The Golden Age

The alternate title for this post could have been “Why I like C&R guns”. I often think of guns from the early 1900’s as having come from “The Golden Age”, a time period littered with classic designs, graceful lines, and nice hats.

There is something almost enchanting about the lines on a Remington 81, or the feel of a 1903 Colt Pocket. I can’t help but idly wonder when I pick up a Colt Official Police if it rode in the holster of a G-Man during Prohibition.

I have always enjoyed handguns; handguns from this era (obviously) have a special appeal to me. You wonder if the owner slipped this gun into his pocket as protection against thugs; or if he was a thug himself, and this pistol was his method of intimidation.

Old guns promote flights of imagination, a nick out of the grip of an Official Police causes me to pause for a moment, and wonder if it was placed their purposefully by the pistol’s owner, to commemorate a certain milestone. A 1914 Mauser sits in my hand, and I can’t help but wonder if this pistol was the last resort of a Hun officer, somewhere in a trench in France.

While my flights of fancy regarding my older handguns are precisely that; the fact that the mere possibility exists that this gun has a strong connection to the past is worth it. For me, it creates a link to something that I never got to experience, a time when men wore great hats, liquor was illegal, and an ’03 Colt in your pocket was your best friend.