NRA National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier was recently in Newark, Ohio, for The American Thompson Association’s 19th Annual All Thompson Show and Shoot. He provided us with these photos and told us a little about his trip.

“I’ve been to five,” Schreier said of the annual gathering. The Association, an NRA affiliated collector’s club, was awarded the NRA Gun Collectors Committee Trophy at the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Charlotte. Read more about the 2010 NRA National Gun Collecting Awards.

What do the Tommy Gun enthusiasts do at their show? The purpose of these meetings, their website says, is to gather and share experiences andinformation on the Thompson. Mixed with a good deal of fun, of course.

“It’s a two stage shoot,” Schreier explained. “The first stage you shoot your firearm on full automatic for five different stages, at 20 rounds each, with the focus on accuracy.”

“The second stage is a steel falling plate contest. That’s for speed.”

Given the chance, Schreier could hardly observe the event – he brought his Thompson and joined the competitors on the firing line. How'd he fare?

“Well, the guy that knocked me out of the first round won the overall competition,” he said with a smile, “so if I had to get beat by someone, at least I got beat by the guy who won it all.”

In addition to his time on the firing line, Schreier provided interviews for a few episodes of American Rifleman TV. 

“Anyone interested in joining the Association should check out their website,” Schreier said. Download an application here. Annual dues are $30. “They are a great group and a wonderful extension of the NRA’s commitment to gun collecting.”

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Doug Wicklund, Senior Curator at the National Firearms Museum, provides NRAblog with a brief history on a true rarity on loan from Mr. Ellis Joubert.

The Isaiah Jennings All-Metal Breechloading Flintlock Rifle

One of the most unusual repeating firearms ever to be manufactured in the United States was Isaiah Jennings’ repeating flintlock rifle of 1821.

Built with a detachable skeleton-type shoulder stock as well as a removable 21-inch octagonal barrel, the Jennings rifle was capable of firing twelve shots without reloading. This multi-shot arm was loaded with a dozen superimposed bullets and alternating powder charges, each placed one on top on another down the bore, and was fitted with twelve individual touchholes, each also being equipped with a swivel cover.

In firing, the first charge towards the barrel was discharged first, and then the movable lockplate was pulled back to the next swivel cover position. The .44 caliber and reduced powder space in this rifle may have meant it was intended to utilize hollowed-out projectiles with the powder charge placed inside the bullet itself.

This intriguing transitional rifle, bridging technology from muzzleloading arms to cartridge repeaters, bears serial number 1.

Danny McCullough of NRA Publications tipped us off on this article, which is actually a combination of older articles. From AmericanHunter.com:

The New Model 70 Winchester

The Model 54 Winchester has passed into history. No more will be made except in .22 Hornet caliber. The New Year of 1937 will usher in an improved Winchester bolt-action rifle, the new model 70, which will supplant the old Model 54. Practically all criticisms which have been aimed at the old model have been met in the design of the new model. Gone is the "canoe-paddle" forestock, the high-angle bolt handle and vertical safety, the sear bolt-stop, the much-criticized trigger, the solid floor plate and poor trigger guard. Instead we have an excellent modern rifle with the same low receiver line and a much lower action lever to permit a low position of any telescope sight. The firing mechanism is a new development. The trigger is machined out of a single forging and is so designed with the sear that, together, they give a very short, crisp let-off with no military take-up and with scarely any movement of the trigger.

The new bolt stop, working with the left-hand locking lug on the forward end of the bolt, retains the bolt so that the sear no longer acts as a bolt stop. This bolt stop operates vertically. We found the external bolt-release plunger, on the left side just behind the rear edge of the receiver. It is convenient and effective without being obtrusive.

Read the whole thing here.

Mr. Jonathan Isaacs, an NRA member and Second Amendment advocate from Colorado, is pictured above (right) with NRA National Firearms Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier at the 2010 Annual Meetings.

"Jonathan Isaacs is a very active supporter of numerous NRA programs and at the NRA Annual Meetings in Charlotte he generously contributed $2,500 to the National Firearms Museum endowment to promote museum activities and outreach programs that impact today’s youth," Schreier told NRAblog. "He strongly believes that instilling a sense of heritage and history about our shared past will go a long way in making sure that the freedoms that were won yesterday will be protected long into the future."

Visitors to the NRA's National Firearms Museum here at NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, are in for a special treat this year.

Titled Hollywood Guns, the Museum's newest exhibit showcases firearms spanning eighty years of silver screen classics like Stagecoach and 2010 Best Picture Oscar Winner The Hurt Locker.

Perhaps the exhibit's most popular piece, Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum is pictured at right.

With an official debut of Friday, June 25, the display will be here at the Museum through next summer.

“Hollywood Guns is all about phenomenal firearms borrowed from our friends in America’s movie capital,” Senior Curator Phil Schreier said. “They come from the largest Hollywood prop houses and private collections around the country."

Featuring more than 125 unique firearms, the new exhibit showcases famous and infamous firearms including Obi Wan Kenobi’s light saber from Star Wars, the Remington 11-87 shotgun from No Country for Old Men, and John Wayne’s Winchester 1892 carbine from his break-out roll in Stagecoach. “Those are the pieces that the public recognize. They help bring excitement and realism to a film,” Schreier said.

