loading and priming a cap-and-ball revolver in Winter is a cold, fiddly job and the reward is a very dirty gun that has to be stripped and scrubbed in soapy water every time it is used.  Single shot percussion duelling pistols are far more accurate and easier to clean but I couldn't resist a Pocket Colt with a Pedersoli mould for £175. My wife and I both applied for and got the little gun added to our FAC's and while Audrey will undoubtedly enjoy shooting it I fear the job of scrubbing it will fall to me. I can't complain as she cooks while I scrub.  It is a small gun and even more fiddly to load and prime than the Navies, Armies, Dragoons and Walkers.  The chambers are quite small and take no more than 10 grains of FFFG Black Powder (I can squeeze 23 into the Navy Colt and 100 into the Holbrook Muzzleloader and 40 grains is a light load in a black powder shotgun cartridge).  However it IS handy and concealable and Probably conferred a degree of confidence and security on the nineteenth century owner while diverting the unwelcome attentions of "ruffainly types" who might think the wearing of a massive Colt Walker was a challenge to a fight.  It fired reliably provided the no. 10 caps were well seated but the degree of penetration of the little 31 balls into the backstop was not impressive.  A valued personal protection weapon it might have been but not a particularly lethal one!  A problem existed with extended storage of cap-and-ball revolvers in that too much oil in the chambers would contaminate the powder leading to under-combustion and no oil would quickly lead to rust.  There is a story about Marshal Bat Masterson firing, cleaning and reloading his Colts every evening before his rounds of the Dodge City trouble spots - presumably to ensure reliable ignition as a misfire could have been fatal.  I have found no mention of Masterson carrying a Colt Pocket although he appears to have carried a shortened Colt Navy - understandably, since it was considerably more lethal. 

By a happy coincidence 00 Buckshot is exactly the right diameter for a tight fit in a .31 Colt and the mold throws 18 balls as opposed to the more common single ball mould and the business of casting balls is thereby expedited

As a shooter The Colt Pocket is supposed to be out of its range at 25 meters, the range at which most target pistol shooting is done.  A single shot duelling pistol or a modern .22 can keep all shots in the region of the 7-10 rings on a pistol target.  The Pocket is desined for shorter ranges and  is probably more suited to 10-15 yards at which range Western Action shooting is done.  A maximum of ten grains of black powder can be loaded per cylinder so it it is not exactly powerful. On its very first day on the range it surprised everyone by shooting a 3/4 inch group at five yards, a 2 inch group at ten yards and a FOUR inch group at twenty five yards.  All shots hit high as one would expect from this type of revolver. Getting it to shoot to point of aim involves mounting a higher foresight which many shooters do.  I was quite amazed by its accuracy because four inches at 25 yards is beyond the capability of many modern centrefire pistols.  To compare like with, well, similar, we test fired a 9mm Glock 26 a few years back for the Irish Shooters Digest and it shot much larger groups at closer range.  In fairness there is little comparison between a 9mm Luger round and ten grains of black powder behind an 84 grain ball.  The little Glock kicked like an Austrian Army mountain mule while the Pocket Colt was very controllable and ten grains of powder produced very little fouling.  A better comparison might be the Colt Navy .44 Cap-and-Ball in the top photo which is capable of similar accuracy but the group size and point of impact go all to pot as the gun gets fouled up with burnt powder.  So good was the accuracy of the .31 that I phoned a friend who owns an identical model and he reported TWO inch groups at 25 yards - John lives, breathes and sleeps pistol accuracy and produces some amazing results.  The top of the black can be seen at the bottom of the photo which means the group is about 10 inches high at 25 yards as all old Colt revolvers tend to do. 

 

The photo I didn't expect to take.  A four-shot, four inch group at 25 yards with a 5-shot Uberti/Colt 1849 Pocket .31.  There should have been five strikes but the first was off paper and the target had to be repositioned

 

Penetration using the .31 Colt was anaemic. A .32 bullet barely embedded itself in pine at 5 yards  It is NOT powerful. The brown deposit on the bullet is Alox lubricant.  Back in 1849 there was better black powder around and performance may have bbeen better - but not by much

The venerable Greener GP 12 Gauge

The venerable Greener GP 12 Gauge 

The venerable 70 year old Greener GP seen here tricked out with precision sights for Cowboy action shooting

A Greener GP MkII busting clays at Hilltop Shooting Grounds in Wicklow 10 years ago

Back around 1900 when, in the immortal words of Shane Mac Gowan:



Their mark on this land is still seen and still laid
The way for a commerce where vast fortunes were made
The supply of an Empire where the sun never set
Which is now deep in darkness, but the railway's there yet.


