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Bannerman, the Father of Gun Collecting: Tales from the Golden Age of Surplus (Ad-free) (Patreon)

Published:
2026-02-11 12:00:04
Imported:
2026-06
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Bannerman, the Father of Gun Collecting: Tales from the Golden Age of Surplus (Ad-free)

The best firearms reference books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com Francis Bannerman is really the father of the modern military surplus industry, and in many ways a father of gun collecting as we know it today. Before Bannerman, "gun collecting" was generally something for the wealthy and revolved around fancy and bespoke guns. It was not about have representative pieces of normal arms, it was about having the fancy and exclusive things. Bannerman changed that by offering all manner of ordinary surplus at affordable prices to anyone who was interested. In addition to complete guns and other equipment, Bannerman also dealt in huge numbers of bits and pieces, and sometimes assembled them into various odd hybrid guns for sale, which we still see occasionally today... Sample Bannerman catalog (1903): https://archive.org/details/francis-bannerman-military-goods-catalogue-1903/ http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons http://www.floatplane.com/channel/ForgottenWeapons Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.forgottenweapons.com

Comments

Terry

That sample catalog is incredible.

Glenn Miller

Fascinating story, and I'll look forward to more.

Greg Bishop

Thanks very much for giving us this content, very cool to hear about the golden age of surplus.

Cleo45

Awesome discussion about an amazing man and his even more amazing life! Looking forward to hearing about clearing Bannerman Island!

Wayne S.

My mind boggles trying to conceive the awesomeness of "clearing the island".

Dana Arbeit

Thank you. Yes, keep presenting this story.

Sonny Hughes

Great video! I remember hearing about Bannerman in when I was a kid. Probably from some magazine article. About 20 years ago I found an essay in the back of a Dixie Gun Works catalog about a trip Turner Kirkland took to the castle when it was being cleaned out. It was a very interesting first hand Account of what was there at the time. Last fall I ran across an old copy of that DGW catalog at a used book store and bought it just for that essay!

Drew Holmes

Great video! Very interesting history and what people did to make a buck.

John Spangler

As a high school kid around 1958-59 I got busted in Algebra class peeking at a Bannerman catalog instead of paying attention. I still love surplus stuff and don't do well at math. As a misguided youth, I hung around with a surplus gun/militaria dealer who had ticked off Jim Hogan, who was owner or Bannermans at the time, and he wanted to get some of their Span Am War canteens, so I became a straw purchaser. Retail was $1.00 each, but wholesale was 85 cents for 50 or more. The shady dealer wanted 50, so I saved up a few bucks from cutting lawns and orders 100 of them, and kept the best for myself and he got the rest. All but one or two have been sold off in the following decades, but it was my start into dealing collectibles to subsidize my own addiction to them.

Guido Schriewer

I am kind of jealous about the mans childhood! heck I'd have liked to see that NYC store.