Griswold & Gunnison: The Best Confederate Revolver Makers

[@williamyaughn3644]

My family lived in Griswoldville when I was a boy. Several times I went with some older cousins to scratch around the ruins of the Pistol facrory. We uncovered a bout a dozen unfinished barrels. My uncles farm was the site of the last pitched battle of Union and Confederate armies. We used to pick up minnie balls in the fields after Spring planting after a rain. They were sitting up on little dirt pedestals, just waiting to be plucked up. My Uncles farm house was built in 1830 and still is occupied.

[@wvbygraceofgod5508]

Man what a experience that must have been growing up. I’d love to have experience like that growing up, being a kid in the south picking up G&G barrels and round balls. Most of us just got to pick black berries and night crawlers to go fishing.

[@vojnovicvojnovic1104]

You should pick up some barrels

[@Courier-Six]

"That griswold was one damn unreliable piece" - General Grant "Always worked when I needed it" - Cullen Bohannon

[@Snubrevolver]

@Trainwreck727 That huge belly laugh when Grant told him the town wouldn't be named after Durant was priceless

[@MrBlackbeard4]

I was expecting a Hell on wheels reference here, thank you sir

[@Bengiemon275]

@@Covey7342 His gun he used in the opening episode and the few after actually was a griswold, he lost it in one episode and bought a remington.

[@Nyx_2142]

@@Covey7342 He used several different ones throughout the show

[@kennethhamby9811]

Cullen lost the griswold then used a Remington’58.

[@driley4381]

These guns were made less than 100 yards from where I currently sit and type this comment. I wish some kind of photographs or drawings of the original Griswoldville existed. It's hard to look down this rail line through the thick pine trees and imagine what used to be. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these guns one day and bring it back to it's home.

[@butchcassidy3373]

I grew up in bleckley county and love history. Would have loved to have seen that area in action back in the day myself.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

Just found the video, I've moved to France, used to live in Macon, went by one. If I ever come back I should look you up, we'll have a beer on me. I shoot black powder here and I have a G&G replica, wrote this just before my first time with it: MY FIRST TIME (Homage to Griswoldville) My Griswold & Gunninson gleams in the night The oil lamp bathes us with her soft warm light While the smoke of the pipe billows and churns And the glass of bourbon waits for its turn Tomorrow is the shooting and I'm a bit uptight As I'm not so sure I can win this fight I think I went a bit over my head When I accepted to shoot 13 bullets of lead I roamed the fields where this gun was made Now I'm so far away in distance and age So I'll do it for me and I'll do it for them I will do my best when they call my name We'll see tomorrow when they let go with their guns If I cry like a baby or I fight like a man "It's all in your head" they said at the stand When you punch holes on paper using just one hand Cheers!

[@aidanacebo9529]

it's been two years, have you brought one home yet?

[@dobypilgrim6160]

My uncle found one of these in a country store in the mountains of northeast Tennessee in about 1971 or 1972. He paid $150 for it. Before the Internet, and before Flayderman's Guide, it was the real Wild West for antique gun collecting.

[@lv-gamer2568]

-Do you not believe in a higher power? Yes, sir. I wear it on my hip. /Cullen Bohannon/

[@lamolambda8349]

Bo Hhhhhhannon I love how the swede would say his name

[@MM-qi5mk]

LOVE IT

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

I'm re-watching Hell on Wheels as we speak. Don't know why they used an 1860 brass frame Army instead of getting an 1851 brass frame. It's close enough to the real thing.

[@stevenbaker8184]

@@cipherthedemonlord8057 yeah it's the one that keeps getting mentioned. The one that the colonel claims to have had his fingers shot off.

[@stevenbaker8184]

@@lamolambda8349 "I'm Norwegian, I'm from Norway." Thor Gunderson. "The Swede"

[@lynneaschliesleder152]

"Daymn it Elam, the man wasn't finished speaking his last words yet!"

[@edwardteach1855]

Yeah he was

[@diegoserrato4016]

I love how Bohannon says "damn it, Elam" as if scolding a child for spilling cereal on the floor.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

I own the Pietta replica. I lived in Macon, GA for many years, the Southern folks accepted me and game a job event that I was not "From 'round here". I've bought the G&G because of that. I'm about to enter a competition in France in 2 weeks. The Pietta has a round trigger guard and is not angled like the real one, feels lighter up front because the barrel is round, other than that is a Navy. Ah... I have shot over 600 rounds with no problem, however, I use 15 grains and .375 balls, good enough for hole punching. Have fun y'all!

