The Good, the Bad, and the Gorgeous--more firearms of the "Old West" in Second Life

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Yes, I know I tend to write frequently about recreated historical firearms in Second Life. Hey, I like guns, they've been a part of my life since I was in my teens. Growing up on a small farm, firearms were a form of useful tool that you had to understand and respect, just like an axe or a saw, or any other technology we employed. But then my relationship with firearms evolved beyond that, into an appreciation of the gunmaker's art, and a love for the sheer beauty of what skilled machinists produced in the last century and a half--so I got into collecting, and recreational shooting, and ultimately working with firearms as an aspect of my professional life.

So you just have to indulge me when I wax poetic over of the work of certain SL weapon-makers.

As the title of this piece says, there is the good: in fact, there is a great deal of good work done in-world by content makers who produce very nice, functional period firearms that are quite respectably authentic. And sometimes what they make is really good.

Below is my Sergeant OHanlon alt with model 1873 Single Action Army Colt revolver that was made by Deadwood sim co-owner Caed Aldwych (Perceval Dryke).


It's proportioned properly, it has the right shape and appearance for a model '73 SAA, and by golly, it's not all tarted up with stupid movie-land crap like angels or crosses on the grips, or engravings of "hello kitty" on the cylinder, or any other Stoopid Shit. It looks like a frakkin' army-issue Colt revolver, it comes with some decent poses and anims, it shoots pretty well, and it functions like 6-shot single action is supposed to.

Does it have exquisite detail? No, it doesn't. Does it come with all kinds of extra optional animations and poses? No. But for crying it out loud, it's a freebie--it comes as a part of the complimentary "cavalry soldier" package that you can pick up at the Ft. Laramie entrance area to the Deadwood 1876 sim.

I shall repeat that: IT'S A FRAKKIN' FREEBIE. IT COMES WITH AN AUTHENTIC 1870's-STYLE CAVALRY HOLSTER AND BELT RIG. I have a couple of alts that use this gun and rig, because it looks good and does the job and was a cost-effective option.

You can spend a whole lot more of your hard-earned linden dollars on stuff that's not nearly as good. In fact, there are so-called "authentic" firearms for sale in-world that will cost you a shitload of money, but that are utter weaselcrap. I'm not going to name any names, but that's the bottom line: there are supposedly "historic" guns out there that certainly qualify as the "bad".

So, you might ask, what really bothers me with certain SL "historic" guns?

Well it's not just the ones that they are sloppily made, pig-butt ugly, and look very little like the actual historical guns they are supposed to represent. What really kills me are the ones that function in wildly implausible ways: ridiculously high rates of fire; bizarre reloading operations; and inauthentic magazine capacity. Holy Moses in his bathrobe, how hard is to look up a weapon on wikipedia and see how many rounds the fucker actually held?

OK here's the new rule: dumb-ass first person shooter games like "Gun" are not legitimate sources of accurate information about historical firearms. You need to actually understand something about what the guns looked like and how they operated before you can make an "authentic" or "realistic" recreation of an historic weapon. You can only use certain weapons in certain ways in particular time periods. Let me give you some practical examples of what it means to follow this rule. For example:

* You do not get to bring weapons into an 1860s or 1870s sim when those weapons--such as lever action and pump action shotguns--were not invented until the 1880s. Nor do you get to make shit up--like adding a lever action to a single shot muzzle loader.

* You cannot "dual wield" (fight with one in each hand) certain types of pistols in ANY fuckin' time period. Like Volcanics. They were LEVER ACTION pistols. That means they took two hands to operate, numbnuts. Not only were they crappy pistols that quickly become obsolete, but there is NO WAY IN ANY FUCKING UNIVERSE THAT YOU COULD USE TWO OF THE GODDAMN THINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY UNLESS YOU'RE A FUCKING OCTOPUS!

* Likewise, skip these foolish cut-down Winchesters you see here and there. That is an imaginary weapon created for 1950's and 60's TV shows and movies. I have yet to see any historical examples or evidence that anyone in the late 19th century actually fucked up a perfectly good rifle in this manner. It is NOT a useful weapon in this buggered-up form. In part this is because the Winny has a tubular magazine under the barrel--so when you cut down the length of the barrel, you also have to shorten the magazine and reduce its capacity. In effect, Mr. SL gunmaker, you can't make a cut-down Winchester and still script it with a 12 round magazine, and then call it "authentic" or "realistic." It would hold maybe five or six rounds after you chopped it. And don't tell me that it gives you more hitting power with a rifle round, because the earlier Winchesters used the same ammo as the Colt pistol. So all you did was make a clunky hand gun that takes two hands to operate.