Our Shane was celebrating the Irish Navvy's contribution to Imperial Railway History in his inimitable and slightly boozy style but the spirit of the verse equally could be applied to the Greener GP Shotgun. The British needed a cheap and nasty gun for riot control by native police in their colonies, principally India and Egypt, where the locals had a long and honourable tradition of rioting in response to British atrocities. The specifications called for a military/police shotgun using proprietary ammunition that could not be acquired through commercial channels. The thinking behind this was that in the event of the native police themselves turning riotous/mutinous and attacking the Army they would immediately encounter firepower and resupply problems. The memory of the brutality of the Amritsar massacre and the savage suppression of the Indian Mutiny loomed large in the Imperial mind. Only recently a  Skull was discovered in a London pub; formerly the property of and attached to the neck of "Havildar Alum Bheg, 46th Regt. Bengal N. Infantry who was blown away from a gun, amongst several others of his Regiment.  He was a principal leader in the mutiny of 1857 and of a most ruffianly disposition".  The British tradition of tying people to an artillery barrel and "blowing them away"  was a messy if mercifully quick method of executing pesky native revolutionaries and did little to endear them to their Indian subjects who eventually gave them the heave around 1947.  The skull which had been on display in the pub is now a source of embarassment to the British who have since repented the error of their old imperial ways and have embraced tolerance and political correctness.  There is talk of repatriating it. 

The Greener police gun mark I appeared in around 1921, and tens of thousands were delivered to organisations like the Egyptian colonial police. However, it was soon discovered that locals, who managed to get hold of Greener guns, with classic underdog ingenuity, used standard 16 gauge shells, tightly wrapped into paper or tape to fire from their stolen Greeners. To make commercial ammunition completely unusable, Greener responded with an improved design; the Greener Police Pun Mark III. This gun used proprietary ammunition with bottlenecked cases made of brass, with thick rims. The base of the case was roughly the same as standard 12 gauge case, but toward the forward end of the shell it has reduced diameter equivalent to 14 gauge shell size. To further complicate illegal use of its police shotgun, Greener provided its Mark III guns with trident-shaped strikers. Greener police shells had grooved bases and recessed primers, and attempts to fire any commercially available shell from a Greener gun would fail every time as the side projections of the striker would hit the flat base of the shell, stopping the central part (the firing pin itself) before it could reach the primer. Some Greener Mark III police guns were also made to fire standard, commercially available 12 gauge ammunition or Mark I 14 gauge straight case ammunition. Typical 14 Gauge cartridges available for Greener police shotguns were usually loaded by Kynoch with 30-36 grams of lead shot of small or medium size

 

The Greener Police Shotgun was developed for use on rioters by British colonial police forces.  This model has both a safety catch and a cocking indicator

The Riot shotgun loaded with birdshot or in extremis, buck, baton or ball remains a popular choice today with police forces as this photograph from South Africa shows.  One cannot but wonder what state the unfortunate victim was in after this incident.

The Greener police shot gun Mark III is a single shot weapon. It uses a Martini type hinged block action controleld by a lever located below the stock. Pulling the lever down and forward will rotate (drop) the front of breechblock down, exposing the chamber and extracting the fired shell. A Fresh round can then be chambered and the breech block raised by pulling the lever up.  The gun is striker fired and the internal striker is cocked automatically as the breech block is opened. A manual safety is provided on the right side of the receiver. The Greener police shot gun is fitted into two-piece wooden stock of solid construction, with steel nose cap and a steel buttplate. On some Greener guns, a nose cap was provided with a bayonet mount pesomably to achieve more intimidating effect on pesky native rioters or prisoners.  There are few records of the effectiveness of these guns although the fact the South African apartheid police were still using birdshot on native protesters in the 1970's may give an indication.

