Thursday, June 26, 2014

History's Most Notorious Guns

History's most notorious guns
in no particular order......


The Derringer percussion pistol that John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
The assassination took place at Ford's theater in Washington D.C. on Good Friday, April 14th, 1865.

 The Italian Mannlicher Carcano Rifle used to shoot President John F Kennedy on Friday November 22nd, 1963.

 

The Rohm/RG .22 revolver used by John Hinkley in the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. on March 30th, 1981.

The revolver used by John Zahm to make an attempt at murdering Teddy Roosevelt, the bullet did not even slow down the "Bull Moose" he went on with his public appearance. Teddy died years later with the bullet still in his chest
 
Lee Harvey Oswald's Smith & Wesson Victory model revolver used to kill Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit
Sheriff Pat Garrett's widow holding the Colt Frontier .44-40 caliber revolver that Pat used to shoot and kill Billy the Kid


The Beretta M1934 pistol used to kill Mohandas K "Mahatma" Ghandi on January 30th, 1948 by Nathuram Godse

  The Charter Arms .38 Special revolver used by Mark David Chapman to kill John Lennon outside the Dakota Apartments in New York on December 8th, 1980.
Ironically he purchased the gun from someone named "Ono".


 The .380 Cal FN Pistol that Gavrilo Princip used to kill Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand & his wife Sophie, triggering the first World War. The date was June 28th, 1914, the place was Sarajevo.
This was touted as the gun used by Wyatt Earp at the famous OK Corral shootout. Many dispute this, it has been well established that Wyatt used a Smith & Wesson model 3 .44 American in the gun battle, rather than this Colt SAA.

Still this gun with the serial # obliterated (usually a sign of someone hiding something) sold at auction for $225,000.

The Remington 760 Gamemaster rifle with Redfield 2-7X Scope used by James Earl Ray to kill Martin Luther King in Memphis on April 4th, 1968.


On July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, used these Dueling Pistols to settle personal & political differences. Alexander Hamilton died of the gunshot wound he received the following day.
The incident ruined Burr's political career and made Hamilton a martyr. Alexander Hamilton's portrait has been on the U.S. $10 bill since around the time of the Civil War.


 The Walther PP said to have been used by Adolph Hitler to commit suicide as the Red Army approached the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, the date was April 30th, 1945


This gun started the greatest conspiracy theories in history.
This is the Colt Cobra .38 revolver used by Jack Ruby to kill Lee Harvey Oswald, just 48hrs after President Kennedy Died. 
One weird twist of fate, John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby all spent their last moments at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
The shotgun used by rocker Kurt Cobain to commit suicide. His body was discovered by an Electrician on April 8th, 1994, the Coroner estimated that Kurt took his life 3 days earlier on April 5th.

The FN Model 1910 used to assassinate Louisiana Politician Huey "The Kingfish" Long. The shooting happened just one month after he announced he would run for President. On September 8th, 1935, Dr. Carl Weiss shot The Kingfish in the abdomen, from 4 feet away. Huey died two days later from complications relating to the wound.


This .22 Iver Johnson Cadet revolver was used by Sirhan Sirhan to kill Bobby Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, June 5, 1968.
This full auto .38 super 1911 is said to have been used by George "Baby Face" Nelson in the Little Bohemia Raid on April 23, 1934. Fellow gang member John Dillinger had a similar gun made by the same Texas Gunsmith.

The Kel-Tec pistol used by George Zimmerman in defense of his life on February 26, 2012. Ending the life of 19 year old Trevon Martin.

The guns used by Charles Whitman on August 1st 1966 at the University of Texas Tower, he killed 16 people

The cut down Browning shotgun owned by Clyde Barrow, he called it "the whip it"
Bonnie Parker's Colt Detective Special that was strapped to her thigh the day she died. 
Bonnie & Clyde were killed by a posse led by Frank Hamer in Bienville Parish, Louisiana on May 23, 1934
Jesse James' own S&W Schofield revolver, used by Bob Ford, to kill the legendary outlaw. The date was April 3rd, 1882.
This .32 Caliber Iver Johnson revolver was used by anarchist Leon Czolgosz to shoot President William McKinley on September 6th 1901. The President died 8 days later from complications from the 2 bullet wounds. The burned handkerchief was used to conceal the gun.