And yes, I know that weapons like that are perfectly suitable for most "fantasy" old west sims where you also might have vampires and lycans running around, stripper poles in the saloon, and Northwest coast totem poles amidst the Plains Indian tipis. That's cool, if that's what floats your boat. Or if you're in a sim like old Sigil was--openly and unashamedly based on the genre of the spaghetti western--well, yeah, then you could argue that having a Hollywood reloader (ie, you never run out of bullets) is actually appropriate.

Ultimately, of course, anyone can make anything thing they jolly well want in SL--it's one of the joys of the platform. But if you are going to call what you make "realistic" or "authentic" then I think you ought to put in some effort and research time in order to actually warrant using those terms.

I am not embarrassed to say that yes, I am an authenticity snob when it comes to my old west technology.

If you too care about the quality and authenticity of the weapons you're using, why spend a lot of money on dross and sludge when you get something as gorgeous as this (the rifle, not the nudie picture):


That's the Kiergarten Armoury Sharps rifle for hunting and target shooting, which we have discussed in an earlier piece. It actually looks like an 1874 Sharps, and it functions like one as well, requiring you to reload in between each shot. Yeah, it's not too handy in a wild-eyed, grief-fueled shoot-em-up, but by damn, that's how a single-shot rifle actually worked.

And it's only $400 lindens.

Let me say that again: it's only $400 lindens.

And Jasper Kiergarten keeps making cool, gorgeous stuff like this. He just sent me an example of a Sharps model 1869 military carbine. This was a Civil War issue weapon that was converted at government arsenals after the war to fire the new .50/70 cartridge--a great many of these were used by the U.S. cavalry until the 1873 Springfield "trapdoor" was put in service. Look at the image below--you will note that not only are the parts of the action textured to look like case-hardened steel, but there is actually a goddamn saddle ring on the left-hand side of the stock.


Now that might not seem important to most of you, but let me ask you this: how do you think troopers hung on to their carbines when they weren't using them? Velcro?

They had a carbine sling that hooked to the ring, so that they could carry the carbine hanging by their side (conveniently at hand--not slung on their back). Now all we need is for someone to make a jacket layer version of the carbine sling, and we're all set.

Anyhow, that's why I like Jasper's work. It looks really damned good, it works like it's supposed to, and it reflects his understanding of how the guns were actually carried and operated. It's all in the details, like that dang saddle ring. After all, how many other weapons have you seen in-world that should have a saddle ring on them, and actually do?

So if you can get something that good looking and detailed for a few hundred lindens, what can you find if you're ready to invest some serious money?

Holy dog crap on white toast, I am so glad you asked me that question. I've already told you about wonderful--but pricey--weapons like Ernst Osterham's boxlock double-barreled shotgun. But here's something in the same class that you haven't seen yet:


This is a SAA Colt cavalry model with the 7.5 inch barrel made by Lockmort Mortlock. My crappy screen shots don't do justice to this gem of a recreated historical firearm.

It's not just that the proportions and the shape and design that are spot on--it's the freakin' detail. The screws in the frame are there. And they are different sizes like the actual thing. You can see the spring in the extractor rod housing. You look on the top of the barrel, and you know what you see?



That's right, the markings telling you who made this and where.

So is this cheap? No of course not. Lock currently has the civilian version of the SAA for sale (4 inch barrel), and it runs around $1,500 lindens.

BUT in addition to the gun, you get a great belt and holster with options for how many rounds you want in the bullet loops; you get options on different finishes; you get different firing poses including single-handed standing, double-handed standing, and double-handed kneeling; AND you get accessories like an ammo box that you can click on and reload the weapon.


Frankly I can't wait to see what he's going to make next. Lock is a true artist, as well as a sincere and enthusiastic firearm historian. Lockmort Mortlock's products are available in the vendor area of Ft. Laramie in the Deadwood 1876 sim.

Come on, do I really have to generate the slurl for you? Show some ambition and initiative.

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Prim Presents -- cool stuff I got after my Second Life Wedding

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A romantic moment, enjoying our wedding gifts.