In 1951 a Greener GP cost around 14 quid. This represented two weeks wages for a member of the labouring classes and doubtless many made the sacrifice to acquire a really practical "pot gun"

The Greener Harpoon Gun is one of the stranger variants.  It is designed for fishing and line launching. It functions by sliding a hollow harpoon over the barrel which is propelled by firing a specially made .38 Special high powered blank. It was used for whaling, and also for commercial harvest of tuna and other large fish. A Greener harpoon gun is used by Quint in the 1975 movie "Jaws".

 

Isandlwana 1879: the Zulus' finest hour when they successfully resisted the empire and its Martini Henry rifle.  Unfortunately their experience was identical to that of the sixteenth century Irish after The Yellow Ford and Benburb when decisive victories were not followed up and led to escalation of the colonial war and ultimate defeat.

The GP range of shotguns have a less imperial pedigree as the name GP (general purpose) implies and they are the linear descendants of the Police model.  In 1965 Webley and Scott acquired the Greener business and continued to make the GP for a few years and many of the used Greener GP's available today are from this period.  These were not expensive guns and still aren't although it is possible to pay quite a lot of money for pristine models or ones that have been customised.  They are of course, Martini actioned, and quite elegant compared to the cheap break-barrel singles.  Some come with multi or adjustable chokes and some have even been rebuilt as harpoon guns.  Milord probably didn't use a GP but his gamekeeper might have found one useful for controlling the numbers of the local equivalent of colonial troublemakers - the fox, magpie, weasel and hooded crow.  Collector's don't place much value on them - they are a bit, well, you know,  "working class" for that but they are robust and thanks to the Martini action, fast in operation.  The back sight is a fixed "V" and they have been successfully used to fire lead balls and slugs. Their attraction for enthusiasts is the strong, fast Martini action and its links to past glories (and defeats).  The Martini Henry rifle was the weapon of the Empire during the Zulu wars and carries still the whiff of Isandlwana and the memory of an entire British army annihilated by pesky assegai toting natives.  For these and other reasons the modern owner of a Greener GP can feel he has acquired an authentic piece of history.  Critics claim it is a shoulder-buster as indeed are most 12 gauge singles.

This .303 Martini Henry was used by the old Royal Irish Constabulary and closely resembles the Greener.  It has a completely ruined bore and rebarreling is not practical and is now just a collector's piec.  Note the absence of a safety catch. The lever on the side is not a safety but a cocking indicator

The original Martini Henry rifle of 1871 used the dropping-block action first developed by Henry O. Peabody (in his Peabody rifle) and improved by the Swiss designer Friedrich von Martini, combined with the polygonal barrel rifling designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry.  The Mark IV Martini–Henry rifle ended production in 1889, but remained in service throughout the British Empire until the end of the First World War. It was seen in use by some Afghan tribesmen as late as the Soviet invasion.  Early in 2010 and 2011, United States Marines recovered at least three from various Taliban weapons caches in Marjah.  The Martini–Henry was copied on a large scale by North-West Frontier Province gunsmiths. Their weapons were of a poorer quality than those made by Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, but accurately copied down to the proof markings. The chief manufacturers were the Adam Khel Afridi, who lived around the Khyber Pass. The British called such weapons "Pass-made rifles" and today some of them are considered collector items.  The Martini action has endured and is found today in a range of target rifles and Ruger even produces a range of hunting rifles with the similar Farquharson falling block action.

The versatile 12 gauge smoothbore can be used with everything from no. 9 shot to a 570 grain ball and a 1 ounce slug shown here with a Pedersoli mould and magtech 12ga brass case.  An English colonial aristocrat once claimed to have shot everything from snipe to Elephant with his Purdey. Today the Aristocratic English are the champions of conservation and the slaughter of African game is carried today out by native people with the ubiquitous Kalashnikov

Corporal G.H. Swift, Company C, 18th Massachusetts, was injured at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va. on May 3, 1863, when a musket ball fractured the top of his skull. Surgeons attempted to trephine the wound but halted the procedure upon discovering that the inner surface of the skull was not fractured. Corporal Swift survived a further  two weeks.  He may have died of sepsis.  How he would have felt about immorality as a medical/war specimen is unrecorded

