![]() After the war, he purchased over 90 per cent of the captured war material from the United States Government, and then bought historic Pollepel Island, in the Hudson Highlands opposite Cornwall, known to the public as Bannerman’s Island.īannerman was not only the largest surplus dealer in the world by 1891, but also was the acknowledged founder of the military surplus business as we know it today. The Assistant Chief of Ordnance stated that “Bannerman has done so much good toward training the youth of America with his Quaker drill guns that the United States could well afford to pay him a bounty on each gun made.” He later opened stores in New York City, first at 118 Broad Street in 1887, then 27 Front Street in 1892, and finally another in 1897 at 579 Broadway, where he outfitted many regiments during the Spanish-American War. ![]() He also supplied everyday frontiersmen with fowling guns made from the old army, which he also altered into “Quaker guns” for boys brigades and military schools. Later he started sending out an illustrated catalog to collectors, and countries who may be looking to outfit their troops with second hand yet pretty modern arms at cheap prices. Not long after that, he began buying them up and began to resell them from a store front. Bannerman ended up with the winning bid, beating Winchester and others to the rights for the company, and then started a full scale takeover.īefore we proceed, i will tell you a bit about Francis Bannerman…In 1872, Bannerman began buying from army auctions and soon began noticing the useful and historic war weapons being scrapped for metal. This lead to an eccentric group of investors trying to buy it up, who told a surplus military goods dealer named Francis Bannerman about this as well. In early 1890, a liquidation of the Spencer company happened due to their recent bankruptcy, in which Pratt and Whitney and others with financial interests had put the company up for sale. had been able to, and nearly all of the revisions we see today from the 2nd model Spencer made guns are because of him. By the time he stopped producing these, their previous successes and Bannerman’s business know how ended up in him producing 6 times as many guns as the Spencer Arms Co. It also shows some experimental rifles he tried out using the same action. It also chronicles how Bannerman further marketed and developed these shotguns, then tells the fate of the company and design. Part 2: This begins right where the previous one left off and tells the story of the Bannerman acquisition, and his later supreme court trial against the Winchester company for patent infringement.
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