NRA Museums Guns of the Week

These exquisite .50 caliber W.R. Pape gold plated and ivory-mounted greatcoat engraved double-barreled pistols were designed by renowned British gunsmith William Rochester Pape. While best known for his double-barreled pistols, fowlers and rifles, Pape actually utilized other gunmakers to produce the parts - based on his own patents - and then turned out some of the best finished pieces in his day.

Hunters in India going after dangerous game employed an elevated platform, or howdah, mounted on the back of an elephant. In the event a tiger clawed its way up the back of the elephant, the hunter's last lie of defense was a howda pistol - a heavy caliber single or double-barreled pistol. This gold-embellished .577 Snyder cal. example is one of the finest ever known.

In the classic .450/.400 chambering, this Rodda double rifle bears deeply chiseled engraving of tiger hunting in a jungle and elk hunting in a woodland venue. It exemplifies the arms ordered by Maharajahs for Indian big game excursions.

The British Royal Navy ordered more than 600 flintlock Volley Guns from British gunmaker Henry Nock. Intended to repel boarders, the gun fired all seven barrels at the same time. The resulting fireball would sometimes set rigging aflame and the recoil was so strong it often injured the sailor firing the gun. Richard Widmark, portraying Jim Bowie in the 1960 film The Alamo, wielded this original Nock Volley Gun.

Many American Civil War carbines were chambered for odd calibers - .50, .52, .54 and more. The Linder was made to use the same .58 caliber projectiles as regular muskets, however you could say it was the Rodney Dangerfield of carbines and never got any respect. A contract for 6,000 carbines was given in April 1863, but a year later the rifles, made by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. in Manchester, New Hampshire, were still awaiting government inspection. Only a few early Lindner carbines were ever issued, with some hundreds going to the 1st Michigan Cavalry and the 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry.

A very early example of a firearm designed for concealed carry, this .56 caliber snaphaunce pistol features a folding stock which enabled its owner to conceal it under a cloak. By the time Beretta made this pistol in the 18th century, the company had already been honing its craft to perfection for two centuries.

Like all the biathlon rifles, this rifle uses .22 LR ammunition and is a straight-pull bolt action - preferred by contestants because of the frigid conditions they shoot in without using gloves. The carrying sling quickly converts to a shooting sling and back again and both the front and rear sights are equipped with covers to prevent snow accumulating in the sight apertures.