Best-looking guns?

Inspired by the masterly gunsmithing of Hoyt-Clagwell...

Pure aesthetics.
Your favourite firearms through the ages, up to & including artillery.

Not sure anything will beat C96 Mausers for me.
A gentleman's weapon, but with just the right hint of cad.
Woodwork, warlike, slightly over-complex in appearance.
Handsome.




My first entry in the archaic heading is possibly the Lillehammer revolver.
Made c.1597 in Germany, elaborate engraving & inlaying on a gun often leaves me cold, but on this it's somehow trumped by, and enhances, the technological innovation the thing represents.



Fully Automatic: a Vickers MG with full tripod and water setup.
Arguably not all that attractive to some, but there's something 'Ich bin für Krieg' about it. Businesslike. That, and it feels so intricately bound up with the British military over such a long period that it never looks anything less than right to me.



And finally, in big boys' toys.
Probably the 25pdr. MkII onwards.
Not just a supremely well-made and accurate gun, but one that carries it all off with a certain distinctive style, from that unusual & ingenious turntable firing platform to the distinctive Muzzle brake/s and it's aesthetic association with Limber & Quad. Rivets even. Never quite sure why; I just think it looks nice.


Any more for any more?
Couldn't care less if it was a disaster - all about the appearance.
I mean, even the Chauchat has a certain style...

 

The stock/butt looks a little OTT for a pistol...an aluminium frame stock would have sufficed for the mouser IMO...
Ones that immediately jumps to my mind is:

The Derringer four barrel pocket pistol.
Martini Cadet
M16
M1 carbine

 

Here are my submissions;

The Grease Gun, cheaply made, effective, cool looking.





The good ole Colt .45 Government Model. I have one at the house.





The Thompson Sub-Machine gun, AKA the chopper, the Tommy Gun. Cool looking too.






The M-60 light machine gun. I carried one of these around Alaska for the better part of 2 years.






The 12 pound Napoleon. The most used cannon of the Americal Civil War.

 

Love the Napoleon, it was a great gun and a near perfect compromise between the short range, anti-personnel effectiveness of a howitzer and the long range effectiveness of the rifles. I always thought the 3" Ordinance Rifle was a good looking piece as well, the shape of the tube looked sleek. It was the most common rifled piece used in the War of Northern Aggression, not as well known as the Parrot Rifle; it was safer, being made out of wrought iron vs cast iron, so tube fractures or bursting were virtually unknown. 400 pounds lighter than the Napoleon it was more mobile and was extremely accurate for long range work.
"The rifle had exceptional accuracy. During the Battle of Atlanta, a Confederate gunner was quoted: "The Yankee three-inch rifle was a dead shot at any distance under a mile. They could hit the end of a flour barrel more often than miss, unless the gunner got rattled."

​

Here's an interesting video of a 3" Ordinance Rifle being fired at Chickamauga. Interesting because you can see so many historically significant points in a small area.

1.) At the first of the video when the gun pulls off the road to let the infantry pass it's about 20 feet from the place General John Bell Hood was shot as he was leading the breakthrough.
2.) When they come out of the woods into Dyer field the crest in the distance, to the left and then panned across, is where the charging infantry captured 15 Federal artillery pieces, the most captured during the war during a single attack. A dispute simmered for years between Sugg's 50th Tennessee and Coleman's 39th North Carolina over who captured which guns, and Perry's 44th Alabama captured a number as well, but stayed out of the dispute.
3.) The crest in the center with the obelisk (South Carolina Monument) was the focus of Kershaw's South Carolina Brigade, Hood's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, as they wheeled right at the breakthrough attempting to roll up the Federal flank. The little point of woods, below and slightly left of the monument and above the light colored horse in the video, is the spot where Sgt. Richard Kirkland (Lieutenant at time of death), 2d South Carolina Infantry, "the Angel of Marye's Heights" was killed. Kirkland was a veteran of First Manassas, the Seven Days Battles, the Capture of Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Fredricksburg (where he gained his fame), Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, before being killed on the second day at Chickamuga.
Richard Rowland Kirkland - Wikipedia
4.) The gun when it is fired is pointed in the direction of Snodgrass Hill/Horseshoe Ridge which is located across a narrow valley hidden by the woodline behind the slope seen in the video.




Horseshoe Ridge, Chickamauga

 

Too many arms to contemplate right now. I certainly agree that the C96 must top the list of handguns of the early 20th century. The variants would make a long list, right up to the full auto Schnellfeuer model. In addition, the design was widely copied by the Chinese and Spanish and those variants would make another long list.

 

The aforementioned South Carolina Monument up close.



From the South Carolina Monument looking back towards the road the artillery and infantry came down in the video. They entered the field to the right near my parked truck. You can tell better here the actual height of the elevation and the distance the infantry charged across. Great field of fire for the Federal guns emplaced here.

 

The actual spot Hood fell. Looking from the woods across to the ridge where the Federal artillery was on the opposite side of Dyer Field. This spot would be to the far right of the previous photo.



