Gun Shop.
Gunsmith is one of the more difficult positions in Cimarron. ICly the gunsmith needs to connect regularly as his or her business is one of the busier on the grid. Almost all the characters that hit the grid will come through the gun shop at one time or another.
OOCly the gunsmith needs to know at least a little about how guns work. He or she needs to be familiar with the different models, and makes of guns. They need to be familiar with calibers, and powder loads. They need to know a common model from a rarer model guns. And the approximate ranges for pistols vs. rifles and the like.
All this sounds like a lot of information to keep on hand, but there are plenty of websites that have this information listed. We don’t expect the player to know everything right off the bat, but we do require them to do a little research, and be willing to look up items as they need.
A player that accepts the role of gunsmith must be willing to connect to the grid regularly and be able to RP with all different levels of players. They will deal with game Admin on a regular basis, with the OOC weapon orders for the other players. If this is something you’re interested in please contact a Cimarron Admin before you got through chargen.
(Due to the OOC nature of this character’s job, it might be advisable to hire an IC apprentice to help cover some of the hours. This is just a suggestion that might make the role easier.)
General Gunfighters History
The gunfighter era was an outgrowth of the Civil War. Some outlaws were spawned of the Civil War as were Quantrill's Raiders.
The average year of birth was 1853. The average year of death was 1895. About 1/3 of all gunmen died of "natural causes." Many gunmen did not die violently and lived a normal life span (70 years or so). Of those who did die violently (shot or executed), the average age of death was 35. The gunfighters-turned-lawmen lived longer lives than their persistently criminal counterparts.
Most professional gunfighters died in states or territories where the most shootings occurred: Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California, Missouri, and Colorado.
The "occupations" of the various gunmen were often those that used firearms in ordinary pursuits. They often carried firearms as a job requirement. There were 110 gunmen who were law officers, 75 who were cowboys, 54 as ranchers, 46 as farmers, 45 as rustlers, 35 as hired guns, but also men who had been soldiers, miners, scouts, teamsters, actors, butchers, bounty hunters, etc.
Gunfighting peaked in the 1870s: Six fights in TX and KS in 1870, 22 in 1871, 13 in 1872, 27 in 1873, 14 in 1874, 13 in 1875, 22 in 1876, 21 in 1877, 36 in 1878, 14 in 1879. In the 1880s: 25 in 1880, 27 in 1881, 15 in 1882, 9 in 1883, 17 in 1884, 7 each in 1885-6, 20 in 1887, 10 in 1888, and nine in 1889. 1895-96 were bad years, 19 fights in each, but then it began to taper off.
*Authors Note: Anyone who attempts to say that guns were used infrequently or were a rare commodity are sadly misinformed. If they received their information from Michael Bellesiles' Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, that weapons were frequently owned and controlled by the government, then they are patently incorrect. Bellesiles made his paper up. His work was based on probate records, and when people tried to find them, it turned out that many didn’t exist (one data set he claimed to have used turned out, on review, to have been destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake). It also turned out that Bellesiles hadn’t even visited some of the archives he claimed to have researched. When challenged to produce his data, he was unable to do so, and offered unpersuasive stories regarding why.
We have provided the expose' by James Lindgren to Bellesiles' false document here.
Handguns to 1883
| NAME | TYPE | CALIBER | SHOTS | WEIGHT | COUNTRY |
| Le Mat C&B | Revolver C&B | .42 & 28Ga | 9+1 | 3.6 lbs | USA/Fr. |
| S&W Russian SA* 1871 | Revolver | .44 Russian | 6 | 2.5 lbs | USA, Rus |
| .Colt.38RF Police | Revolver | 38RF | 5 GL | 2.3 | USA |
| Colt 1-shot .41 1856 | Derringer C&B | .41 | 1 | 0.25 | USA |
| Colt Army 1860 | Revolver C&B | 44 | 6 | 2.8 | USA |
| Colt Dragoon 1844 | Revolver C&B | 44 | 6 | 4 | USA |
| Colt Lightning .38 1877 DA | Revolver | 38 | 2.3 | USA | |
| Colt Navy 1851 | Revolver C&B | 36 | 6 | 2.5 | USA |
| Colt No.2 derringer | derringer | 41RF | 1 | USA | |
| Colt Police 1862 | Revolver C&B | 36 | 5 | 2.3 | USA |
| Colt SA Army 1873* | Revolver | 45LC, .44-40, 38-40, 32-20 | 2.5 lbs | USA | |
