Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Response to Barsness' Challenge: "Still The One"

I would nominate the Thermos Bottle, invented in 1892. Originally called a vacuum flask or Dewar flask after its inventor, it has been keeping hot things hot and cold things cold for over a century.

But the mystery remains: how do it know? How do it know?

The S&W New Model three was the best pre-1900 single action.

This has been very interesting, partly because (per usual) most of the people who've posted haven't read the article.

I probably should have specifically mentioned "complex" mechanical devices, but space is always at a premium in magazine articles these days, and I thought my list of other devices would make my point plain. If we really want to be sticklers, probably the oldest human-made device still considered the best for the purpose is the club, and millions are still made every year, whether in the form of baseball bats, golf clubs or nunchuks.

One of several points made in the article is that shooters are STILL spending money to convert old 98 Mauser military actions into custom hunting rifles, whether "using" rifles for hard knocks in the wilderness, or rifles made by famous semi-artists with stocks of the fanciest walnut.

Very few people do that with old Model 94 Winchesters, and as we have seen here, there isn't anywhere near as much agreement about exactly which lever action is "best," even among Winchester addicts. The suggestion that the 1873 Colt is the best single-action ever is even more debatable.

While the Savage 99 is a great lever-action (and demonstrably "better" in many ways than any of the outside-hammer, tube magazine lever-actions, whether made by Winchester or not), it isn't even made anymore. 98 Mausers are, and most of the essential parts of new 98's are interchangeable with those in the actions of original military rifles--and you can't rebuild old Dover eggbeaters with parts from those sold in Wal-Mart.

Not to mention the fact that I HATE having to wear a rubber on my egg beater...

I guess my point is not which is the best ever, but the lasting impact is similar. I would also guess there could be a good debate as to the 98 being the best bolt action available today, as there have been modified versions that certainly eclipse the original.

The Colt still functions and works reliably today without modifications the same as the 98 Mauser. Improvements is a term that can be loosely used in either case, but as they were originally designed, they both perform well...

Cotton gin...

The bicycle.

Been around one of those lately? They have changed a lot.

Lasting impact, socially and politically is impossible to measure, though. The America we know is the direct result of the cotton gin & the steam engine.

Gutenberg printing press. That's the one.

Wrong, even more impactful is an invention by Al Gore...the Internet

Stay on topic please. The discussion is prior to 1900.

I just made up the word "impactful" and wanted to use it in a sentence...

How about fiddles? Priced a fuucing Guarneri or Strad lately?

Although she had electric and hand turned egg beaters, my late Mother always used one of these, eggbeater , for beating eggs used in Her cooking. She was a great cook and did everything Her way even if it was harder and took more time. I miss Her a lot. miles

Mechanical fiddle? Must be German

Automobile: No other mechanical device did more to expand hunting horizons and for the most part still the best way to get there.

They've got knobs!

So does the 'Fire.

Fer shure..

Where were you yesterday?