Remington ad (courtesy National Geo≠graphic)

Wow, that’s a lot of ammo. Still, back in 1910, no one took to Al Gore’s internet to equate trophy hunting with baby killing. African hunters killed a lot of game. Note the appropriate use of the word “clip” in this National Geographic ad — although it did nothing to stop subsequent gun muggles from misidentifying mags. UMC stands for Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The NatGeo ad indicates the increasing coziness between Remington and UMC, which led to . . .

their merger two years later (1912). UMC made cartridges at their Bridgeport factory until 1970, in a plant that once boasted Connecticut’s highest structure: a 190-foot red brick “shot tower” where workers dropped molten lead from 133 feet into vats of cold water six feet deep. That must have been quite a sight. And sound. [h/t Frank Williams]

18 COMMENTS

  1. Loading with a stripper clip was pretty revolutionary back then. Churchill once praised the fast reloading of stripper clips when he carried a C96 broomhandle as a soldier.

    • Was it though? Military rifles had been using stripper clips for, what, 20-30 years by that point? Or am I misreading/understanding your point?

  2. I’ve wanted one of those rifles ever since seeing the one my uncle owned when I was about 9. For some reason I remember that the way the barrel moved back & forth fascinated me. IIRC he traded it for a real-deal Union-issued Springfield trapdoor.

  3. So true with the stripper clips of the day; when Russia ordered mass quantities of Winchester 1895 lever guns (the model with the box magazine) they insisted on the gun being stripper clip ready, Winchester complied.

  4. I had the chance to buy one of those rifles a few years back, but I passed because it was chambered in .35 Remington, which is very difficult to find (though I think I’ve seen an increase in companies making new ammo for it). Shame, it was a great price.

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