[@JackFroster]

With a name like Gunnison you kinda have to be in the arms business.

[@seanjoseph8637]

Or a US Marine...

[@DonHavjuan]

Second generation is a Son Of A Gunnison

[@Wipa4]

TheJackFroster I guess being named Griswold makes you a blacksmith by default

[@abntemplar82]

or the railroad...lol

[@borisdorofeev5602]

I was about to comment that with a name like Gunnison if you're not making guns for a living then idk what your doing with your life

[@capandball]

Once I'd like to compare one to an original Colt percussion revolver.

[@coltonregal1797]

It's unfortunate that they command machine gun prices. I'd love to see that video.

[@jamescanson3352]

@@coltonregal1797 i could get 2 original transferable M1917 machine guns for the price of a single original Griswold

[@awe5543]

If there is one person who deserve to get his hand on these and do comparisons, you would be the one sir!

[@МихайлоРостов]

It would be great to at least see the internals of a Griswold & Gunnison revolver. I've searched for years and have yet to actually find any. I don't think there are any online, only exterior pictures. I've read that the tooling they used to build the revolvers at Griswold & Gunnison was far more simple/crude than what would have been used by Colt at the time. One example I read was that they hollowed out the yellow bronze/brass frames using just a hammer, chisel, and hand files rather than using a mill as Colt did. Just chipping away at the brass with a chisel to form the opening inside of the frame. Also I read the exterior of the barrels & cylinders weren't turned down on lathes but rather done by hand on big grinding wheels. Whether or not that's true I don't know. Regardless I'd love to see what one looks like inside.

[@abntemplar82]

and or compare both the the Remington.

[@gretah3969]

Fun Fact: Samuel Griswold was a member of the famous Griswold family. He was related to John Augusta Griswold, who created Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Works, and personally financed the building of the USS Monitor; and to Mathew Griswold who founded Griswold Manufacturing that made Griswold cast iron cookware.

[@wizardofahhhs759]

Sean Heihn I wondered about this because they were both out of Pennsylvania but I could never find anything definitive. Thanks for the info.

[@jameshalljedidrivertrainer7207]

I wonder if he was also an ancestor to the great Clark Griswold 🤔

[@trr94001]

I remember seeing a Confederate pike at the (sadly now defunct) Higgins Armory armor museum in Worcester Massachusetts. Maybe it was one of Griswold’s.

[@georgem7965]

Probably 30+ years ago Atlanta Cutlery was selling Confederate pike heads. I don't recall the cost but I wish that I had picked one up.

[@theodurnayne3874]

I went there when i was a kid. Wish i could go back and understand what I'm looking at better

[@drmoss_ca]

In the late 1960's my father took a break from making live steam locomotive models and made a Griswold and Grier. Full working order, except for the fact he didn't drill the barrel right through (he lived in the UK at the time and that would have been illegal). I remember going with him to the railway works in Swindon - he knew some folks there willing to do a little work on the side - to get the gunmetal castings made for the frame. I still have it and it has aged very authentically over the last fifty years!

[@coltonregal1797]

There's a video of another guy on KZbin who made a Colt navy type replica that way. It's actually pretty amazing. If I had the time, money, and the first clue of where to start I'd love to try making one of my own.

[@evocati6523]

How sad to have a law that you can't make a black powder revolver. Here they don't even count as "firearms" and you can have them shipped to your house with no 4473

[@Surprise_Inspection]

​@@evocati6523The poor should not be allowed to challenge the wealthy. The easiest way to make sure of this, is to stop the poorer 99% of the population, from owing the same weapons that your loyal soldiers do.

[@Geriatric_Gaming]

Fun Fact: The great great grandson of Samuel Griswold is Clark Griswold who lives in Chicago Illinois. A few films have been made about his colorful life and family usually centered around Christmastime.

[@heyfitzpablum]

That is is, Eddy. That it is.

[@gungriffen]

Sad to say I only know the name Griswold because of Hell on Wheels.

[@gungriffen]

Justshooting Yeah it was.