 The 12 gauge round ball

The 12 gauge shotgun loaded with round ball is not popular as a hunting firearm today.  The reasons are probably legal and practical - it is difficult to licence a shotgun for use with solid ammunition and modern rifles are more efficient anyway.  This was not always the case and a lot of game was taken in the past with smoothbore guns that fired both shot and ball.  A 12 gauge ball measures about .73" or 18.5 mm and weighs around 575 grains and travels at around 1,000 feet per second with around 1,200 foot pounds of energy.  Figures are approximate because there is latitude when reloading although one should be aware of the thinness of shotgun barrels and the danger of a burst.  My uncle, God rest him, back during the Second World War when ammunition was frequently unobtainable, experimented with solid balls for larger game and blew out the right chamber of his old English side by side.  Admittedly he was firing a steel ball bearing but the lesson is a good one.  At least he had the sense to load the right, not the left barrel and was even then very lucky he didn't lose a hand.  The fact he used a steel and not a lead ball was unfortunate as the latter will compress fairly readily although it is still of the greatest importance to choose a lead ball diameter that fits the barrel snugly.  Moulds are available from suppliers that will throw either balls or slugs in a variety of diameters and when the barrel diameter has been carefully measured at its narrowest point it is not difficult to match the two.  The lead ball, when used for hunting had a reputation for rapid expansion - being round it did so more readily than a large calibre round nosed bullet.  It was not necessarly as inaccurate as some writers would have us believe and smoothbore pistols and long guns were capable of excellent accuracy.  The main problem was the gas seal which was not very reliable as one would expect with a projectile having such a small bearing surface.  If the ball was a good fit and was followed by a nice tight wad then the smoothbore would put venison on the table at short range.  For the likes of the old trappers who walked huge distances the dual-puropse smoothbore musket/shotgun was a very practical firearm.  In the USA where the legal emphasis is on "Do" as opposed to "Don't" here on the western fringes of Europe, hunting with shotguns and slugs or balls is allowed and even mandatory in some areas of high population density.  The logic is that thereby the range of the firearm but not it's killing power is limited.  A 12 gauge projectile at 1,500 feet per second is capable of 3,000 foot pounds of energy which equals a .308 hunting rifle.  Rifled barrels are permitted on shotguns in some countries and accuracy is very, very good.  Closer to home the official mind sees a large round ball as converting a shotgun into a lethal weapon more likely to be fired at a agent of the state than a quarry animal by an untrustworthy and homicidal citizenry.  Smooth bore shotguns firing round balls or slugs can produce velocities from 1,100 to 2,500 feet per second and kinetic energy readings from 1,000 to 2,400 foot pounds depending on the ammunition used.  A load of black powder and ball would be at the lower end of this range and the Brenneke rifled slug at the top end.  This places a shotgun slug on parity with many rifle bullets up to .30 calibre and as such are perfectly adequate for large game at short range, the main limitation being accuracy a t longer ranges.




IF the Greener GP were legal to use with slugs or round balls, which it is not unless one applies for a special permit, it would make quite a  good meat gun.  As it is we have to rely on the experience of transatlantic friends and a few practical shotgun shooters to testify as to its effectiveness.  The "V" back sight is precise enough for most purposes or factory sights could be fitted.  Shot spread at 50 yards is in the region of 2 inches with the right ammunition which is adequate for large game.  Saboted slugs are the most accurate and some experimenters have achieved spectacular results.  A quick search on "Greener GP slugs" produces some interesting case studies.  Reloading for the Greener is easy eough if you happen to live in the UK, Europe or USA; in fact anywhere other than Ireland south.  When I researched components I found  brass cases could be purchased online for £0.50 each.  Wads can be purchased or manufactured using a wad punch.  Henry Krank supplies lead moulds.  Shotgun powders which are really fast rifle powders or slow pistol powders are available by Vectan, Hodgdon's and Vihtavuori and of course black powder can be used if desired.  Most manufacturers produce shotgun reloading tables which should be adhered to.  It is not absolutely necessary to buy a set of shotgun presses as large rifle primers can be inserted in brass cases with the appropriate shell holder and a top wad to retain the shot in the case.  If ammunition is required just for clay shooting then the best and cheapest option is commercial trap cartridges.  If the shooter happens to have a permit that allows slugs he can use commercial slugs such as are manufactured by Brenneke but are expensive or he can cast his own round balls and slugs and load them himself allthough great caution is advised.  It is sad that reloading is denied to the majority of shooters in Ireland south as it is an activity that is challenging and rewarding in itself.

