Posted: 11/6/2005 3:26:43 PM EDT
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Last week Tman and I went to Oklahoma to visit some military museums. We had heard about a gun museum called the "J. M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum" and it was supposed to be "pretty good". We were amazed! Here's Tman at the front.  Mr. Davis collected firearms for 78 years. He owned a hotel and apparently people nearby knew that he would buy any firearm that was for sale. So, they brought him boatloads and he bought them all. The museum is located in Claremore, Oklahoma. It is expectional. Here's Tman and the guide in the museum. Notice the great displays.  Every type of gun was represented. There were rows upon rows of displays.  Here's one display of S&W revolvers. There were many like it.  Anyone recognize this one? (Hint: Unintended Consequences.)  You could look up any gun that you have ever knew of. Here's a picture of the gun my Dad let me shoot as a boy and the reason that I am nearly deaf. An H&R .22 revolver. (No hearing protection.  ) Here's a display of Daisy BB Guns. The lower right one is the one that I shot about two dumptruck loads of BBs through.  Here's Tman and I near a Gatling gun.  There were many interesting oddities. Here's a Model 1917 converted to a .220 Swift Bullpup.  American WWII automatic weapons.  German WWII weapons.  Many will recognize a Strumgehwer. But how about the gun below it?  There was no way for me to capture the size of this museum. It had over 20,000 items displayed. It covers over 40,000 square feet of space.  And the amazing thing is that the guide said that the majority of the guns are still in the back and not even on display. I took this picture through a glass into a room where many un-dispalyed guns are stored.  If you guys are ever near Claremore, OK, don't miss this museum. It took us almost all day and we only "skimmed" the exhibits. It was great!  |
ithink i found it here is kinky world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl11-e.htm |
Very good and pretty quick. It was a predessor to the M-44. It shot a full-sized 8mm Mauser round and the recoil and muzzle blast was fierce! As a result, they redesigned a weapon system with a reduced sized cartridge, the first "assault weapon" firing a mid-sized rifle round. |
| German 7.92-mm automatic rifle for paratroopers, the F.G. 42. INFO |
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Here's a pic of the early and later models. Notice the pistol grip angle in the early model (top). Ouch. Looks like a different muzzle brake was tried on the later version to reduce the recoil Painless is talking about. The gas tube is under the barrel - like a Yankee semi auto - and is protected by an integral bipod, much like the STG58s.   My apologies to FG42.net for the bandwidth steal. ETA: The STG58 reference was about the bipod and NOT the gas tube. I know FALs have 'em on top. 
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Thanks for the links and pics. It was a semi and full auto rifle. Imagine a rifle that light in 8mm full auto.  |
We asked the staff why the museum wasn't advertised better. They said, "No budget." What a shame. It is truly world class. |
That is a shame. I didn't know it even know it existed until our fellow Team Member posted about it. I guess we as proud firearm owners should help spread the word. ETA: just saw on their webpage that it's operated by the state, and admission is free. What a great use for tax money! |
Here it is: www.thegunmuseum.com/menu1.htm |
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An interesting innovation in assault rifles. They had the idea that a light, full auto rifle would be preferrable to a 9mm submachinegun. But the full-power 8mm rifle round was just too punishing in a light weapon. This led them to develop a shortened 8mm round, a true assault rifle round, similar to the 7.62 X 39 round. They learned as they went.
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I hope that's a joke
You won't be disappointed, old buddy. Definitely worth the trip.  |