For a few sneak peeks, check out Schreier's most recent Curator's Corner clips. 

Spanning the decades of 1930 to 2010, Hollywood Guns has something for everyone. Film buffs and gun collectors will equally be amazed with selections from crime dramas, police thrillers, as well as a generous sampling from Western classics and gritty war movies.

“These guns have never before been seen together and will probably never be seen together again,” said Museum Director Jim Supica. “We’re delighted to display this exceptional collection of firearms to Museum visitors.”

The First Annual NRA National Gun Collectors Show & Conference was held in Nashville, TN, in 1996, and quickly assumed the title of "The Finest Gun Collectors Show in the Country." The show is a program of our National Firearms Museum here in Fairfax, VA, and it travels all over the United States.

This year, the Museum has announced the show will take place July 23-25 in Kansas City, MO. The Missouri Valley Arms Collectors Association is proud to be hosting the much anticipated 15th Annual NRA National Gun Collectors Show & Conference. NRAblog will have all the details, so stick around!

The Ohio Gun Collectors Association was in for a treat on Saturday night when NRA National Firearms Museum Director Jim Supica served as the keynote at their meeting.

Supica describes the event as magnificent. "It's always a privilege to be in the presence of so many 'unrepentant accumulators,'" Supica joked, referring to the title he has bestowed upon himself and other select gun collectors and dealers. 

Special thanks to Museum Senior Curator Phil Schreier for providing the above photo. "Jim did a great job," Schreier said, pointing out the dinner featured some 500 attendees. "He started with a rundown of NRAmuseum.org, highlighting a few features of the website, and transitioned into the bit on being a gun accumulator."

What was his parting message to this group of passionate NRA members and firearm collectors? "Any gun collection is a good collection," Supica said.

The Ohio Gun Collectors Association recently turned 73 years old. The Association has meetings at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio, which are open to members and inivted guests only.

This weekend's meeting features one very special guest -- NRA National Firearms Museum Director Jim Supica.

In his keynote address to the Association, Supica plans to offer up a confession to his fellow collectors: "My presentation will be titled “Confessions of an Unrepentant Accumulator,” he told NRAblog. (For an idea of what is to come, read this article.) "My main incentive to become a full time dealer in guns was my tearful realization that I could not possibly obtain and keep one of everything," Supica writes. "I figured this way, I'd get to at least have one of most for at least a little while."

In addition to speaking at the meeting, Supica, along with Phil Schreier, will have one of pop culture's most recognizable guns on display: Dirty Harry's .44 magnum, pictured at right. Stay tuned for a full report and photographs from NRAblog correspondent Schreier.

Every day at the National Firearms Museum is filled with possibilities. Possibilities that come in the form of new guests who visit, new inquiries for the curators to research, or – as was the case Tuesday – a new donation to prepare for display.

What we have here, according to Senior Curator Doug Wicklund, is a .60 caliber flintlock pistol. A cursory examination suggest it was made somewhere between 1770 and 1780. Thanks to the surviving engraving, we also know that the gunsmith was a man named Andre from Nancy, France.

“There was a gold wash embellishment that disappeared due to use over time,” Wicklund told NRAblog. “There also appears to be a coat of arms on the stock that has also worn away.”

Wicklund went on to theorize that the gun came from a set of dueling pistols made for someone in the French nobility. “Given the amount of detail, the remnants of gold, that would be my guess.”

This donation also marks the first appearance of the work of the gunmaker Andre in the National Firearms Museum. “It’s a real rush. There’s always a touch of excitement when we have the opportunity to display the work of a previously unknown gunsmith. Especially with such a fine piece as this.”

If you're unable to visit our world class Museum here in Fairfax, Virginia, check out the official National Firearms Museum website for a virtual tour! 

"It's my honor to welcome you," Wayne Anthony Ross told the crowded conference room at the Charlotte Convention Center on Sunday, May 16, 2010. Ross, the chairman of the Gun Collectors Committee, is a longtime NRA Board Member and true friend to the community. "We have 25 gun collector organizations represented here, and before I say anything more, I’d like to introduce NRA Vice President David Keene, a fellow Winsconsinite who has honored us with his presence."

"It’s a pleasure to get the chance to be here for a few minutes," Keene said from the podium at the front of the room. "I’m awed by how much effort and love goes into this."

"Collecting is one of the ways we enjoy our firearm rights," Keene said. "You're an important part of what we do and why we're here, and I want to thank you for all you do."

"The heritage of the NRA goes back," Keene continued. "Waaaay back, and you are preserving a vital part of the American heritage, in addition to having a heck of a good time while you do it."

The first year any collector group participates in the NRA National Gun Collecting Awards Competition, it receives a special plaque. After that, the group receives a special star ornament for each additional year of participation.

In 2010, one group debuted an exhibit: the Southeastern Antique Arms Collectors Association. All NRA affiliated gun collector clubs are eligible to enter, Senior Curator Phil Schreier told NRAblog.