This is the famous or infamous Brenneke Slug with the much misunderstood "rifled" fins which are touted as being designed to impart spin to the projectile and which may even do so but whose main purpose, many shooters believe, is to make them more amenable to compression in the bore

The brenneke slug is a serious piece of ordnance and police authorities are understandably concerned about it falling into the "wrong" hands.  There is some justification for this as it gives a shotgun the same killing power as a quite powerful rifle with a reputation as a car-stopper when fired into the engine block.  The Brenneke slug was developed by the German gun and ammunition designer Wilhelm Brenneke (1865–1951) in 1898. The original Brenneke slug is a solid lead slug with ribs cast onto the outside. There is a plastic, felt or cellulose fiber wad attached to the base that remains attached after firing. This wad serves both as a gas seal and as a form of drag stabilization. The "ribs" impart a small amount of rotation to the projectile as it travels down the bore. This rotation does not impart gyroscopic stabilization, rather it improves accuracy by correcting for manufacturing irregularities.  Additionally, the ribs decrease contact surface with the bore, reducing friction and increasing velocity. The ribs also deform through the choke more readily than a solid slug would, thus reducing pressure and wear on the choke to safe levels.  Being solid this slug deforms little and delivers considerable penetration.  Such slugs are specified by law for deer dunting in some US states, especially in populated areas but are frowned upon on this side of the Atlantic and generally require a permit of some kind.



One question that is always asked is whether round balls and slugs will damage a smoothbore shotgun (as oposed to a shotgun fitted with a rifled slug barrel).  The answer is that they can and sometimes do.  The literature on the subject is totally confusing and contradictory but it comes down to common sense.  If the projectile is larger than the choke then there is the potential for damage, even catastrophic damage. Most writers caution against full chokes and recommend cylinder bores of light chokes. As the projectile travels down the barrel it may encounter little barrel friction until it approaches the muzzle and the choke.  A full choke measures about .685" (17.4 mm)  while a cylinder bore measures about .725 (18.42mm).  It stands to reason that a .729 projectile runs the risk of getting constricted by the choke with a consequent buildup of gas pressure.  When this happens "something has to give" as any mechanic will tell you, so either the projectile gets resized by the choke and leaves the muzzle or the barrel bursts as hapened with my Uncle and his ballbearing.  Home loading shotgun slugs and round balls can be a dangerous business unless you know what you are doing and even then there are sometimes inexplicable bursts, referred to as "Kabooms" by online cognoscenti or as I prefer to lable them, "googlesperts" who recycle endlessly the contributions of people who may actually know what they are talking about

The Greener is a take-down design similar to most singles except the barrel is threaded into the receiver; a nice feature that required workmanship

My first Martini-actioned Greener was acquired for twenty pounds and it did sterling service among the rabbits and pigeons around the village of Rhode for a whole Summer forty years ago.  A stint on a building site in Manchester and a "float" from my mother produced enough to purchase a semi-automatic Remington 1100 and the local Guard bought the Greener and I still regret parting with it.  I was more savvy with the Remington and I still have it.  More recently I was approached by the family of a deceased Church of Ireland clergyman who wanted to dispose of his guns as no-one was interested in shooting them.  I became the owner of a very nice 1940's Greener GP and a side by side Webley and Scott which I presented to a sheep farmer and a close friend who continues to use it on hoodies and foxes.  The Greener languished in storage for a few years until I took up Cowboy Action shooting which does not permit the use of semis.  I felt as though I had re-united with an old friend.

