About
About the Cody Firearms Museum
The story of the American West unfolds through the history of firearms—its triumphs, challenges, and innovations all shaped by these defining tools. The Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West shares that story through the world’s most comprehensive collection of American firearms, inviting visitors to discover how technology, craftsmanship, and culture intertwined to shape a nation. Inside its galleries, guests trace the evolution of firearms technology from early sixteenth-century ingenuity to the precision engineering of today. Each exhibit reveals how necessity and creativity advanced together, showcasing the artistry and innovation behind every design. Beyond the firearms themselves, the museum explores the broader world that produced them—factories humming with progress, business leaders pushing competition and invention, and craftsmen refining techniques that transformed both industry and daily life. Firearms provided protection, secured livelihoods, and sustained families, leaving an indelible mark on the story of the American West.
Winchester Collectibles
People often feel puzzled when they encounter the name “Winchester” stamped on kitchen utensils, fishing gear, or hand tools. The association seems unexpected for a brand renowned for historic and contemporary firearms. Here’s how it happened. After World War I, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company lost its lucrative government contracts for firearms and ammunition, plunging the company into serious financial trouble. Without those orders, its expanded production facilities stood idle, and the civilian firearms market couldn’t sustain such capacity. To stave off bankruptcy, Winchester partnered with the financial firm Kidder, Peabody & Company, to whom it owed $8 million. The alliance relieved immediate debt pressure and injected much-needed capital into the company.
New management launched an ambitious product diversification plan designed to keep factories running and restore profitability. Winchester soon introduced a broad line of high-quality, moderately priced goods—hardware, tools, sporting equipment, pocket knives, cutlery, fishing tackle, flashlights, batteries, ice skates, roller skates, axes, and more.By 1920, the company managed nearly 750 products in development or production. Two years later, Winchester merged with the Associated Simmons Hardware Companies, forming the Winchester-Simmons Company. The merger expanded the product line and opened doors to an extensive, well-established retail network.
By 1926, Winchester-Simmons counted 6,300 dealer-associates and operated eleven company-owned stores nationwide. Their 1927 catalog listed more than 5,000 products, proudly marketed under the slogan “As Good as the Gun.”
Despite these efforts, the company’s broad ambitions collapsed by 1929. The Great Depression dealt the final blow, and in December 1931, Winchester entered receivership and sold to the Western Cartridge Company. Under the Olin family’s leadership, the company gradually refocused on the manufacture of firearms and ammunition.
Today, many Winchester-branded collectibles command significant value. The Standard Catalog of Winchester, edited by David D. Kowalski (Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin, 1999), provides current pricing and collector information.
They may not shoot, but they remain “Winchesters”—and they hold a proud place in American collecting history.
Firearms Related Sayings
Listed below are a few colloquial—mostly American—sayings that owe their origins to firearms (and other weapons) usage. The first line (a) is the original weapons-related definition, and the second line (b) is the modern meaning.
Armed to the teeth:
- (a) Heavily-armed person or persons.
- (b) Well-supplied with information or equipment.
Bite the bullet:
- (a) Prior to modern medical care, a wounded person was given a lead bullet to bite down on while undergoing surgery to lessen the pain.
- (b) To do something unpleasant in order to get it out of the way.
Flash in the pan:
- (a) When a flintlock’s priming pan powder burns or “flashes,” but fails to ignite the main powder charge in the barrel.
- (b) A person who claims great skills or achievements but accomplishes nothing.
Going off half cocked:
- (a) Placing the hammer of a firearm on a halfway position so that it is unable to be fired.
- (b) Thoughtless or hasty behavior.
Grease gun:
- (a) A tool used to squirt heavy grease into a bearing.
- (b) The nickname given the US M3 submachine gun.
Gunning for someone:
- (a) Searching for someone to shoot.
- (b) Aggressively going after someone.
Gun-shy:
- (a) Frightened by the shooting of a firearm.
- (b) A timid person or animal.
Hang fire:
- (a) A firearm that fails to immediately discharge a ball or bullet.
- (b) A delay in something.
Keep your powder dry:
- (a) Making sure that one’s black powder does not get wet, rendering it unable to be fired.
- (b) A request to be careful.
Lock, stock, and barrel:
- (a) The basic components of a firearm.
- (b) An activity or assembly of parts that is complete.
Long shot:
- (a) Long-distance shooting.
- (b) An attempt or action that has little chance of success.
Not worth the powder and shot:
- (a) Firearms powder and shot were relatively cheap in the “old days.”
- (b) Something that is not worth much.
On the shoot:
- (a) Looking for someone to shoot.
- (b) Looking for trouble.
Parting shot:
- (a) The last discharge of a firearm, generally as you are escaping or leaving an area.
- (b) Final remarks, usually obliquely insulting.
Quick on the draw:
- (a) To be fast when drawing a pistol.
- (b) An intelligent, astute person.
Ram it home:
- (a) To push powder and ball down a muzzleloader.
- (b) To force something.
Riding Shotgun:
- (a) Position taken by an armed guard on an express wagon or coach.
- (b) Riding in the front passenger seat of an automobile.
Shoot from the hip:
- (a) Quickly firing a pistol without aiming.
- (b) A rash statement or behavior.
Straight shooter:
- (a) An accurate firearm or marksman.
- (b) An honest, trustworthy person.
Worm it out:
- (a) Using a rod-like tool to remove an unfired ball from a muzzleloader.
- (b) To get a secret (or information) out of someone.
Sources
Adams, Ramon F. Cowboy Lingo. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936.
Adams, Ramon F. Western Words: A Dictionary of the American West (New edition, revised and enlarged.) Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1968.
Cove, Philip, Babcock, ed. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged.) Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1993.
Frazier Historical Arms Museum. The Etymology of Popular Terms Deriving from Arms and Armor. www.fraziermuseum.org. (Accessed July 19, 2004.)
Glossary. www.savvysurvivor.com/glossary.htm. (Accessed July 16, 2004.)
Mueller, Chester and John Olson. Shooter’s Bible Small Arms Lexicon and Concise Encyclopedia. South Hackensack, NJ: Shooter’s Bible, Inc., 1968.
Peterson, Harold L., editor. Encyclopedia of Firearms. New York: Dutton, 1964.
Cody Firearms Museum, Cody, Wyoming. August 2006.