Black Powder, White Smoke

Eras Gone Bullet Molds, Repro Catalogs & A Business Merger

By Joe Bilby · Originally published May 2019 · pp. 8–9

One of the most interesting historical small arms related businesses I have come across in some time is Eras Gone Bullet Molds. Company founder Mark Hubbs wanted authentic bullets to shoot in original and reproduction Civil War cap and ball revolvers; his search led him to check into the possibility of having a company make him custom molds. Hubbs’ quest led to some interesting results. He quickly discovered that “set up fees for custom molds are expensive, so to get the single mold I required, I had to buy at least 30 from a prominent mold maker to make the project affordable.” His plan was to contract for the thirty, keep one for himself, give one to his friend who did the design and sell the rest to cover the cost. He posted his plan on the Black Powder Revolver Enthusiast Facebook page, received an enthusiastic response, and chose “Eras Gone” for a company name. While Hubbs started out with six-gun slugs, his latest product is a mold to cast a historically correct Smith carbine bullet. The Smith bullet is .518 in diameter, weighs 354 grains, and features the rounded top band of the original projectile. You can view the Eras Gone By bullet selection, which includes .44 caliber Johnson and Dow, .31 caliber Baby Dragoon, .36 caliber Richmond Laboratory, and .36 caliber Colt designs at his website: http://erasgonebullets. webstarts.com/?fbclid=IwAR-

3zO7Jio_tRT4dPotZw8K7Wox9 W 0 5 8 Te X I s J h w R n 1 3 s d M 9NyE5CSVJna6w. Eras Gone By molds are $65 each postpaid for United States sales. The company ships overseas as well for additional shipping cost and has sold to shooters in the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Canada Spain, France, Serbia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The molds are made by Lee Precision and come complete with handles. Orders are processed through Bonanza, a sales platform like eBay. https:// w w w. b o n a n z a . c o m / b o o t h s / Eras_Gone_Bullets.

(Mark Hubbs)

Classic Firearms Catalog Reproductions As many of you are aware, my part time retirement job is as Assistant Curator of the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey in Sea Girt. I recently received an information request from an arms historian in Denmark regarding a Bofors anti-tank gun in our collection. The provenance of the gun was shaky; one account had it donated by a VFW post that received it as World War II surplus and used it as a lawn ornament. My inquirer, to whom I supplied photos, posited that it might have been sold by the Danish government to Val Forgett. And that point brought back some memories. Back in the day, as they say, the day being the late 1950s, I was a high school kid living in Newark, N.J. I was also an avid history, outdoors, and firearms buff. My friend Johnny Sause’s father used to take us on party boat fluke fishing expeditions, so it fell to my father to bring us to that iconic surplus gun mecca, Service Armament, located at 8 East Fort Lee Road in Bogota, N.J. To a military history nerd like me, Service Armament, lodged in a huge warehouse, was a wonderland. There were cannon all over the floor, as well as antitank guns, Gatling guns, mortars, and rocket launchers; the small arms for sale ranged from the 19th century to World War II. Val Forgett, the founder of the company, traveled far and wide to purchase his stock, and it was for sale— cheap. A World War I era British Number 1 Mark III rifle could be yours for $14.95, and 100 rounds of .303 ammunition to go with it would set you back $7.50. You could buy a Model 1875 Gatling gun for $5,000, a Model 1900 Gatling gun for $1,250, a 12-pounder bronze Civil War smoothbore cannon for $4,000, and a British anti-tank gun for $250. In those days, you could simply pay the man and roll your cannon out the door. Service Armament also had a large selection of machine guns, but unless they were deactivated, you needed a federal license to purchase them. You can sample those glory days of yore by purchasing a reprint copy of the 1958 Service Armament catalog, one of a myriad of classic gun catalogs available from Cornell Publications, which describes itself as providing “collectors and enthusiasts with a source of period correct, reprinted original material to help them better understand and evaluate their firearms.” The firm offers reprints of over 6,000 old catalogs, printed to your order. If you are interested in the Cornell list, check it out at their website: https://www.cornellpubs.com/index.php.

Reproduction Firearms Company Merger Civil War era shooters and reenactors interested in handguns are familiar with the Early and Modern Firearms (EMF) and Pietta companies. EMF developed into a sort of bifurcated entity, starting with imported percussion revolvers and reproductions of the Model 1873 Colt Single Action Army cartridge gun intended to appeal to the Cowboy Action Shooting market. They later evolved into a business selling more modern designs as well. Pietta is well known for its percussion handguns, and the EMF traditional revolvers were manufactured by Pietta in its factory at Gussago, Italy. Now both companies are one as Pietta has purchased EMF. According to Pietta, “the decision to purchase and partner with EMF was based on the goals of the Pietta brothers to increase their overall brand presence within the United States as well as increase the company’s retail distribution, all while maintaining a lower and more competitive price point.” Joseph G. Bilby received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division in 1966–1967. He is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum, a freelance writer and historical consultant and author or editor of 21 books and over 400 articles on N.J. and military history and firearms. He is also publications editor for the N.J. Civil War 150 Committee and edited the award winning New Jersey Goes to War. His latest book, New Jersey: A Military History, was published by Westholme Publishing in 2017. He has received an award for contributions to Monmouth County (N.J.) history and an Award of Merit from the N.J. Historical Commission for contributions to the state’s military history. He can be contacted by email at [email protected].