[@SlavicCelery]

Funny my introduction to the name Griswold was from the Vacation series of movies.

[@cheekibreeki921]

Great show though the revolver the guy carried was an 1860 Army with brass frames while Griswold did not make copies of the 1860 Army of that sort

[@wizardofahhhs759]

Cheeki Breeki I might be mistaken but I believe there were several references throughout the show's duration of the Griswold having an octagonal barrel. That and the brass frame is what made them easily identifiable.

[@cheekibreeki921]

@@wizardofahhhs759 Yes but the Griswold revolvers were copies of Colt's 1851 Navy revolver. Yes it did have the octagonal barrel and the brass frame but on the Hell On Wheels show, the revolver the protagonist carries is actually Colt's 1860 Army modified to have a brass frame because finding an actual Griswold & Gunnison 1851 Navy is extremely difficult from what I understand, since only a handful were made before the Union Army burned down the factory during Sherman's campaign. Not saying you are wrong but I'm just pointing out an extremely minor detail

[@wizardofahhhs759]

The character Bohannan on Hell on Wheels carried a Griswold, the pistol was almost as much a character in the show as any of the actors.

[@austincollier14]

Very cool video, thanks! I love learning about the ACW and especially appreciate this video because I own a reproduction Griswald by Pietta (it was made in the 1960’s or 70’s) . A worthless piece to most, is a very sentimental, priceless piece to me. Only because it was purchased new by my great grandfather. It’s one of two pistols and 7 long guns I inherited after his passing.

[@doraran5158]

So older gun dealers speak of artificially aged Italian copies circulated by 'little old ladies' at gun shows claiming gun 'had been in family', selling it for a fraction of a real Griswold, but many times more that value of copy. As Ian mentioned, odd grip angle is usual give away. Caveat Emptor!

[@lukedealberdi3713]

The grip angle on these look fantastic from a target shooting point of view.

[@codysides7683]

I just found out I'm related to this man on my mothers side! Thanks for what you do!

[@thomasvagenasjr5623]

I own a Uberti manufactured replica marketed by Navy Arms. I was in high school, about 17 years old in 1973 and bought it for $50 from a Ogden, Ut gun shop called “Williamson’s Sports Inn”. The gun was called the “Army Model 60”. Uberti still makes high quality replicas under its own name. Although Griswold and Gunnison didn’t manufacture examples in .44 caliber, like mine, I still value it, even though it probably is not period correct, even heard that the brass frames did not hold up as well as the steel as found on the 1860 Colt Army and replicas. Mine is still going strong even though I’ve fired several thousand rounds through it. I have shot it in competition shoots, including mountain man reenactments where percussion revolver matches were allowed. I typically use 30 grains of fff with a .451 round ball. The gun actually looks antique with the bluing pretty much worn off. It’s still better made than the recent replicas made by Pietta. I have a Pietta 1860 army and the Pietta action is not as smooth as my old Uberti.

[@SenkaBandit]

My pietta remington had its front lug that holds up the ramming lever broke off, never even fired it

[@marks1638]

The old factory site was up the road from where I was stationed at in the 70's. Wanted to visit the site several times as I was interested in the history of this gun manufacturer and the nearby battlefield (Battle of Griswoldville), but never quite made it there. I actually saw a Griswold and Gunnison at a gun show in Georgia back in the 70's (that's what started my interest). At the time the gun was being sold for about 300 or 400 dollars (I don't remember the exact price) by a collector as that model wasn't considered much of a collector item at the time and everyone was drooling over 1873 Colts and 1836 Patterson's. Now they're worth more than many original Colts of that era. I do remember it was from a family who's ancestor carried it as a Cavalry Officer for one of Stuart's Brigades and he was from nearby Macon, Georgia.

[@marks1638]

@@jeannieheard1465 Actually I was assigned to Robins AFB, Georgia. The Griswold and Gunnison factory was located just east of Macon about 25 miles north of where I was stationed.

[@KroM234]

My 2c, pikes were still in use in most modern navies up to the late 19th century as a very usefull melee weapon along with cutlasses and axes.

[@jets1230]

I live here. Town is gone but we call the area still by the name. We have a gun range named after the pistol bit other than that its Twiggs county ga dry branch area

[@coltonregal1797]

Sounds like a nice place to live.

[@butchcassidy3373]

The plant was by the tracks where the sign is.