I intended to do this for a while but got distracted by some other things. (Yeah, I know it sucks how often my posts start out with some statement like that. Deal. I do.) I want to thank a couple friends who gave me and Sepp some wedding presents back when we jumped the broom in January.

First of all, Ernst Osterham gave us our very own fish-can target set to plink at.

The fish can target set consists of three cans that rez on a railing (included with the set). You shoot them and they fly off. After a short pause (plenty of time to take out all three cans on the rail) replacements automatically rez on the rail for the next round.

I've written about these before. They look great (note the awesome vintage label on the can) and they do cool things as you shoot them, making a plink or clank noise and flying into the air when struck properly. They then lay around on the ground for a little while until they self-delete. By the way, Ernst now has these can targets available for sale at his Albion Importers shops (New Babbage, Deadwood, among other locations, I think). When he first introduced them, they were not up for sale at first. But now they are. Go get some. They're hours of fun. And I really got to hand it to Ernst--he knew that Sepp and I would find this an incredibly romantic gift. The family that plinks together, thinks together....or something like that.

Oh, and speaking of the social aspects of firearms in a conjugal context, the other wedding present we got was a pair of Remington-Rider "rolling block" rifles made by our friend Jasper Kiergarten. Sepp hadn't been around much since the wedding, but last night we managed to get together and go running around in the hills above Deadwood trying these out.


So we spent some time shooting the paper targets up by the old miners' cabin, and did a bit of hunting and chasing around after critters.


The guns themselves are of course the kind of work you expect from Jasper: museum quality 3-D modeling, with proper proportions and carefully sculpted pieces that are shaped to look like what they are supposed to look like. This weapon--which is offered for sale at a very reasonable price in the Kiergarten Amoury shop in New Babbage--features a vernier tang sight (as used at Creedmore and other target ranges), a "slung over the shoulder" pose for carrying, and a receiver that is textured to look like it is case hardened steel.


Another thing I really like: there is a version of the gun available in which the firing pose is adjusted for smaller female avies like mine, so you don't look like a bug-eatin' fool with the butt stock of your weapon sticking out the back of your shoulder blades.

Historically, the Remington-Rider "rolling block" rifle was second only to the Sharps in popularity among professional buffalo hunters. First introduced in 1866, this family of firearms featured an extremely strong action that eventually was able to make the transition from black powder to smokeless cartridges. Ultimately, the rolling block would be produced in a wide variety of calibers, including .50-70, .45-70, 7mm Mauser, .43 Spanish, .43 Egyptian, .43 Turkish, .303 British, .30-40 Krag, 7.62 Russian, 8x56R Danish, and even .22 rimfire, among others. As you might guess from that list of different rounds, it was made in a range of variants for military as well as civilian use, and target rifles built on rolling block actions frequently showed up in competitive shooting.

To load a Remington rolling block irl, you cock the hammer, then pull back on a small lever that protrudes on the right side of the block. This unlocks the block and allows it to "roll" back, permitting you to slide a round into the chamber. After you have placed the cartridge in the chamber, you push the protruding lever on the block forward, which closes the action, leaving the hammer cocked. When you pull the trigger and the hammer falls on the block, it not only drives the firing pin into the round, it also ensures that the action is very tightly closed, preventing any escape of gas. When you open the block again, the fired casing is extracted.

Naturally it takes much longer to explain this process than it doses to actually carry it out in real life. Nonetheless, it is a single-shot weapon that is manually operated, and therefore a tad on the slow side. Once again, it is greatly to Jasper's credit that--as he did with his Sharps--he gave this this weapon a reloading time, animations and sound effects that seek to realistically represent operation of a single-shot weapon. If you are one of those spit-dribbling, dry-humping morons who wants a fantasy gun for shoot-outs that operates in an unrealistic fashion (cranking out too many rounds too rapidly, without requiring reloading), then fuck you. This isn't the gun for you.

But it's just the kind of gun that Sepp and I love for hunting and target shooting. Oh, and bless his heart, Jasper even "engraved" our names on our respective weapons. Ain't that sweet?

