laststandonzombieisland

Ever wanted one of those groovy scatterguns with the abbreviated barrels, just big enough to fit in a shoebox? Well, instead of going the $5 AOW tax stamp route, there is always the old-school avenue that is the Baker Cavalry Shotgun.

In the days predating the US Civil War, the double-barreled percussion shotgun was the ideal gun for home defense, hunting, and sport shooting. It could be stuffed with an ounce of small shot for taking birds, squirrel and rabbit, or filled with a handful of larger caliber pellets for felling deer and feral hogs. Should someone come poking around the homestead with ill intentions, this same load could save the day.

Ezekiel Baker of Great Britain sold one of the most popular types of these guns for export into the US in the 1850s. These guns were sold across the country far and wide in the years before the Civil War and were often found hanging over many a mantle. It should not be surprising then that it was these guns that were reached for when the war broke out. Northern (Union) forces had access to an incredible manufacturing base and could count on new arms coming right from the assembly line. In the more agrarian south however, military arms were few and new recruits showing up for duty often had to BYOG. This meant several appeared with Baker shotguns.

And things soon got shortened up a bit…

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com