[@greghester7640]

@@butchcassidy3373 factory is not close to sign....was moved years ago to throw off relic hunters

[@jets1230]

@@jeannieheard1465 i live basically in grisword area twiggs county area. Iys about 10 miles east of the indian mounds macon area east on hwy 57. Nothing here but a plaque in honor of it and a empty field where they had the last battle heading to savannah i believe.

[@littletweeter1327]

Just love the brass on these pieces. So gorgeous

[@troy9477]

Interesting. Nice guns. I knew the company story wouldn't end well as soon as i heard it was in GA. Too bad. Sounds like they did well with what they had (iron instead of steel). Great video as always. Thank you

[@zlatkovujevic7348]

When Ian said "Griswold" all my memories come back from Chevy Chase movie series :)

[@wizardofahhhs759]

zlatko vujevic Strange, the first thing I thought of was the cast iron pots and pans. The company was around during the civil war and it was based in Pennsylvania. I bet Sam Griswold was from the same family of cast iron skillet makers.

[@drewm389]

In Macon, just looked at one of these today in a local pawn shop. Awesome

[@sloanchampion85]

The Southern boys didn't do to bad with what they had

[@quickattackfilms7923]

I absolutely love the look of these and the dragoon pistols. So cool.

[@FiveStringCommando]

Awesome video! Love seeing Confederate arms and hearing the history.

[@maxgun8562]

could be nice a video/series of videos about how guns were made in the XIX century, focused in methods, materials, qualities and finishes with examples of each one

[@notpulverman9660]

I read that as "the ninety-tenth century."

[@maxgun8562]

ok thanks.... thats because my lenguage is spanish, I love old guns and also I try to improve my english with this YT channel :D ian have a clean pronunciation

[@maus92]

XIX= 19

[@jaymassengill3340]

Sterling Archer approves the manufacturing and use of pikes.

[@TroopperFoFo]

2:24 I would hope his pikes worked fine. I cant stand when mine malfunctions.

[@Tjalve70]

If your pikes malfunction, it's because you're holding them in the wrong end.

[@balderfrey20]

@@Tjalve70 or you roll a natural 1

[@FyremaelGlittersparkle]

@@balderfrey20 "You attack the guard in blue standing in front of you with your pike. He parries it with his bayonet. Unfortunately, the front end dips and snags the ground in front of you, snapping off the head. Turns out, the iron was not of good quality. You now have disadvantage on your attacks with the weapon for the rest of the encounter, and it will be treated as an improvised weapon."

[@balderfrey20]

@@FyremaelGlittersparkle yes exactly 🤓

[@coastdweller]

Still a battlefield monument in Griswoldville. Other than that not much..... neat area you can find lots of fossils (shark teeth, shells , etc.) Used to be under water millions of years ago.

[@TheKalilover]

John E. Brown, the Governor of Georgia ordered them in 1862. They would later be issued to the equivalent of a Home Guard. I saw a display at the J.M. Davis museum in Claremore OK. You should really go there.

[@coltonregal1797]

Are you talking about the pikes or the revolvers? I'd like to do more research on this topic.

[@eddyk4515]

"Iv been gone that long...Mr Ferguson tell them who I am" "Tell'em yourself" 🤣🤣

[@stewknoles4790]

I own a modern clone. Great BP pistol. Nice to see real gunmetal instead of the cheap brass they use today.

[@coltonregal1797]

It's not mentioned in this video, but I've heard in other places that the frames of these revolvers are known for being rose colored due to shortages of zinc in the South. If anything, it's most likely that the modern Pietta brass is better quality.

[@althesmith]

@@coltonregal1797 Some would've no doubt had tin bronze. Nothing wrong with that, hell they cast cannon barrels from it.