My £4 Chinese borescope does not deliver top grade images but those I captured showed a degree of pitting in the barrel of the Greener 12 ga.  One would prefer not to have pitting but as many owners of vintage guns will testify its presence does not greatlly affect performance

 





The 70 year old Greener showed some slight pitting of the bore when examined with a bore scope.  I had it inspected by Gunsmith Fabian Connolly who recommended a torough cleaning and polishing.  Fabian also handled the paperwork and importation. Luckily I had an old tub of Motty Paste on the shelf that I had acquired thirty years ago from Al Conroy in Tullamore. It's severe stuff and should only be used on badly fouled bores.  It is a grinding / polishing paste and does a good job of polishing a slightly pitted barrel and restoring some of the shine. I applied it with a traditional shotgun cleaning rod and a patch impregnated with paste.  A greenish sludge came out of the barrel when I ran through a patch soaked in Brunox.  This could have been carbon and lead or just oxidised steel but the bore certainly looked brighter afterwards.  It also showed up scumming that had been previously invisible.  None of the pitting was deep and the Greener barrels are heavy anyway so there was no question of weakening.  A couple of 28 gram trap cartridges showed a nice tight pattern at 20 yards with recoil only slightly heavier than my Remington 1100.  The woodwork showed evidence of use and I decided to refinish it during the Summer.  Varnish remover and sandpaper would get rid of the remnants of the old varnish and I could then rub in a few coats of Tung oil.  The original bead and notch sights were adequate for most purposes but I decided to mount a removable peep sight for close range Western Action shooting.  This gave it the appearance similar to its cousin the heavy BSA Martini .22 Target Rifle. 

The addition of a Pedersoli Creedmore Tang sight for Western Action Shooting made the Greener-Martini look more like its cousin, the Martini actioned .22 target rifle by BSA

 

Today WW Greener is owned by david Dryhurst and Graham Greener, a great grandson of the original founder of the company and makes very high quality double barrelled shotguns.  The old GP is no more since the old plant was pulled down to make way for the inner ring road in Birmingham.  A GP can still be had for £150-£300 on Gunstar and Guntrader which is surely the last of the great classic gun bargains when one consideres a grotty old military deactivated rifle can cost anything from £300 to £3000

Deactivated and antique guns and the Law

Deactivated and antique firearms and the law

This lovely old .303 Martini-Henry is a relic of the nineteenth century when Ireland was still part of the Empire.  It has reached the end of the line.  The bore is completely destroyed and it isn't capable of accuracy, even at short range and yet it seems a pity to deactivate it.

This Ishapore Lee Enfield has been butchered to meet new spec UK deactivation laws.  It's a bit sad but it's the law. 

Deactivated guns are guns that have been modified so that they cannot be fired.  In the UK the modification is carried out by a competent person and the gun is then submitted to a proof house where it is recorded, certified and stamped.  It can then be sold with its accompanying certification of deactivation without a permit and ownership is not subject to any particular restrictions.  There are numerous laws covering the dactivation, export, sale, and ownership of such guns and these can be quite complex. In the Republic of Ireland there was no standard for deactivation and the situation was chaotic, to say the least.  Some collectors had their collections seized, others were charged with illegal possession and one had his collection seized and when he raised a stink they gave ONE back which was something of a record as the man was apparently legal and illegal at the same time.  One wonders where the bulk of the collection ended up.  Another collector of my acquaintance approached his local gardai about importing a display of War of Independence firearms and they gave him the go ahead.  When the deactivated rifles arrived from England he notified the guards who promptly arrested him and charged him with illegal possession without a permit.  

Sean Diffley of Listowel. I haven't seen him in a few years - the most knowledgeable classic rifle enthusiast I have ever met; with, I believe, a Persian Mauser

The following is lifted from the Irish DOJ website :

On April 8 2016 a new EU Deactivation Regulation came into force. It introduced new EU-wide standards for deactivated firearms to ensure that deactivated firearms cannot be reactivated. This Regulation also introduced an EU Deactivation Certificate and a new EU deactivation mark. This Regulation sets out a new set of deactivation requirements for anything deactivated from 08 April 2016 onwards. Existing deactivated firearms not capable of being fired, may still be kept on the written authorisation of the local Superintendent. However, it should be noted the Regulation stipulates that these must be re-deactivated to the new EU deactivation standards upon sale, transfer or gift (including inheritance).  The only acceptable proof that a firearm is deactivated is an EU Deactivation Certificate.  No other Deactivation certificate can be accepted. This certificate can only be issued by an entity that has been approved as a deactivation verifier by an EU Member State. Ireland has not approved such an entity.  Ireland will accept certificates that have been issued by approved verifiers in other Member States. The EU Deactivation Certificate must state that the firearm has been deactivated in accordance with the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2403. The firearm must also have the new EU deactivation mark on it. Deactivated firearms that cannot meet this requirement will not be issued with an import licence.

