The Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives were in use for 116 years of official service and close to 160 years of actual use with many incremental changes in its design. It remained in production for 140 years, making the Brown Bess’ production one of the longest production runs for a firearm in history.
History
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The Musket that Changed the World: The Land Pattern “Brown Bess”
BY Mark Miller Published: September 27, 2020 Updated: September 27, 2020When a CIA Huey Won a Dogfight with a Communist Biplane
BY Will Dabbs Published: September 12, 2020 Updated: September 12, 2020Though hardly what might be considered air combat in the Space Age, in January of 1968 the crew chief on an Air America Huey helicopter did indeed bring down an enemy biplane with an AK47.
America’s Forgotten War & the 1911 That Saved My Friend’s Life
BY Will Dabbs Published: August 30, 2020 Updated: August 30, 2020The Korean War era was a confusing time. Almost two million Americans served, and nearly five million people were killed on both sides.
The Boxer That Saved a Princess: “Not Bloody Likely!”
BY Will Dabbs Published: August 21, 2020 Updated: August 21, 2020In what is one of the most awesome lines ever uttered in the midst of a gunfight, the frightened, disheveled, irritated daughter of the Queen stated flatly, “Not bloody likely!”
Valerie Solanas, the M1935 Beretta, and the Protracted Murder of Andy Warhol
BY Will Dabbs Published: August 15, 2020 Updated: August 15, 2020In shooting the avant-garde artist, Andy Warhol, a mentally ill aspiring writer named Valerie Solanas did indeed achieve her fifteen minutes of fame.
The Life and Times of the Brain-Damaged Gunslinger Clay Allison
BY Will Dabbs Published: August 2, 2020 Updated: August 2, 2020Our vision of Old West gunplay was formed by Western movies rather than the Old West itself. The very term “Gunslinger” was an early-20th century concoction. Clay Allison, however, was the real deal.
The San Bernardino Shooters: Husband and Wife Psycho Team
BY Will Dabbs Published: July 26, 2020 Updated: July 26, 2020What possible darkness could possess two young parents to abandon their 6-month-old daughter and sacrifice their lives to slaughter a building full of innocent people?
WW2, High School Geometry, and the BAR
BY Will Dabbs Published: July 16, 2020 Updated: July 16, 2020As a nation and as a people we owe those old guys a debt that can never be repaid. Sometimes it behooves us to just be still and ponder how awesome they all were.
The Kent State Shootings: Glimpsing the Heart of Darkness
BY Will Dabbs Published: July 12, 2020 Updated: July 12, 2020On the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, forces representing the Establishment were arrayed against a motley mob of some 2,000 students, hippies, stoners, bikers, and sundry anti-war protestors.
Hunters from the Sky: German Fallschirmjagers
BY Will Dabbs Published: June 21, 2020 Updated: June 21, 2020Back in 1940, unproven troops using unproven tactics shook the world’s foundations with radical operations like the seizure of the Waalhaven Airfield. Modern armed conflict would never be the same.