[@-Zevin-]

@@coltonregal1797 Yup. Brass gets a bad wrap because of the really cheap poor quality brass framed Italian revolvers back in the late 1960s and 1970s, Companies like Pietta have improved drastically since then. You still hear from the old timers to "never buy brass, it's cheap and the frame will stretch" sure it IS cheaper than steel, but the difference isn't massive as long as you aren't throwing cylinder capping hot loads, stick to 25grains and under (still produces similar power to a modern .38special +P) . It is incredibly likely that the quality control and strength of modern Italian revolvers is much greater than civil war examples, to be fair though allot has changed in metallurgy, manufacture and general quality since then. We forget that even genuine Colts and Remingtons in the early days exploded, bent, and were plagued with all types of quality control issues, but that's just how it was, everyone had issues back then, even the best quality manufactures in the 1860s would pale in comparison to budget stuff today. Just was the nature of the early industrial revolution. If anything it's a sign that if anyone is interested in black powder firearms, now is a fantastic time to experience them and re-live some of that history with even safer more refined modern reproductions, and because they are not regulated as firearms in the United States you cut all the red tape, meaning cheaper prices for high quality guns.

[@3ducs]

About a year ago I picked up an Uberti version of a G&G, though I didn't know what it was at the time. It's a fairly good copy other than caliber, .44, and the grip frame angle. Thanks for this very informative video. Of course all your vids are informative.

[@farmerboy916]

3ducs So just a standard colt Uberti then

[@3ducs]

@@farmerboy916 No. And there is no such thing as a "standard" Colt Uberti.

[@amandamyers5169]

Very nice pieces... I'd love to have these as collectors pieces....

[@garettrobichaux]

why the hell didn't he name it 'grisworld' instead of griswoldville?

[@knifetoucher]

"ville" denotes that it was a town. 4k acres = town size.

[@jets1230]

Garett Robichaux I live here now. Twiggs Jones county Georgia

[@TheRogueWolf]

That's just how effective Disney's lawyers are- issuing an injunction a hundred and twenty years BEFORE Disney World even came into being.

[@MRBetz]

Griswoldville was actually a major industrial center in the south prior to the Civil War. Unfortunately, after Sherman burnt the place to the ground during his "March to the Sea", it never recovered

[@jets1230]

M.R. Betz not nothing here now but a shooting range and a gas station. Macon up the road

[@tartarsauce2601]

"What are you smilin' at?" "You empty" *Click* "Any last words?" "Go to hell you black-" *BANG*

[@anthonyhayes1267]

Toole was the Dodge Viper of characters. Once they fixed everything wrong with him they got rid of him

[@cryhavoc9748]

And Griswoldville is still there....just South of Macon,GA.

[@jimlane6335]

These Griswold & Gunnison revolvers were sometimes called Griswold & Greer as well. A Collectors book I have says they were manufactured in Griswoldville, Ga. I don't claim to be an expert and am only parroting what I have read. LOL!! I paused the video and wrote this before hearing the reference to Griswoldville!!

[@christophershoemaker1109]

Griswoldville is about ten miles ENE of downtown Macon, not south of Macon. There is nothing left of the site except several historical markers and the collapsed remnants of a mid-1900s school. Griswoldville Battlefield, a Georgia historic site, is nearby.

[@skeltonslay8er781]

Samuel griswold is such a badass name

[@tacticalministries3508]

Bless you for sharing this knowledge gun Jesus

[@prechabahnglai103]

Christmas Comes early this year. Thank you gun Santa!

[@ROBSHOTZ]

7th Virginia Regt was raised in Northern Virginia and participated in Pickett's Charge.

[@brianmulligan6239]

Great video Ian! Thanks for all your hard work.

[@northlight546]

I'd love to have one. Samuel Griswold was my wife's 3rd great grandfather.

[@wildman510]

Oh really? There's another guy claiming he's related to him on his mother's side. Nice try.

[@thedolt9215]

Unless I miss my guess Ian, even the first colt single actions in the early 1870s had iron frames. I think iron frames were the rule for a long time before steel castings and/or forgings were used.

[@63DW89A]

Iron, once casehardened, is as tough and hard as the finest steel. The only problem with casehardened iron is that it cannot be tempered as can high carbon steel. But for use in a revolver frame, hammer or loading lever, casehardened iron, being surface hard with a soft interior for toughness without being brittle is exactly what is needed.

[@heyfitzpablum]

Correct, they used wrought iron castings for pistol frames. Steel started being used more in the late 1870's and 1880's.

[@rocketman8476]

I would love a replica of this revolver, preferably converted to a modern, smokeless caliber. It looks so beautiful! I love wooden handles/stocks on guns. Modern guns just don’t have the same aesthetic

[@Immafraid]

Why remake a cap and ball revolver into a centerfire smokeless revolver? That defeats the whole idea.

