I’m not normally a firearms enthusiast. Their primary purpose of taking life is not something I think very highly of. However, I can get enthusiastic when I look at guns and rifles as precision machinery which have evolved over the centuries. This museum did a good job of showing off the mechanical evolution of firearms and that aspect I really enjoyed.
This museum is in the headquarters of the National Rifle Association. It contains over 2,000 firearms on permanent display and some date back to the year 1350. They claim having the largest collection east of the Mississippi and the most diverse collection in the world. I can believe it. I saw everything from elephant guns to flintlocks muskets to miniature hand guns.
Probably my favorite fact from the visit related to a fundamental part of the American industrial revolution, interchangeable parts. It was an innovation of Eli Whitney. He implemented the concept to meet a government contract requirement in a bid to win a deal to produce 10,000 muskets. Years later he delivered the muskets but the idea of interchangeable parts remained important to him. He spent the rest of his life promoting the concept.
My favorite geek-fact related to the fictitious “gun” you see at the left. It’s Luke Skywalker’s light saber from the 1976 film Star Wars. This prop was made from a 1950s Speed Graflex flash camera unit. It was first loaned to the National Firearms Museum for a 2002 exhibit titled “Real Guns of Reel Heros.” Clever title, don’t you think?
This museum is very near where I live but due to my aversion of the National Rifle Association, I steered clear of it till now. I don’t regret my avoidance but having visited I can appreciate what they’ve built. It’s a high quality exhibit which, when looking through the right prism, can be appreciated.
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