"Each of these organizations is to be commended for their individual and collective efforts and the resulting success that has been enjoyed by thousands of visitors in the Exhibit Hall this weekend," Ross told the crowd before calling representatives to the front of the room to receive their stars. Below, we've listed each group that is celebrating 25 or more years of participation: 

Ohio Gun Collectors Assn.	57
Michigan Antique Arms Collectors	49
Ruger Collectors' Association	36
Minnesota Weapons Collectors Association	31
Smith & Wesson Collectors' Association	28
Miniature Arms Collectors/Makers Society	27
Winchester Arms Collectors Association	25

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NRAblog was pleased to invite some of the 2010 Annual Meeting’s “gun bloggers” to the NRA booth at the conclusion of Sunday’s events. That's right -- this concludes the 139th Annual Meetings and Exhibits.

Museum Director Jim Supica and Senior Curator Phil Schreier were on hand to answer questions – but the real focus was on the guns.

These NRA members got their hands on the following pieces: John Wayne’s Winchester from Stagecoach, Tom Selleck’s Sharps from Quigley Down Under, Dirty Harry’s .44 Magnum, the suppressed Remington shotgun from No Country For Old Men, the Beretta used by both Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and by Bruce Willis in Die Hard.

More – better – pictures to come. Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned this week for more coverage on the Hollywood Guns, Annual Meetings, and more.

Phil Schreier, Senior Curator of the NRA National Firearms Museum, tells NRAblog this is his 16th time attending an NRA Annual Meetings.

"The Gun Collectors and Gun Collectors Associations have always been a part of this event," he said.

Pictured at left with the Hollywood Gun case, Schreier, along with Museum Director Jim Supica, work hard to coordinate the Collectors Awards. An official ceremony kicks off at 9 a.m. at the Charlotte Convention Center, room 200, this morning. NRAblog will report back with the results and some photographs.

Picking the best of show winner is no easy task for the three judges, Supica says:

“There are four or five displays in there that would win first place at any national gun show," Supica told NRAblog. "We have some incredible historic one-of-a-kind guns on display."

"Each of the displays is outstanding this year, so it was a very very hard choice for judges," he said. "I don't envy them."

Thursday afternoon was the launching of yet another National Firearms Museum (NFM) escapade here at the 139th Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Charlotte, North Carolina. NRA members from all walks of life were invited to bring in their firearms for evaluation by NFM Director Jim Supica or Senior Curator Phil Schreier. Representatives from Universal Coins & Bullion were on hand to appraise gold coins, and to ensure that everyone gets a peak, Universal provided support to film select parts of the event.

The event was set to kick off at 1 p.m., and by that time a line was winding across the Charlotte Convention Center. Supica and Schreier were on their feet, chatting with firearm owners and enthusiasts, until nearly 8, two hour past the event's official conclusion. "What do you think you have?" Schreier asked each of his assignments. Both Schreier and Supica had reference materials on hand to offer an accurate value, while reminding folks that this appraisal is a simple casual one, without any guarantee. One NRA member recognized Schreier from the History Channel, where he is often interviewed. "Where else do you get the chance to have someone with this sort of firearms expertise spend one-on-one time with you," he asked, "and all free of charge? This has been worth (the wait)."

There were a few beauties and a few also-rans, but highlights for the night had to include a 4-gauge double-barrel rifled shotgun along with a volcanic lever action pistol. Supica and Schreier ended the day with more friends and potential Museum visitors. We’ll keep you posted on this exciting event!

Our very own Phil Schreier, esteemed historian and Senior Curator of the NRA National Firearms Museum, will join his longtime friend Mark Keefe, Editor in Chief of American Rifleman, for the following seminar:  U.S. Pistol, Model of 1911: Trials & Combat. You won't want to miss it! 

Date: Sunday, May 16 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Location: TBD
Speakers: Mark Keefe, American Rifleman Editor-in-Chief; Philip Schreier, National Firearms Museum Senior Curator; and Martin K.A. Morgan, military historian. In celebration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Model 1911 handgun, Keefe, Morgan and Schreier will headline this special session.

In celebration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Model 1911 handgun, Keefe, Morgan and Schreier will headline a special session titled "U.S. Pistol, Model of 1911: Trials & Combat" at the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Charlotte, N.C. Keefe will address "Why .45?," Schreier will cover "U.S. M1911: Trials and Adoption," and Morgan will address "The .45 in Combat."

For the full schedule of the 2010 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, go to nraam.org.

AmericanRifleman.org is bursting at the seams with exclusive content. The monthly series titled “I Have This Old Gun...” is something we're pleased to pass on to our readers.

This month, our friends in NRA Publications introduce viewers to the Smith & Wesson model 10.

The Smith & Wesson model 10, a six-shot .38 caliber revolver, has been in production for over one hundred years. During World War II, more than one million model 10s were produced -- and they went by a different name: the Victory Model.

"The Smith & Wesson Model 10 may be the most dominant civilian, military & law enforcement revolver of the 20th century," said American Rifleman Magazine Shooting Editor Glenn Gilbert.

Tune into this video to learn more about this particular firearm, which was produced for both American and British soldiers during the second World War.

Watch the video now!