NRA Museums Guns of the Week

Halloween is full of magical witches, mysterious ghosts, spooky werewolves, and of course, vampires! This piece just so happens to be the ultimate sidearm for any vampire hunter… the Vampire Hunter’s Colt. This Colt .38 Special Detective revolver is fitted within a coffin-shaped ebony case that holds holy water, a mirror, a wooden stake, and essential silver bullets cast in the shape of miniature vampire heads. This silver plated revolver includes an elaborate Gothic engraving by Francolini, featuring bats on the cylinder, a cross at the muzzle, and a rampant colt on a coffin. Vampires beware!

This Naval Luger 9mm pistol differs from the more common P08 models by featuring a two-position rear sight adjustable for elevation and a longer barrel. It also has a marking indicating it was once at Wilhemshaven dockyard. The majority of these pistols were issued to vessels ranging in size from massive cruisers to diminutive torpedo boats.

Remington took over production of Parker shotguns in 1934 and moved the plant to Ilion, NY in 1938 before halting altogether during WWII. In a 1987 project intended to bring back the classic Parker side-by-side shotgun, the Remington Custom shop made up prototypes that included updated features like screw-in chokes. Only a handful of these 20 ga. shotguns were produced.

During WWI and WWII, mobile artillery was hauled from position to position using horses. This gun was Greener’s implement for the British Army to humanely dispatching wounded cattle, horse or oxen. This ordinance-marked example with its rare box of cartridges was used by a military vet.

This engraved Colt percussion revolver has a hand-cut barrel address, but even more interesting is the small “2” next to the serial number. Once upon a time this .31 caliber handgun was part of a two-gun set. Wish we knew whatever happened to the counterpart of this percussion Colt.

No one can say that Ruger’s semi-auto 10-22 rifles aren't popular, but this is perhaps a less well known variant. Fitted with a full-length walnut Mannlicher-style stock, this 10-shot Ruger .22 was part of the first production run from 1966 to 1969. Somehow this version didn’t catch on and it wasn’t until 1994 that another batch was made. Style-wise, we can confirm that this European patterned gun is a piece that attracts a good bit of attention on display.

Winchester's Model 1910 may have been the smallest in terms of production numbers for their initial self-loading rifle models, but it did offer the largest caliber at .401. Offered in both 200 and 250-grain bullet weights, some hunters felt the cartridge was an ideal short-range bear and deer round. With this quick-shooting rifle model being discontinued in 1936, its unique ammunition also started drying up rather quickly.