A British Proof house deactivation (new specs) certificate for a French Mas rifle.  Buyers should insist on getting such a document from a dealer.  The old "It's here somewhere, I'll post it on to you" means there isn't one and you are probably going to be landed in it.

Reading between the lines it would seem there are old specs deactivated firearms circulating in the Republic of Ireland that continue to be authorised by a Garda Superintendent.  My guess is these authorisations are renewable yearly.  Some of these may be capable of reactivation which I'm sure is a mighty headache for the authorities.  Since Ireland hasn't had a proof house since independence and Britain is about to exit the EU the solution to the problem of certifying Irish deacts will be interesting when it comes around.  The chaos in the Irish deact situation will continue for some time yet.

Bayonets are a popular and fairly reasonably priced collector item.  They don't require deactivation but are subject to offensive weapon laws and as such should be stored safely

Another interesting situation arose some years ago regarding the mounting of bayonets on deactivated classic rifles.  The argument ran that a deactivated rifle becomes a lethal weapon when a bayonet is fitted and is covered by the laws governing weapons in public places etc etc.  One doesn't have to follow this line of reasoning very far to realise that someone was looking for a handy way around the existing law to criminalise collectors. 

If classic military guns are your thing then the Irish Military Museum at Collon is the place for you. Here William the proprietor displays a deact Browning Automatic Rifle

A further "interesting" situation arose also when some clever lad worked out that a rifle magazine is illegal if it is not attached to a firearm for which the owner has a permit. Apparently a functioning magazine in a certified deactivated rifle could be regarded as illegal possession and the British specs at the time did not call for magazine deactivation.  There was wholesale panic for a while and the magazines of many valuable classic rifle were butchered by jumpy owners.

Inert and spent ammunition is sold in tourist junkshops all over Europe and the unfortunate Irish Tourist sometimes makes the mistake of returning to the Island of saints and scholars with a souvenir that is a guarantee of trouble because the law regards it as a component of ammunition requiring a permit.

The irrepressible Charlie Keenan shows a customer a deactivated AK47 at his emporium in Toomebridge County Antrim

 
In the UK things got more complicated recently.  From 2 May 2017, the new legal provisions on firearms in the Police and Crime Act 2017, prohibit the sale, loan or transfer of any firearm that has not been deactivated to the current Home Office Technical standard. This standard is essentially the EU standard with a number of additional UK processes and can be subject to further revision in the future. The new law does not affect ownership of firearms deactivated to prior standards, as long as you have the relevant certificate, but prohibits the transfer by sale, swap, gifting or inheritance of pre-April 2016 deactivated firearms. This includes all firearms deactivated to any of the previous UK standards, from 1988 onwards.  The offence for breaking the law in England is up to 12 months imprisonment, or a fine, or both,  If the law is broken with, essentially, criminal intent or use, the custodial sentence increases to five years.  In effect, such items are locked to the current owner and if that person passes away, then any deactivated firearms in the estate will have to be subjected to current deactivation specification processes in order to be inherited, or be surrendered to the Police by the estate.  Collections of pre-2016 deactivated weapons will be effectively rendered unsellable within the EU, unless the owner is willing to carry out the draconian sabotage to their collection to meet the new specifications.

Why would a normally sane individual dress up as a Bulgarian border guard with a deactivated Mosin carbine, parade around the garden and take a selfie?   

If I have learned one thing in a lifetime of dealing with the authorities who handle matters of firearms it is this:  When they make a mistake they blame the gunowner.  With this in mind I would advise any person in the UK or Ireland who wishes to have a collection of classic firearms to ensure  firstly they meet current deactivation specifications and secondly to have documentation readily available.  Own an old spec deact or lose the bit of paper and you can expect to be treated as a criminal.  We don't have to approve of the law but it IS the law even when unfairly administered.