Lt. Michael Kline of the Berrien County Sheriff's Dept. holds one of the original Thompson submachine guns that was used in the in the St. Valentine's Day massacre (Chicago 1929)
 The High Standard revolver below was used by Manson Family member Tex Watson to murder Sharon Tate and her guests at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles on August 9th, 1969.
The home had been lived in by many celebrities besides Roman Polanksi & Sharon Tate including: Terry Melcher & Candice Bergan, Cary Grant & Dyann Cannon, Henry Fonda and others.
A New York Police Detective holding the Charter Arms .44 Special Bulldog revolver used by David Berkowitz in the "Son of Sam" killings (1976-77)



This French MAS submachine gun was used by Italian partisans to end the life of fascist Benito "Il Duce" Mussolini on April 28th, 1945.
The Walther P-38 used to murder Bonnie Lee Bakely, wife of actor Robert Blake, who was tried for her murder.
 This .44 caliber British Bulldog (Belgian made) revolver was used by Charles Guiteau to Assassinate President James Garfield on July 2, 1881. Guiteau orginially wanted to buy a set of ivory grips for the gun, so it would look good in the museum (after the assassination), but he decided not to spend the extra $1 to buy them (interesting since he bought the gun with borrowed money in the 1st place....). 

This is the only known picture of the gun as it was stolen from the Smithsonian Museum at some point.
 Another Manson Family gun, this one was used by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme on September 5th, 1975 in her attempt to kill President Ford, she was unfamiliar with the 1911 and was unable to fire the gun before being tackled by the Secret Service.
The pistol was given to Gerald Ford's Presidential Museum and put on display.

This High Standard Double Nine .22 revolver was used by serial killer Aileen Wournos to kill 7 men between November of 1989 & November of 1990.

This Tec-9 pistol was used by Dylan Klebold in the Columbine Highschool shooting.

and the Hi-Point 9mm carbine used by Eric Harris in the same attack.

These two guns have provenance showing they once belonged to Alfonse "Scarface" Capone.


This collection was owned by Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger



On January 7th, 1973 Black Panther Mark Essex, after killing some folks in the Howard Johnson Downtown Hotel in New Orleans, set fire to some curtains and then made his way to the roof where he began shooting Police Officers with a Ruger .44 Magnum Carbine, he shot 19 people, 9 of which died. This picture shows an investigator carrying a taped together rifle. From my research and the few available pictures, it appears the full auto gun-fire from the Marine helicopter cut Essex's gun stock in pieces.






This AR-15 Semi-Auto rifle was used by The "Beltway Sniper" team of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo to kill ten people and injure 3 others during a 20 day period in October 2002. Interestingly, John Muhammad (then John Williams) was 10 years old and living in nearby Baton Rouge when Mark Essex committed his heinous act.
Perhaps this had an affect on the young social retard?









This M-1 Carbine/Pistol was used by Patty Hearst in the famous San Francisco bank robbery with the Symbionese Liberation Army (April 15th, 1974). She later claimed that she had been kidnapped and brainwashed by the leftist group.
Interestingly Bill Clinton's last official act as President was to provide Patty with a Presidential Pardon.


Another bank robbery, this one even more infamous. On February 28, 1997, Larry Phillips, Jr., and Emil Mătăsăreanu entered the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America at the corner of Laurel Canyon Road and Archwood Street with the intention of robbing it. The bank was surrounded by law enforcement officials when they exited. What followed was more like a Hollywood movie. Some 1,750 rounds and 45 minutes later the siege ended with only the two bank robbers losing their lives.
In 2004 the LAPD set up this display in their museum, using the actual equipment from the event including the fully automatic Noricno Type 56 (AK-47) rifle and the full auto Bushmaster M16



The following gun pictures are no where to be found. If you have a picture of any of these, please send them to me.


Bernhard Goetz, the "subway Vigilante" used a Smith & Wesson model 37 Airweight to shoot 4 muggers on a New York Subway on December 22, 1984


Just 17 days after Squeky Fromme's failed attempt, A devout Marxist & Patty Hearst fanatic named Sara Jane Moore decided to give assassination a try.
On September 22nd, Moore used a .38 Special revolver, firing off just one shot, missing President Ford by an estimated 6 inches. Interestingly She had been picked up by police on an illegal handgun charge the day before the Ford incident, but was released. The police confiscated her .44 caliber revolver and 113 rounds of ammunition. 100% evidence that background checks, waiting periods and other gun control measures DO NOTHING to stop a determined criminal, especially when law enforcement fails to do their job.


On June 3rd 1968, the actress, lesbian & feminazi Valarie Solanas pulled a .32 automatic on pop-artist Andy Warhol in an attempt to kill him. Despite being spitting distance from her target it took her three shots to put one in Andy's gut. Andy, survived the attack and being the attention whore he is, showed off his scars at cocktail parties.

