Discussion pro- and con- with respect to firearms goes on today almost ad nauseum. However, there is one type of firearms that is used today almost exclusively for recreation and is worth consideration from this standpoint.

Life has become so hectic that a number of 'offbeat' interests seem to be developing. Some individuals go along with rock climbing, para-sailing, sky diving, scuba diving and other types of strenuous activity that 'could be deleterious to one's health'. The individuals who participate in these activities are into the intensity of their way of life and push it into these dangerous ways of relaxation.

There is another collection of people who are frustrated with the torrid pace of life today and are looking for something less hectic to do in their leisure time. These persons look back at the times when life was much slower and simpler and look for less dangerous ways in which to spend their leisure moments.

Within this collection, is a nostalgic subgroup that began feeling the pressure numerous years ago, Theirs' is an interest in the traditional way of life of the early immigrants and inhabitants of this country. They copy the dress, food and even much of the language of these early settlers. Also copied, are the weapons these citizens required to kill game for food and to protect themselves from Indians, and other predators.

There are several subgroups within this subgroup, all of whom attempt to emulate these early settlers in various periods. Some of the most prominent are the Mountain Men, who emulate those hearty soles who invaded the mountains after beaver and other furs; the Civil War Re-enactors - the name is self-explanatory; and the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS). This latter group alone has grown from a few in 1970, to 20,000 members at the turn of this century, and explosively to more than 80,000 today. There also are offshoots reflecting this nostalgia, in the formation of Western Three Gun Societies, and several versions of Cowboy Fast Draw. There also are numerous actors who have 'shoot-outs' in various towns and areas of the west. All of the members of these organizations use single action weapons of some kind. Such weapons were the first to be manufactured, simply because the mechanism required for double-action is quite involved.

From the huge number of police, gangster, and other movies today, most people are familiar with automatic weapons. Many have little to no knowledge of their predecessors. The automatic weapon operates in such a manner that pulling the trigger causes the projectile to be launched, and that launching resets the hammer so that another trigger pull causes the next discharge, etc. In other words, double-action. Some of these weapons can also discharge a string of projectiles by holding down the trigger.

A single action weapon is much slower and one that requires a manual resetting of the hammer before the trigger mechanism can be pulled to discharge the next missile. The first of these weapons were quite crude and required gun powder to be placed in a 'flashpan' next to the projectile. A piece of flint, attached to the hammer, descended when the trigger was pulled, to strike a metal part initiating a spark. The spark caused the powder to ignite and the projectile was propelled out the barrel. A number of variations evolved through the years and are the type of weapons favored by the 'Mountain Men'.

Eventually, mechanical know-how progressed sufficiently to provide the more complicated mechanism required to fire more than one projectile before reloading; i.e., several projectiles could be loaded at one time and fired successively before reloading. The hammer still had to be manually reset each time before the trigger could be pulled to discharge the next projectile, however. Thus, the term single-action.

In the United States, Samuel Colt was the first to develop such a revolver. He devised a method of mechanical leverage to work in such a manner that the pull of the trigger caused a cylinder, which contained the rounds to be ejected, to rotate so that the hammer would strike the next projectile just by again pulling the trigger. A measure of powder was placed in each of the five chambers of the cylinder and a round lead ball tamped down on top. A coating of grease was added so that when one chamber fired, the powder in the next would not also be fired. The first of these weapons, the Patterson Colt (so-called because it was manufactured in Patterson, N. J.) was highly effective and a great step forward in self-defense, but crude and unwieldy.

Next in evolution came the cap and ball, where loose powder was replaced by a primer which functioned as the propellant, so one did not have to contend with greasing each chamber and worrying about the loose powder. Within a few short years, the cap and ball was replaced by the metal jacketed round that contained both the powder and the projectile. Further research moved the striking position from rim fire to center fire of the cartridge because a rimfire cartridge had a greater tendency to misfire. The weapon remained single action, however.

So, you have a gun being used recreationally under controlled conditions that offers enjoyment to thousands of people ranging in age from 7 to 90 years of age. It also provides a way in which entire families can spend a day, week-end, or more together in the outdoors. It also is less dangerous than rock climbing, scuba diving and a host of other means of recreation. The Single Action Shooting Society, for example, has reported no serious injury from gun fire in twenty-five years of existence.

John H. Manhold is the author of a historically based, fiction novel. El Tigre, a fast moving story that chronicles the life of Johann Heinrich von Manfred from his youth as a student in a Prussian military academy through his many exciting and dangerous adventures, is based on extensive research and personal family history with the Franco-Prussian War. For more information on this exciting topic and book, visit: http://www.JohnHManhold.com