Kirkland fell at the point where the woodline to the left starts to curve back. The smaller monument almost dead center on the crest, near the tablets is Schultz's 1st Ohio Lt. Artillery; the action around those six guns IMHO probably saved the Union Army from complete destruction. Federal troops small groups of men from shattered regiments began to form up around these guns. Three additional guns, what was left of Church's Battery D, 1st Michigan, arrived and formed up to Schultz's right. They were all that was left of the battery, the rest having been lost when the Federal defenses at Poe field collapsed. The bulk of Robertson's Texans were emerging from the woods, having moved forward to fill a gap between Benning's Georgia Brigade which had been shot up and disorganized in crushing the Federals at Poe Field and the five regiments of Law's Brigade (under command of Col. William Perry, 44th Alabama) which had continued assaulting west chasing the broken remnants of the Federal center and over running the Federal artillery positioned on the ridge line at the south end of Dyer field. Three of Robertson's regiments, the 1st and 4th Texas and 3rd Arkansas wheeled right from west to north (the 5th Texas had become separated in the dense woods and seeing elements of Benning's Brigade falling back thought a retreat had been ordered, the soon realized the mistake and set off to find the rest of the brigade) and seeing the Federal stragglers attempting to form a defensive line on the heights attacked. The fire was heavy, but they pushed forward. Fresh Federal regiments had been rushed forward to plug the gap and fortuitously arrived just in time to strike Robertson's exposed right flank. The Texans broke and fell back. It was at this point that Hood rushed forward, ordered Kershaw's South Carolina Brigade to join the attack and went to rally his Texans. It was during this time that he was hit and fell from his horse. Humphrey's Mississippi Brigade had now come up and joined the Kershaw's men in another assault which broke the improvised Federal defensive position, securing the crest.
Why do I say this action was crucial to the outcome of the battle?
1.) The delaying action held the confederates up long enough for Thomas to begin forming a defensive line along Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge.
2.) Longstreet had placed Hood in charge of the advance and when he went down there was no one in place to take charge and organize a coordinated assault on Thomas' still weak position. Longstreet was off enjoying a picnic lunch of Nassau bacon and sweet potatoes, no shit!, instead of controlling the action during this most critical time of the battle.
3.) Time was lost after Hood's wounding where individual commanders for want of orders stood idle or launched piecemeal attacks, all the while Thomas was receiving more troops and fortifying the ground he held.

​

 

Confederate 12lb Napoleon emplaced (behind the South Carolina Monument) on the high ground after the Federal defenses were driven off. It would have fired across the narrow, wooded valley at Federal forces located on Horseshoe Ridge.



Another interesting tidbit; Because Chickamauga was the first National Military Park established they had access to all the obsolete guns stored in Federal armories, to include artillery surrendered by the South at the conclusion of hostilities. They are the only Civil War battlefield where all the guns are original and of the correct types.

 

I'm not an expert on weapons, But I believe Franchi SPAS-12 should be on the list too. What you guys think?

 

Sorry I got a bit off track, but Bobby and I have talked for a long time about him coming down (actually up) and touring the battlefield and what's left of the Fort Oglethorpe, home of the Sixth U.S. Cavalry. Though I've never met Bobby (A58) in person, I consider him a friend, we talk here on the forum and by PM, and sometimes on the phone or by text; so when he posted the picture of the Napoleon my natural enthusiasm for Civil War history took over. Back to topic.

First time I saw a reproduction of one of these I fell in love and had to buy it. It was something about the beauty of the wood next to the steel whose shine was accented by the brass fittings. The Model 1862 Richmond, rifled musket. Made in Richmond, Virginia from 1862-1865 with machinery captured at the U.S. Arsenal, Harper's Ferry, it was an effective and popular weapon. First time I live fired it I was amazed at how accurate it was and how much energy the .58 caliber round imparted on the target. Devastating.



1862 .58 cal Richmond Rifled Musket.

 

Now that we're back on track, the LeMat revolver, also a weapon of the Confederacy. Nine (count 'em, nine!) shots of 42 caliber revolving around a 20 gauge central barrel that could unleash a single 60 caliber ball or a load of buckshot. These, to my eye, have a cool steampunk appearance: Lethality, dressed in Victorian elegance. Designed in New Orleans, about 2,500 were produced in Paris and made it through the Union blockade.

 

I like the plain-ness of that lock on the Richmond.
Gratifying to see the originals were similarly unadorned.


Agreed on the M60 & LeMat too. Both have a similar visual appeal to me.

It seems Infantry cannons of a certain period have good aesthetics by their very nature. Something about that big wheel period I like.
Though, if I had to choose carriage-mounted heavy weapons from a similar period, I'd adorn the garden with one of these (naturally in the 1 inch variant). Another bit of artfully created Victorian era engineering.:




Bobby, the Grease Gun might be a controversial choice, but I think I'm with you.
That distilled minimalist look has something.
Would look right hanging on these walls. And more useful than a small Paul Klee...

 

Forgot about this masterpiece. General Jacob Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart himself carried one of these beautimous shootin, irons with him into battle. I imagine that it saw a lot of up close and personal service before the sword got pulled.

I think that if Nathan Bedford Forrest and Josey Wales had a brace of these bullet launchers, things might have turned out a bit differently eh!




Yes, just one grease gun mounted on either wall would be a definite improvement here. Talk about the definitive conversation piece! On both walls would be better I'm thinking now. Magazines as well to be keeping with the "collage" thing. Andy Warhol would be envious.

 

I am partial to the ultimate version of the Mosin-Nagant -- the Finn M-39. (This one is mine)

 

Now there's a beautiful rifle. Wish I had one.

 

I read that unleashing that central barrel was a real wrist breaker.

 

This is pretty (THE GUN). (Yes, I have a PU sniper as well, just not that particular one).

 

dressed to kill...Femme Fatale