On December 7th 1993, Colin Ferguson pulled a Ruger P89 9mm from his back pack and began shooting at people riding the Long Island Rail Road Commuter train. The widow of one of the victims, Carolyn McCarthy, ran for the US House of Representatives on a gun control platform. A subject of which she has no real knowledge. She is famous for her statement regarding "that shoulder thing that goes up"

On November 27th 1978, former San Francisco Board of Supervisor member Dan White used his police issued Smith & Wesson .38 revolver (said to be a model 36) to kill SF Mayor George Moscone and Board member Harvey Milk. 
The gun was recorded as having serial # 1J7901, which is wrong because that would put the date of mfg in 1981......
Some say the gun was stolen from the property room where People's Exhibit #40 was stored, others say the gun was destroyed by a city worker in 1983 "or thereabouts" although no official record of the gun being destroyed exists, nor is there any record of the gun being returned to the property room after the court hearings.


In June of 2013, NFL player Aaron Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd in Boston with a .38 Special S&W revolver.....allegedly

On October 9th, 1967 The Marxist, murderer of Latin America: Che Guevara's wicked ways finally caught up with him, actually it was the CIA and Bolivian Operatives who surrounded the troublemaker. 
Proving he was a blowhard & a coward of a Commie, he surrendered, asking that his life be spared because "he was worth more to them alive than dead". No Ernesto you were wrong.....he was executed with a U.S. M2 Carbine.












Sunday, June 22, 2014

Nitre Bluing


Nitre Bluing is not the same as Hot Salts Bluing (although heat and salts are used). Nitre bluing is more closely related to heat treating or heat bluing.
The parts are suspending in a salt solution that contains Potassium Nitrate, Sodium Nitrate and other chemicals (Brownell's recipe also contains Sodium Nitrite, other recipes include Manganese Dioxide) that is heated to 600 degrees. The colors achieved are the result of the heat and the salts combined.
In Hot Salts Bluing the color is the result of the chemical rusting, the heat helps with the melting of the salts and the conversion process, but the temp is less than 1/2 what is used in Nitre Bluing.

Just to clarify, Potassium Nitrate is also known as "Salt Peter" and is one of the ingredients in traditional black powder (along with Sulfur & Charcoal). Potassium Nitrate is also used as an ingredient in the brine for making Corned Beef as well as other foods.

Sodium Nitrate is a fertilizer and food preservative. It is used in the production of many kinds of foods, most notably hot dogs and sausages.

Manganese Dioxide is a powdered metal, used in parkerizing and for pottery glazes. 

None of these are used in the construction of fertilizer bombs like the one used in the Oklahoma City Bombing. That ingredient was Ammonium Nitrate (I just wanted to be clear on that).


One word of caution, nitre bluing should not be performed on critical parts like some hammers, firing pins, triggers and other parts that are heat treated. The 600 degree temperature in nitre bluing may anneal these parts and take away their heat treatment, making them prone to premature wear.

The Colt Single Action Army Revolver below has the cylinder pin, trigger and screws done in nitre blue (click on the picture for a larger version)
 
This color can be achieved by heat tempering, but the process is difficult to master. See my write up here.

As usual I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on the "over the counter" pre-made stuff.

So I went looking for a recipe that I could make up myself, I found a few, some even said to just use straight potassium nitrate. Some suggested adding 10% Manganese Dioxide (the same stuff used in parkerizing). Others suggested a mixture of Potassium & Sodium Nitrates.
I needed a reliable way to get the salts heated to the correct 590 degrees.

I bought a Lee lead pot like this one:

I bought some industrial grade potassium nitrate from a pottery supply store. Five (5) lbs cost me $10 including tax. You can find it online, but shipping prices might make it expensive. I already have Sodium Nitrate and Manganese Dioxide from my other refinishing processes.

I decided to try straight potassium nitrate 1st. If I don't get good results I can add the other ingredients.

So I put the Potassium Nitrate into the lead pot and plugged it in.....

 What I got was this mess.


I was thinking it might have been from oil left in the pot to keep it from rusting.....in my haste I forgot to clean the pot first
I prepared a screw anyway, figuring what the hell, I might as well try it.
I swirled it around in the sludge for a couple of minutes and then plunged it into a jug of water

This was the result
It did indeed blue the screw, but it is more blue/black then the "peacock" blue that we want. I am going to clean out the pot and start over with some fresh potassium nitrate.




So, I cleaned out the lead pot, and tried a different recipe. This time I used 2 parts Potassium Nitrate, 1/2 part Sodium Nitrate and a pinch of Manganese Dioxide. I used an empty chew can for my measuring cup (very scientific).
When I heated it up I got the same gooey mess




After the solution heated up, the gooey mess settled down and I went ahead and cleaned up the screws. These are for my Arisaka Redux project
I use Acetone to degrease & clean the parts
First I tested the solution with a finishing nail, we got an electric blue color!
 So I went ahead and dunked the screws one at a time. After a few minutes in the solution and a quick quenching in water, I got excellent results!

It is hard to see from the picture, but we have a nice electric blue color. I still think the heat was too hot, and I will continue to experiment (and buy a high temp thermometer), but I think I am on the right path now.