 

Militaria collecting attracts some very interesting people

Antique firearms

Under British Law, certain firearms – rifles, shotguns and hand guns included, are not considered to be ‘weapons’ in the legal sense. They require no licence, as long as certain conditions are upheld. A list of obsolete calibres is maintained by the Home Office and if a firearm is on this list it can be bought and sold without a permit and need not be deactivated.  Here is a short excerpt from the list:

.255 Jeffrey Rook (H)
.275 Jeffrey (H)
.276 Enfield P.13 (Hu)
.28/30/120 Stevens (B)
.297/.230 Sporting (H)
.297/.230 Morris (H)
.298 Minex (H)
.300 (.295) Rook (H)


 

We call this the "bullstopper".  When some Google expert starts spouting about classic firearms we show him the deact 1907 Maxim-Sokholov. It puts a stop to his "bull".  Incidentally the big freeze killed the Eucalyptus in the background

 Problems have arisen when people, by whatever means, use these old guns to shoot live ammunition and this should be kept in mind.  Generally, owning an antique or obsolete gun in the UK is fairly clear cut and safe and there is a lively trade in such items on the various websites.  If you live in the Irish Republic you can own an antique or obselete gun but it is advisable to exercise caution.

Classic air pistols can be purchased cheaply without a permit in some jurisdictions and people have succumbed to temptation and then arrived back home with these items which are very often defective. A broken pellet gun is an illegal firearm in good old anti-gun Ireland

Every collector wants a Parabellum   This one belongs to the British Legion and is deactivated and used for display and education.  It has travelled to schools to promote the Legion's work on War Graves and it cost £500. A firing model can cost £1,000 to £5,000. The uniform is Swedish  surplus and was surprisingly reasonable from an online militaria outfit.

The Irish DOJ state the following on their website:

Antique firearms are exempt from the provisions of the Firearms Acts provided they are held as ornaments or curiosities.  More information on this can be found in the firearms licensing guidelines on the Garda website.  If you intend to buy one from abroad you should obtain an importation licence from this Department before bringing it into the country.  Modern reproductions of antique firearms are not exempt from firearms legislation. You may wish to buy an old (but not antique) firearm, or one which is valuable because of its historical significance or as an investment.  These firearms require a firearms certificate and you should apply in the normal way. 

 I went to the Garda website and searched for "Antique firearms" as per the instruction on the DOJ website and found nothing.  I'm sure if I spent a few hours poking around various official archives I might find information of owning an obsolete firearm but to be truthful I couldn't be bothered, knowing as I do that what is legal in this district is an offense in some other district.  The best advice is to ask the local guards and if they tell you it's ok to buy some old gun you fancy - get it in writing otherwise it WILL get seized in transit and you WILL end up in trouble.  Better still get a firearms dealer to import it for you.  I have met so many people who have gotten into trouble over mail order gun-related items I can offer no other advice.  In 1988 I was myself arrested and searched by the guards because I owned a NONFIRING REPLICA pistol, in other words, a toy.  My guns were seized and it took ballistics three months to establish the replica was legal and harmless and even then they tried to hold on to my guns.  Being in the right does not mean you will be treated as such.

Paintball is fun but remember there ARE laws governing it that you need to be familiar with I am informed that you can legally purchase and own an imitation firearm under 1 joule  in Ireland.  In the UK you must be a member of a registered club.  Interestingly airsoft outlets in the UK will not accept membership of a shooting range.

Owning a collection of classic or antique firearms is a wonderful conversation starter for people who are interested in history or just curious.  I find that visitors are always curious about my "deact rack" and enjoy examining and touching the various rifles.  The bayonets are, if anything, more fascinating than the guns although, being edged weapons, one has to be careful as most people don't think safety.  I have an interest in photography and an old rifle is a useful prop when taking a posed photo.  I don't let people see or handle my licenced firearms but the collection is safe and popular with family visitors and enthusiasts alike. 

This photo, taken in twilight during the big snowstorm in February 2018 was greatly improved by including a deactivated rifle

This engraved Lady's Muff Pistol dates from the mid nineteenth century back when women were permitted to defend themselves if attacked. One wonders whether they have more or fewer rights today.  A .60 ball at point blank range from an outraged lady was surely a wonderful defense of virtue.  It is engraved and possibly of Belgian provenance and one can be had for anything from a few hundred to a few thousand depending on condition and rarity. 

The cannon department at Henry Krank's shop in Pudsey near Leeds.  It is possible to by one and licence it but with powder costing about £20 a shot, maybe not.