[@rocketman8476]

@@Immafraid because it’s my fantasy and that’s the way I’d prefer without the slow AF reload time and who would want to use a ball and cap over a modern day round

[@BogeyTheBear]

There are cartridge conversions of the 1851 Navy, but every conversion out there has specific instructions _not_ to install them into a brass frame gun.

[@mr.puddles5246]

It'd have to be a 380 acp in a gunmetal (modern Henry brass) frame to be safe.

[@baneofbanes]

It wouldn’t be a replica then.

[@silverstar4289]

One recently sold at Rock Island for around 20. Had a replacement Colt cylinder, and other parts

[@fdsdh1]

The pikes might have been for sergeants and/or the colours, idk much about American history and even in Europe around the same time I think they had been phased out. But the pike (short one anyway, definitions of what weapons can be vary widely)/halbeard/poleaxe were carried by the sergeants or colour guards in a line regiment they were usually more ceremonialbht were carried into battle nonetheless. It was a good way to distinguish important people who weren't officers from the rest of the men, you could probably wave it around to make people stand straight too. To only have a few hundred this would make sense because back in the day you had a lot of men under each officer and nco so a few hundred would be enough for a lot of people. Still it seems pretty 18th century... but that is a use which sprung to mind.

[@dalemoss4684]

'Twas a Griswold like that took off my hand..' -Hell on Wheels ep. 1

[@wildman510]

Help on wheels?

[@dalemoss4684]

@@wildman510 typo lol. Revisited this video a year later and saw it

[@Asertix357]

The very first time I ever saw one of these guns was in Quigley Down Under. I didn't have a clue what it was until I visited the IMFDB.

[@LetMeEducateYou-vj6un]

It was a brass framed revolver made in the South during the American civil war. It used black powder.

[@geGNOME]

Bohannon!

[@SnowyEvans]

That show has added both a Yellow Boy and a 1858 Remington to my wish list

[@Rekkoff]

@@SnowyEvans I got a Pietta 1858 with a drop in conversion. So worth it. .>

[@A-a724]

he used a colt 1860 after the first episode in season one and uses a Remington 1858 new army from season 2 on.

[@jwhiskey242]

Wasnt a G & G.

[@burshaw1114]

The pikes were commisoned by Gov Joe Brown of GA. There were 1,000's made by numerous shops. But most ended up in the ditch as the troops soon realized they were useless against modern rifles and chunked them. Very few are to be found. I saw one at a relic show ~5 yrs ago for ~$1,200.

[@scott1395]

There was some relic hunters in North or south Carolina a few years ago who figured out the site of a burned confederate train! They started digging and found 800 to 1000 pikes you could see the burned remnants of the poles still in them! That was a gold mine! I've seen one in beautiful condition at the Alexander H Stephens park, Home, Museum in Crawfordville ga! It's actually where I first learned such a thing existed!

[@hodah]

I'm not 'into' guns. But I am into history, the 'Wild West' and 'Hell on Wheels'. Your videos are all very interesting and educational. Thank you.

[@prechabahnglai103]

General Lee and some others ordered thousands of pike heads made to combat early war weapon shortages. Many men early on were without standardized weapons in the calibre government can provide ammunition for. It was a temporary fix intend to be disgard after confederate guns manufacturing caught up. Stonewall Jackson sieze of Harperferry's rifle replicating tooling greatly aid in this effort.

[@johnoneil9188]

One of these days I got to actually look up who James D. Julia was.

[@mgkleym]

IS not was. He currently owns/runs the auction house. Son of the guy who started it. jamesdjulia.com/about-us/

[@jkjrkarmia514]

brother of Raul Julia.....showtime!

[@artwerksDallas]

Very interesting story. Seems like a serious collectible today

[@mitchlovesgames7281]

Captain Bezaliel Garland Brown, Jr. entered Confederate service in June 1861 as a member of Virginia’s Seventh Infantry, Holcomb Guards, Company I, Terry’s Brigade, Pickett’s Division, Longstreet’s Corps, commanded by Brig. Gen. W. R. Terry. The 1860 census shows Brown as a single 24-year-old farmer. He was promoted to the rank of captain the following year, commander of the company. He was wounded in the left leg and taken prisoner at the Battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863. He is described as 6’2” tall with a light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was incarcerated at Baltimore February 9, 1864, and transferred to Ft. Delaware June 23, 1864, where he was admitted to the post hospital. He was held at Morris Island under fire from his own guns. He was released May 30, 1865, by order of General Grant, but is shown as having died in 1865-details not available but likely from complications of his wounds.

