| Artifacts: Bullet Boards & Firearms All of the bullet boards were made as store advertising by the arms manufacturers. The survival rate was very low due to 2 factors. One, most of them were hung in the windows or on walls where sun and moisture decayed and corroded them. Second, and more important, is the early cartridge collectors (1930 - 1960) stripped most of the boards of their cartridges to sell them individually. Some of these cartridges CANNOT be found today at any price. "Single W" Manufactured 1890 Special note on this board is the top center cartridge, the infamous 70-150 Winchester cartridge made to fit their Model 1887 lever shot gun but no guns were ever manufactured for it.  "Double W" Manufactured 1897 About 200 of these were made until 1902 when the lithograph picture prints were issued. This is the most common of the Winchester boards. The intact survival rate of these boards is about 30%.  "Elk U.M.C." Manufactured 1890's The Union Metallic Cartridge Company was bought around the turn of the century by the Remington Arms Company and is still manufacturing ammunition today. UMC was the only company to make the 1" Gatling gun cartridge (seen lower left next to the primer display) for the Chinese warlords.  Big bore waterfowl "Market" guns 1840 - 1920s The Pioneer Saloon is proud to display above our bar two antique Market Guns. Big-bore waterfowl guns were manufactured and used from the 1840's to the 1920's for the commercial hunting of waterfowl. The Market gunner would "sluice" the floating birds before they flew, sometimes killing as many as thirty birds with a single shot. This technique was also used on the swan population, bringing them close to extinction. The 1" bored long barrel gun was used in a shallow draft boat, firing from a fixed mount similar to an oarlock. The Market gunners would float close to a "rafted" group of ducks or geese in the open lakes or ponds. It was fired at the center of the "raft". The recoil would violently propel the boat backwards through the water! Throwing one half pound of shot at a time, one of these guns could take hundreds of birds in a day. The gun nearest to the Dining Room is a very rare 11 bore English shoulder fired flintlock long range waterfowl gun dating from the late 1700s. It was used by the "Gentlemen shooters” of the era who hunted in top hats and tails for long range shooting for decoyed duck and geese. Live "Judas” decoys were employed to increase the success of the hunt.   The six-foot long barrel was needed to ensure sufficient burning of the black powder to propel the shot charges out to the hunting distances of the day. Today’s guns and ammunition routinely accomplish this in the same 40 to 60 yard ranges. Given the lock time of a flint gun as well as the burning efficiency of black powder, the shooter would need a steady hand as well as a consistent swing to have any luck at all.    |
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