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"The Alamo" ; Widmark's rifle

Bill Jordan
Watching the movie, Richard Widmark"s character, Jim Bowie, has a multi-barreled rifle, and I wondered if there was such a rifle in 1836, or Hollywood hookum?
Bill Jordan
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • Spider7115
    It looks like a longarm version of a pepperbox.

    001011_2.jpgalamo1_18851t.jpg

    Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) carries a 7-barreled .52 caliber Nock Gun as his main weapon in the film. This gun could be considered an old-day shotgun, although it was ironically designed as a marksman's rifle. The combination of seven smooth bore barrels unevenly placed in a "honey-comb" formation made the rifle extremely inaccurate (which led to it quickly switching from a marksman's rifle to a volley gun) and the immense recoil of the seven barrels all firing at once was unpleasant. On top of that, the rifle was rather heavy and took far too long to reload and was thus never popular in combat use.

    400px-NockVolleyGun.jpg
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  • Robin
    Looks like something ole Daniel Boone and Jim Bowie could have used to rid the San Antonio river of water fowl.
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  • Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by Robin
    Looks like something ole Daniel Boone and Jim Bowie could have used to rid the San Antonio river of water fowl.


    Well, maybe Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Daniel Boone was 62 when Jim Bowie was born!
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  • rhmc24
    The seven barrel volley gun was an English piece. As stated above not practical and not popular. Probably few ever made and fewer, if any, got across the Atlantic except as later-day collector pieces. I visited the Tower of London in the '70s and they had several of them, like new probably never issued.
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  • Bill Jordan
    Fantastic! I'm still watching the movie, and wonder where iwas filmed? Huge production, 3 hours on screen.
    Bill
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  • Spider7115
    quote:Originally posted by Bill Jordan
    Fantastic! I'm still watching the movie, and wonder where iwas filmed? Huge production, 3 hours on screen.
    Bill


    It was filmed at Alamo Village on Rte. 674 in Brackettville, Texas: http://thealamovillage.homestead.com/AlamoVillage.html
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  • Hawk Carse
    Prop gun sure looks bigger than .52 and has detail differences from the Nock illustrated. But that is because it is a movie prop not a real weapon.

    Patrick Harper has a better repro in Sharpe's Rifles. Note that he also carries a Baker so he can have accuracy and normal reload.
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  • proapp
    quote:Originally posted by Bill Jordan
    Fantastic! I'm still watching the movie, and wonder where iwas filmed? Huge production, 3 hours on screen.
    Bill


    i believe john wayne had to put john huston in his place on the set when caught in the dukes chair.......
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  • allen griggs
    What was John Huston doing there?

    Wayne was the director.
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  • coledigger4
    Spider-does the story really mean all 7 barrels always go off together or is it the occasional 'chain fire' that sometimes happens to blackpowder revolvers and inexperienced shooters? If so, that thing had to have some massive recoil to contend with!
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  • shooterone
    Richard Widmark, who made many movies with him toting a firearm, was in real live a very much anti-gun supporter.
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  • captkirk3@dslextreme.com
    Its known as the "Lord Nelson"! A very Dear friend "John Pickering" a retired Vice President of Carnation Bought a Lord Nelson in Europe back in the 1950's or early 1970's...Admiral Lord Nelson ordered several Braces of this particular Gun to be used for clearing the Rigging on His Ships of Snipers..The Lord Nelson was a Flintlock and it lit off all Seven Barrels, (hope fully) and cleared the Braces and Yard Arms of
    Enemy..
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