I have been thinking of (possibly) writing a book, and although i unfortunately can't tell you the timeline out of paranoia
eek
, i can ask for advice on the weapons (right?), so here goes:
1841: samuel colt dies of a misfire testing a gun (before his Patterson plant can fail)
1842: the republic of Texas (a thriving country in my story) buys and nationalizes the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, renaming it Colt, in respect of it's late founder. the Patterson rifles and pistols become the standard Texan military weapons.
1844:the Patterson plant burns down. all manufacturing is moved to Texas, although the guns are still called "Patterson" because of tradition (old habits die hard, and it's virtually the same gun)
1846: Britain finds it's Australian colony threatened, and needing better guns than the Brunswick rifle, set a competition for the best rifle for the British army. a hefty reward for the winner was provided.
1847:colt walker produced.
1848: colt presents to the British a revolving rifle following colt's Patterson, (basically the model 1855, but better, with less misfiring). they win the contract. the first batch is in .700 caliber, but the recoil was painful, so it was toned down to .56 caliber.
1871: the target race begins: for a variety of reasons (and i do have plausible reasons), target shooting becomes THE most popular sport in the Americas. the most popular competitions are the mid length pistol (6-8" barrel) and long-barreled pistol (9-12" barrel) competitions. suddenly, anyone buying a pistol is willing to pay extra for a longer barrel, and even target sights.
1873: the colt peacemaker is produced for military and civilian use, causing a stir, as it became the first cartridge pistol to be produced by a major american manufacturer (S&W was sold to prussia, another world power in my world), it had a totally different mechanism as a result of different designers. it was NOT produced in 4 3/4" barrel length thanks to the target race. the standard lengths were:
5 1/2" (army use)
7 1/2: (cavalry and civilian)
10" (civilian)
12" (not due to Mr. Buntline, but for company shooting for competitions)
however, i now am left with no guns for the U.S. military.
with all the colts going to Texas, Smith and Wesson being Prussian (i have reasons), Springfields are obviously obsolete by this point, with all the new repeaters, what should i arm them with? Winchesters? which pistols?
(BTW, the year is 1888). my protagonist is armed with akimbo colt walkers (in th style of mr. walker himself), one is armed with a shortened carbine 1855-style brit-rifle, and another is armed with a weapon of my own design-a sniper rifle with, with one of the old-style scope that's as long as the barrel, and 2 cylinders, one behind the other, the first front fires until empty, with a lever flip the hammer is directed to the firing pin of the rear cylinder, which fires through the empty chamber in front of it. it also has a flash guard in front of the cylinders, to permit use of the forearm.
so... any ideas?
1841: samuel colt dies of a misfire testing a gun (before his Patterson plant can fail)
1842: the republic of Texas (a thriving country in my story) buys and nationalizes the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company, renaming it Colt, in respect of it's late founder. the Patterson rifles and pistols become the standard Texan military weapons.
1844:the Patterson plant burns down. all manufacturing is moved to Texas, although the guns are still called "Patterson" because of tradition (old habits die hard, and it's virtually the same gun)
1846: Britain finds it's Australian colony threatened, and needing better guns than the Brunswick rifle, set a competition for the best rifle for the British army. a hefty reward for the winner was provided.
1847:colt walker produced.
1848: colt presents to the British a revolving rifle following colt's Patterson, (basically the model 1855, but better, with less misfiring). they win the contract. the first batch is in .700 caliber, but the recoil was painful, so it was toned down to .56 caliber.
1871: the target race begins: for a variety of reasons (and i do have plausible reasons), target shooting becomes THE most popular sport in the Americas. the most popular competitions are the mid length pistol (6-8" barrel) and long-barreled pistol (9-12" barrel) competitions. suddenly, anyone buying a pistol is willing to pay extra for a longer barrel, and even target sights.
1873: the colt peacemaker is produced for military and civilian use, causing a stir, as it became the first cartridge pistol to be produced by a major american manufacturer (S&W was sold to prussia, another world power in my world), it had a totally different mechanism as a result of different designers. it was NOT produced in 4 3/4" barrel length thanks to the target race. the standard lengths were:
5 1/2" (army use)
7 1/2: (cavalry and civilian)
10" (civilian)
12" (not due to Mr. Buntline, but for company shooting for competitions)
however, i now am left with no guns for the U.S. military.
so... any ideas?