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A tale of two shotguns -- the ongoing evolution of craftsmanship in Second Life

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Clay Kungler with the new Albion Importers Ltd. G.E. Mason
hammerless shotgun, designed and built by Ernst Osterham

I've now been a participant in Second life since the fall of 2004. I have always found things in-world that astonish and amaze me, and lately, the thing that continually impresses itself upon me is how the stuff that people make in-world just keeps getting better and better. There are objects that showed up in SL a couple years ago, that at the time, I looked at and said, "wow that is downright cool--who would have thought somebody could make one of those things and have it turn out that well?" But now, just a couple of years later, I look at a new version of that same type of artifact, and my jaw hits the ground and eyes bugout, and I make noises that are largely incomprehensible.

Let me give you an example of this phenomenon, illustrated with an examination of an everyday artifact that no home should be without and which everyone finds highly useful a wide variety of social situations: the double-barreled, breech-loading shotgun.


Here is an illustration of me holding a shotgun that I believe has been in production for a number of years. It was created by a skilled and well-respected gun maker and is a good representation of a typical double-barreled shotgun of the type with exposed hammers, and which breaks open at the breech for reloading.

Historically, this style of gun was very popular from the latter part of the 19th century into the early 20th century, and certainly is appropriate for use in Old West sims like Deadwood and Tombstone. The maker of this particular gun always strove to make his guns as authentically styled as possible. His representations of percussion "cap and ball" revolvers are particularly well-crafted. And this shotgun is a good example of his efforts as well: it has the proper elements that such a gun should have; its scale and proportions are good (especially for larger avatars); and it is technically authentic in that it fires just two shots before requiring reloading (so it's not one of those idiotic Old West fantasy guns that keeps firing all week without reloading). And by golly, she makes a hell of a lot of noise when fired. This is a fine gun for use in Old West rp--it is a well-executed representation of a popular type of frontier weapon. But it is an example of an earlier generation of historical weapons in Second Life.

What does the new generation of historical guns in SL look like? Well, y'all, take a gander at this here:


Above is the new G.E. Mason "Boxlock" hammerless-style double-barreled shotgun that has recently been offered for sale by Ernst Osterham through his "Albion Importers Ltd." shop. Ernst makes a variety of objects, ranging from 19the century music boxes and wax cylinder recording players, to furniture, to excellent and unique firearms. This particular piece is an example of a style of shotgun that was invented by English gunsmiths in the 1870s and which became increasingly popular over time. While it is historically plausible for use in the Deadwood sim, it was a fairly new style at that time and there would not have been many of them around in the 1870s Black Hills. They would however, be extremely appropriate (and far more numerous) in the time-frame represented by the Tombstone sims.

With the qualification that such guns as this would be few and far between on the American West of the 1870s, I just outright love this firearm and pretty much carry it with me everywhere I go these days.

Yep it's one them "gonna have to pry it outta mah cold, dead hand" situations.

Not only is the gun a beautifully made 3-D model (crafted using sculpties to get the hard parts like the stock just right), its operation is controlled by an attractive HUD that allows you to fire either standing or kneeling, to sling the firearm over your back, and utilize various options such as changing from firing slugs to buckshot.

Here is my friend Clay Kungler firing his Albion Importers shotgun from the standing position:

And here he is firing the same gun from the kneeling position, while Deputy Bram Ansar looks on:

You also have the option of setting the gun's animations so that the actual process of opening and closing the breech for reloading takes place (if you are in a high lag environment, you can forgo this animation in order to keep things running more smoothly).


And as I said, you have the choice of carrying the gun slung on your back, carried in one hand ("at the trail" for those of you who know those things), or at the ready (which is my favorite):


The gun works in an authentic way from a technical standpoint as well. You fire both barrels and then need to reload. If you choose the buckshot rather than the slug option for your rounds, multiple projectiles will come out of each barrel, but they spread out the further they go, so that type of load works best for relatively close work--just like a real shotgun.

Now mind you, I mean in no way to denigrate the older example of a shotgun I mentioned. Nor do I wish to dismiss the amount of effort and skill that its maker put into creating it. Like I said, its maker offers great weapons, including that double-barreled shotgun--it's a really good weapon and remains an excellent choice for use in any Western rp environment. It also has an advantage in price--if there is a drawback to the Albion Importers gun, it is that it is relatively expensive compared to many of the historical weapons you can find in-world. The older version of a shotgun costs considerably less.

Nonetheless, when I look at something like Ernst's hammerless shotgun, I feel like I can once again believe that there really is such as thing as progress...and yes, I even begin to think that maybe there really is a Santa Claus.

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