[@sloanchampion85]

The best weapons video that's been done

[@elcastorgrande]

Pikes were used to hold off cavalry.

[@russbilzing5348]

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't #2198 have a burst barrel?

[@BenFaffler]

Imagine the shock of friends and family when Gunnison decided to make Guns for a living.

[@jcorbett9620]

I know that the CSA were perennially short of firearms, but if these guys were the most successful and made more than all the other makers combined - yet only produced 3,700 pistols, where did the CSA get the pistols to supply the thousands of troops fielded? Were the individual soldiers expected to bring their own pistols? Or is it simply they bought them all from other countries and re-used captured weapons from the Union?

[@crashandburnbirner]

J Corbett Well your average man jack didn't get a revolver, they were officers guns.

[@prechabahnglai103]

Soldiers sidearms were knifes.

[@jarkoer]

Yes. However they could get arms, they would. Foreign sources, captured weapons, home-grown industry, or BYOG (bring your own gun). There was even a CSA unit that was armed only with shotguns... because that's all they had. I'm very sure there were even a few flintlocks here and there. Pistols were more for officers and cavalry, though.

[@dominicvucic8654]

Pistols were mostly given to the cavalry

[@heyfitzpablum]

Confederacy relied on imports from England and France as well as captured weaponry, in addition to the 'home grown' models. After the first few battles of the US Civil War scavenging dropped Union weapons was not exactly difficult, the first few defeats resulted in a lot of Union troops tossing their weapons and kit and running like hell. Confederate troops usually had enough small arms to supply their troops, where they ran into problems was artillery-they could cast Bronze Napoleons at foundries in the South, but making the longer range artillery rifles like the Parrot's was beyond them. They had to capture those if they wanted them.

[@killzoneisa]

I recall this gun from Hell on Wheels.

[@crowdog357]

Pikes were used by both sides for Sergeants in formation in marching very early war

[@crowdog357]

Michael Eversberg II ???

[@donaldpetkus1637]

Perhaps those pikes were used as counter cavalry weapons. Pikes and halberds were used against European cavalry in earlier years.

[@lizardb8694]

Anson Mount-ness intensifies. Has anyone actually counted how many people He shot dead with this revolver during the run of the entire tv series?

[@jakewayrewa5201]

With his brass-framed Colt 1860. The last few years of the series he used a Remington.

[@HeyBoss695]

I don't like many men that sport ponytails. You Ian, are one of the few.

[@STEVEN-STEELE]

Pikes and other such weapons. Were probably used in guarding prisoners. For guards inside the prison area. This kept them at bay. Yet if the guard was taken a firearm was not then in the prisoners hands. Wall guards were of course armed with rifles Shotguns being a favorite even in WWI. Another reason for a Pike or Spear. Powder magazines where sudden sparks were to be avoided at all costs. Even attacking forces were likely to swap to sabres and blunt weapons if the attack made it that far

[@reaper8526]

I am not a confederate but those guys made good six Shooter

[@BoZoiD57]

One of these days Ian will do an in-depth video on that Benet-Mercie back there, but it appears not in the near future.

[@mtodd4723]

Good video , Thank you for sharing .

[@od1452]

Yes. ! Pikes were one of the first weapons the Confederacy bought . Weird but true.

[@jackdundon2261]

DAMN, I wish he had, had a colt to contrast with these!

[@nathanaelgodson3994]

Why do i think about a House coverd in Christmas Lights when i hear the Name "Grisworld"?

[@tommyvinson6]

Very interesting video. Thank you.

[@codemiesterbeats]

maybe the pikes were for some sort of front line defense against cavalry?

[@BogeyTheBear]

More like rear-area guard weapons. They free up the need for firearms for front-line troops while at the same time are sufficent against horses.

[@danielkier6306]

6:24.....would love to know the story of the nicks in that cylinder

[@richardanderson2742]

I wouldn’t think the use of malleable iron was that uncommon in the firearms industry during the Civil War. Enfield (RSAF) didn’t switch to steel barrels until the purpose built (as opposed to conversions) Snider rifles in 1866.

