Oldest Firearm design in your inventory?

[buckeye .45]

I don't think I've seen this on here before, and it seems like it could be kind of fun, so here we go.

I was thinking about my collection, and a lot of my firearms are of older designs (some are actually old, some are replicas), I'm not necessarily talking about the age of the firearm, but the design for it (I.E., none of my 1911's were manufactured in 1911, and my 98k Mauser was not made in 1898). A lot of my favorite firearms, from those two examples from above, to my Peacemakers, and even my AR and AK which are both designs over 50 years old, have been around and doing their jobs for a long time. I think the firearms industry really is one where successful designs thrive, and over time it shows.

So, my firearm with the oldest design is a replica of a Colt 1851 Navy ball and cap revolver, not ideal for SD, but certainly fun to shoot. Who else has anything cool of older design that wants to share (look into it, you may be surprised how old some very popular designs are).

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Tom357]

The oldest gun in my collection is my great-grandfather's 1923 Remington Model 11 semi-auto shotgun. Really nice wood. As functional as ever.

[jeep45238]

1891/30 Mosin Nagant for me. Next in line is the 1911, and P35.

[rainmaker]

The flintlock (I have 3) would be the oldest design-dating to the 1700's more or less. (The ones I have would be considered Revolutionary War or pre-war style.) Actual oldest rifle would be a 32 cal percussion a gunsmith built long time ago out of the parts from other guns. Otherwise, a Winchester 1897.

[Gunnutty]

Remington rolling block. 1891

[JohnD13]

Flintlocks. Oldest one I have dates to about 1730's.

[rstickle]

The flintlock (I have 3) would be the oldest design-dating to the 1700's more or less.

+1 I also have three, the styles can be dated from about 1760s - 1790s. One is a replica I had reproduced of a rifle made in Hanvover, PA that was made by an ancestor of mine probably in the 1790s.

[rstickle]

Flintlocks. Oldest one I have dates to about 1730's.

1730s sounds a bit early.

Generally the flintlock era is thought to run from the 1750s till percussion came in in the 1820s, with the "Golden Age" being the mid-1770s to about 1800+. (There were a lot of beautiful flintlocks lost to percussion conversion post 1820.)

[HotGuns]

I have a "hand gonne" that is a reproduction of an original made around the 1400's. It uses bllack powder and shoots a .68 caliber ball. Its basically a tube mounted on a stick and it is suprisingly accurate.

Beat that.

Heres a video of my son shooting it...having not shot one he didnt really know what to expect.

MVI_2192.flv video by HotGuns - Photobucket

[archer51]

Single shot cap and ball muzzle loader pistol as well as several cap and ball long guns. I also have a .36 cal cap and ball 1851 Navy replica as well.

[NYCMedic]

Colt 1903, Colt 1911 (from 1918), K98, BHP, and a Remington 11riot gun from WWII.

[bmcgilvray]

U. S. Springfield Model 1884 "Trapdoor" and Colt Single Action Army revolver.

[hogdaddy]

Cap Lock, Replica T/C New Englander

H/D

[Jeff F]

1868 3rd Allin Conversion Trapdoor.

[searcher 45]

The oldest design I have is a Single Shot Shotgun.