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Old February 16, 2012, 04:17 PM   #20
MJN77
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Join Date: April 27, 2009
Location: on a hill in West Virginia
Posts: 789
Quote:
Geronimo's rifle, as well as the one in the hands of the man to his right, appear to be percussion guns, as you can clearly see the drum bolsters and nipples
Take a closer look. They are trapdoor springfields. Geronimo has an infantry rifle, the fellow next to him has a cavalry carbine. The "drum bolsters and nipples" are the latch that opens the trapdoor.

At the time, these were current issue military guns. Also, the two other guys (Geronimo's nephew,on the left and son) are holding 1873 winchester carbines. Not 1866 carbines. Look at the recievers and you can see the sideplates. This pic along with several others were taken by C. S. Fly in northern Mexico in 1886 during negotiations between Geronimo and General George Crook, for Geronimo's surrender. The apache are in fact "enemies in the field" in these photos. They are not "staged" with prop guns,etc. As for revolvers, most indians, not just apaches, didn't carry them. They didn't need them. Their rifles were all they needed for defense as well as hunting. Pistols were unnecessary weight. The apache were notorious for traveling light. Some did carry them (like Geronimo) but not that many.
This is a replica of Geronimo's gunbelt, holster and knife from Chislom's trail old west leathers. http://www.westernleatherholster.com...ical-holsters/


This is the real one.



Quote:
While repeaters may have been around, it doesn't necessarily mean that they would have been what he was carrying at any given time. Keep in mind that repeaters had been a round for quite a while before Custer and his group were killed at Little Bighorn and they didn't have repeaters
No, but the indians did. That's one (of many) reason that Custer lost. The U.S. government, in it's un-erring wisdom, decided to adopt a single shot breech loading rifle/carbine to replace the seven shot Spencer rifle/carbine, to make sure that the soldiers didn't "waste" ammo during a fight. The trapdoor rifles saw use from 1868 through the Spanish-American war in 1898. They were standard issue from 1873 to 1896.

Last edited by MJN77; February 16, 2012 at 05:20 PM.
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