| Colt Thunderer 1878 | DA/Revolver | .41LC, .44-40, .45LC | 4/6 | 2.5 lbs | USA |
| Colt Walker 1847 | Revolver C&B | 44 | 6 | 4.5 | USA |
| Colt.38RF Navy 1866 | Revolver 38RF | 6 GL | 2.5 | USA | |
| Colt.44RF Army 1866 | Revolver 44RF | 6 GL | 2.8 | USA | |
| Ethan Allen Pepperbox 1837 | DA C&B | 36 | 4-6 | USA | |
| Marlin "Never Miss" Derringer | 22, 32 | 1 | USA | ||
| Reid .22 knuckleduster 1866 | revolver | 22RF | 7GL | .5lb | USA |
| Reid knuckleduster 1866 | revolver | 32, 41RF | 5GL | .5lb | USA |
| Rem .46RF N.M.Army 1863 | Revolver | .46RF | 5 GL | 2.5 | USA |
| Rem. 1875 .44-40 | Revolver | 44-40 | 6 GL | 2.5 | USA |
| Rem. N.M.Army 1860 | Revolver C&B | 44 | 6 GL | 2.5 | USA |
| Remington DD 1856 Derringer | .41RF | 2 | 0.7 lbs | USA | |
| Remington New Army 1866 | Revolver | .45LC,.38-40 | 2.5 lbs | USA | |
| Remington Rolling Block Pistol 1867 | Single shot | .50 | 1 | 1.5lb | USA |
| S&W American SA 1873 | Revolver | .38SW, .44SW | 6 | 2.5 lbs | USA |
| S&W DA 1880 DA | Revolver | 32, 38, 44 | 5 | USA | |
| S&W Model 1 1860 | Revolver | .22RF | 9DetCYL | 1 lbs | USA |
| S&W Model No.1.5 1865 | Revolver | .32SW | 5 DetCYL | 1.25 lbs | USA |
| S&W Model No.2 1861 | Revolver | .32SW | 6 DetCYL | 1.5 lbs | USA |
| S&W Wells Fargo/ Schofield 1873 | Revolver | .38SW,.44SW | 6 | 2 lbs | USA |
| Sharps "Pepperbox" 1859 4 barrel | derringer | 22, 30 | 4 | USA | |
| Tipping & Larden | 4 barrel derringer | 38 | 4 | USA | |
| NAME | TYPE | CALIBER | SHOTS | WEIGHT | COUNTRY |
| Abadie DA | Revolver | 9.1mm | 5/5 | 1.6 lbs | Portugal |
| BODEO DA | Revolver | 10.4mm | 7/7 | 1.7 lbs | Italy |
| Beaumont Adams Converted to Metallic Cartridge c1865 | DA Revolver | .32,.38, .45 | 5 | 2.3 | Great Britain |
| Beaumont Adams 1855 | DA Revolver C&B | .32, .36, .442, .50 | 5 | 2.2-6 | Great Britain |
| Enfield 1880 DA/Revolver | .476, 455 | 6 | 2.5 lbs | Great Britain | |
| Howdah Pistol 1840s | Double barrelled C&B | .70 | 3lb 11oz | Great Britain | |
| Howdah Pistol 1880s | Double barrelled | .577 Short Boxer | 3lb 11oz | Great Britain | |
| Howdah Revolver | DA Revolver | .577 Short Boxer | 6 GL | 4.5lb | Great Britain |
| John Adams DA 1867 | DA Revolver | .32, .38 .45 | Adams | 2.1 lbs | Great Britain |
| Lancaster Pistol | 4 barrel | .476, 455, 38 | 4 | 2 lbs | Great Britain |
| Lancaster Pistol | 2 barrel | .476, 455 2 | 2 lbs | Great Britain | |
| Lancaster Pistol | 2 barrel | .577 Short Boxer or 20 bore | 2 | Great Britain | |
| Tranter 1863 | Revolver | 23, 32 RF | 7 GL | Great Britain | |
| Tranter Solid frame DA Revolver | 32,38,43,45,50 | 6 GL | Great Britain | ||
| Webley Bulldog | DA/Revolver | .442, 45, 38, 32 | 6 GL | 2.7 lbs | Great Britain |
| Webley New Army Express 1881 | DA/Revolver | .45, 455, .476, .44SW, .45LC | 6 GL | 2.6 lbs | Great Britain |
| Webley RIC 1863 and RIC No.1 1883 | DA/Revolver | .45 | 6 GL | 2.6 lbs | Great Britain |
| Webley RIC 1883 | DA Revolver | .45, 32, 36 | 5 GL | 2.6 lbs | Great Britain |
| Webley Service MKI* 1887 | Revolver | 455, 476 | 6 | 2.2 lbs | Great Britain |
| Webley-Wilkinson | Revolver | .45 | 6 6/12 | 2.8 lbs | Great Britain |
| Mauser zig zag | Revolver | 9mm | 6 GL | 1.6 lbs | Germany |
| ReichsRevolver M1883* | Revolver | 10.6mm | 10/12 | 2.2 lbs | Germany |
| Frankenau Purse Pistol 1877 | Revolver built into purse | 5mm PF | 6 GL | German | |
| Breakopen Pinfire 1865 | Revolver | 7mm,9mm, 12mm PF | 6 | France | |
| Coup de Poing Fist pistol 1867 | DA Pepperbox or revolver | 7mm, 9mm PF or 5mm, 7mm, 9mm | RF 6 GL | France | |
| Lafaucheux Revolver 1870 | DA or SA revolver | 7mm, 9mm, 12mm PF | 6 GL | France | |
| Lafaucheux Revolver 1870 | DA or SA revolver | 7mm, 9mm, 12mm PF | 7 GL or 7 | 1lb 7oz | France |
| Lafaucheux Revolver 1870 | DA or SA revolver | 7mm, 9mm, 12mm | PF | 12 | France |
| Le Page 20shot 1867 | Revolver | 7mm, 9mm, 12mm | 20 GL | France | |
| NAME | TYPE | CALIBER | SHOTS | WEIGHT | COUNTRY |
| Le Mat Pinfire Revolver | .42PF & 28Ga. | 9GL+1ML Shot barrel | 3.4 lbs | France | |
| Biedermann 4 barrel | derringer | 12mm | 4 | Belgium | |
| Belgian M1871 | Revolver | 10.4mm | 6 GL | 2.1 | Belgian |
| Nagant M1878 | Revolver | 9mm | 6 GL | 2.1 | Belgian |
| Nagant M1883 | Revolver | 9mm | 6GL | 2.1 | Belgian |
| Gasser-Kropatschek 1878 | DA/Revolver | 9mm | 6 GL | 1.7 | Austria |
| Gasser-Montenegrin 1882 | DA/Revolver | 11.3mm | 6 GL | 3.1 lbs | Austria |
| Double barrelled Muzzle Loader | Flintlock or C&B | .5-.7 | 2 | Any | |
| Single Shot Muzzle Loader | Flintlock or C&B | .5-.7 | 1 | Any |