[@heyfitzpablum]

I think the iron in this case is twisted wrought iron, not malleable iron. I don't believe the process for creating malleable iron existed at the time of the US Civil War.

[@wierdalien1]

Pikes possibly made for anti cav purposes

[@hansheden]

Also guard duty. Cheap, simple, no moving parts but can still do damage. NCOs could also use them for pointing and showing where a line should form. Stuff like that.

[@wierdalien1]

Hans Hedén well I mean NCOs of line infantry had them still in 60 years before so its not ridiculous to think its for line control

[@vguyver2]

Yeah, they were also used in fortifications, but considering the order of 200 early in the war, it's likely guard duty. It looks laughable today, but it's a cheap effective weapon that you don't need too much training (though you need discipline) to use.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Michael Eversberg II well, we kinda stuck with them for like a million years. They only went out of the use I'd say 500 years or so. Aaaand curious fact: bamboo pikes were often used by Vietnamese for surprise poking at tunnel rats: it's hard to see a guard with a pile when you are crawling inside a tunnel and naturally you are not wearing armor, so...

[@confuseatronica]

yeah that was my first guess, too. Yuck, horse stoppers.

[@GermanChristians]

My favorite gun!!

[@chevyboyforlife4234]

I would love to have a pair of these pistols

[@arthurthedented]

Firefly cross reference: Wonder if Joss Whedon had been reading up on confederate arms and the name "Griswold" just popped into his head later as a semi-coincidence when he was naming those micro mines in the apples...

[@smartalec2001]

Could be, there's a few Civil War references in Firefly. A character named Jubal Early, for example.

[@dominicvucic8654]

It still kills me that the south had some men go into shiloh with pikes

[@demonprinces17]

Use what you got

[@GeographyCzar]

Anybody else seeing flashes of The Outlaw Jose Wales?

[@tjo4087]

Pikes were made for yaking out the horses of the cavalry.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

Pikes? Perhaps for cavalry? After all, they were used in that role as late as 1920s as far as I'm aware judging by pictures of Russian civil war era.

[@obviouspseudonym9345]

@@jeannieheard1465 I think he meant pikes in an anti-cavalry role. Sorta the same thing pikes and other polearms were used for in the middle ages and Renaissance.

[@cerberaodollam]

Pikes are the quintessential cavalry antidote, so makes sense :)

[@baneofbanes]

Not when the cavalry can shoot you.

[@BogeyTheBear]

Not cavalry _per se,_ but horses in general. If you're guarding a rear-area emplacement such as a depot or a prison, pikes allow you to kill horses used by skirmishers or anyone trying to drive a wagon of stolen supplies/prisoners out. Since horses drove the vehicles of the day, a pike was essentially an anti-vehicular weapon that did not deprive a front-line soldier of a desperately needed rifle.

[@Ballenxj]

Thumb up for the interesting history of Griswold and Gunnison.

[@Tom-j2k8n]

You said he had a foundry. Is this the same Griswald of cast iron cook wear fame ?

[@sagpaf1]

Hi, thanks for another great history vid with some nice examples of the guns manufactured, who would have thought of twisted iron for the cylinders, how war seems to accelerate invention eh

[@robertsales4547]

So thankfuil for ur vids.

[@abntemplar82]

what about the Lemat revolver? could or have you done a video on that weapon?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

I have done several; just do a search for LeMat.

[@fdg5112]

I'm not a metallurgist; Why twisted iron for the cylinder? I would think that twisting would make the iron weaker?

[@ChishioAme]

It depends. I know more about the making of swords than guns, so take this with a grain of salt, but when it comes to swords, there's a process known as "twist core" when pattern welding; basically, one or more iron bars would be twisted around one another before being forged to shape (and often having a harder material welded around it for the edge, but that's neither here nor there). What it accomplished there was to spread out the impurities in the iron, so that rather than having enough weaknesses accumulating in a single spot that could be catastrophic, they were spread about, resulting in something that was not particularly strong overall, but much less prone to failure. I imagine it would do the same for a revolver's cylinder, allowing it to better handle the pressure generated by the powder charge.

[@j.d.peppmeier9041]

The Rebs knew good guns and good horses !

[@baneofbanes]

Thankfully they didn’t have many of either.