01Part oneThe Duke's Real Sixgun
The catalog said $20,000 to $40,000. The bidding stopped at $517,500, for the one Colt with a paper trail to the Duke's own hand.
New book from Famous Arsenals
The guns behind the legends. Checked against the record.
ARSENALS goes inside the gun collections of 36 American legends, from John Wayne and Patton to Elvis and Theodore Roosevelt: what each man really owned, where it is now, and which of his guns might be in your own safe.
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Includes the Trace Your Own Gun guide
From the Famous Arsenals YouTube channel
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ARSENALS
169archival photos,
each one credited
each one credited
168guns, every one
labeled
labeled
+Bonus guide:
Trace Your Own Gun
Trace Your Own Gun
Photo: Theodore Roosevelt with his Winchester, c. 1885 · Library of Congress
- 36American legends, from the Duke to the President
- 168guns, every one labeled
- 169archival photos, each one credited
- 123auction prices, every one dated
- 351pages, plus two bonus guides
Do you own one? · In every chapter
The Duke carried one. You might have one in your safe.
Almost every gun safe in America holds something a legend once carried: a Colt single action, a Winchester lever gun, a Smith & Wesson revolver. Every chapter of ARSENALS ends with Do You Own One?: the models from that man's collection, what to look for on yours, and what they bring at auction today.
- Pick your gunChoose the model in your safe.
- See who carried oneThe legends in the book who had the same model, and how the book labels each gun.
- Check the markingsWhere the model number and serial are, and what they tell you.
- Trace your ownHow to ask the maker's archive for your gun's factory letter.
Auction lot tag · Do you own one?LOT 36
Your gun
How did you get it?
Status
Waiting for a gun
In good company
Try it: tap your gun. Nothing you choose leaves this page.
Real or prop?
You've seen the guns. Now see whose they were.
Most famous guns turn out to belong to a studio. So every gun in ARSENALS carries one of four labels, checked against auction records, museum files and factory letters. Tap a black bar to see the label.
- Ownedhis, on paper
- Giftedgiven to him, or by him
- Screen-usedthe studio's gun
- Disputedthe record can't settle it
File: Arsenals / Real or prop6 guns
Checked
Six of the 36 arsenals
The men you grew up with, and the guns they really kept.
Every chapter opens the man's gun safe and tells you what's really in it. Each one stands on its own and takes about fifteen minutes to read.
01Part one
06Part twoThe Rancher President's Arsenal
A revolver shipped to "Colonel Roosevelt" in the spring of 1898 came up for sale. Roosevelt wrote down his own guns, and the record says more than the legend.
08Part twoThe Senator's Match Garand
He bought it as a senator, through a program open to any qualified citizen. A sergeant who did not know whose rifle it was spent his own evenings making it perfect.
10Part threeIvory, Not Pearl
He bought a fifty-dollar Colt on the Texas border. He carried it for thirty years, and he never let anyone call the grips pearl.
14Part fourThe King's Revolvers
He came to the White House with a letter, a badge he wanted, and a Colt .45 in a wooden chest. The pistol never went home with him.
17Part fiveThe Gun That Killed the Kid
A sheriff, a dark bedroom and a borrowed Colt. The outlaw's own guns are mostly lost. The gun that killed him set the world record.
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And 30 more like these.
Test yourself
Myth or fact?
Six things people believe about famous guns. Every answer is in the book.
Question 1 of 60 right
Look inside
Built like a collector's catalog, not a blog post.
A full-page archival photograph opens every chapter. Then the Arsenal File: every gun he owned on one page, with its label and where it is now. Inside: dated auction prices, a Myth vs. Fact box, and Do You Own One? at the end of every chapter. Every photograph is credited with its source and date.
Swipe or scroll sideways · tap a page to enlarge
From Cody to Fort Knox
Where the guns are now.
Some went to private collectors for record prices. Some you can still go and see: the book lists 41 places. Tap a pin.
The contents
36 legends in seven parts
What you get
Everything in the safe
- 36 American legends: 24 full chapters and 12 short profiles, from the Duke and the cowboys to the Presidents, the generals, Hollywood, the Old West and the gangsters
- The Arsenal File in every chapter: every gun he owned on one page, with its label and where it is now
- 168 guns labeled Owned, Gifted, Screen-used or Disputed, checked against auction records, museum files and factory letters
- 123 auction prices, dated, with the house, the month and the year
- 169 archival photographs, each credited with its source and date. Real photographs only.
- 40 myths settled: a Myth vs. Fact box in every chapter, and every myth on one list at the back
- Hollywood Guns, Real or Prop?: the famous screen guns that were never the star's own
- Where the guns are now: 41 places you can still go and see one
- Three editions, yours to keep: the designed PDF (351 pages, 7 × 10 in, clickable contents), a large-print PDF (463 pages), and an EPUB for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play
Included
Two bonus guides
Trace Your Own Gun
How to ask the maker's archive for your gun's factory record, and what the letter can tell you.
- The Do You Own One? index: 108 models from all 36 chapters on one list, to check against your own safe.
Not sure yet?
Read the John Wayne chapter free.
The introduction, the page that explains the four labels, and the complete first chapter, The Duke's Real Sixgun. 25 pages, free. Enter your email and it's yours to keep.
PDF · 25 pages · delivered by Gumroad
ARSENALS
One book · three editions · two guides
ARSENALS
36 American legends and the guns they really kept. 351 pages, 169 archival photographs, every gun labeled and every price dated, plus the Trace Your Own Gun guide and the Do You Own One? index.
About $1 a legend, plus the guides.
Ends November 15
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Get my copy · $37
Instant download · Secure checkout by Gumroad
30-day money-back guarantee. If ARSENALS isn't for you, write to us within 30 days and we'll refund you in full. No questions asked.
The gift for the man who has everything in his safe
Know a man who watches every Western twice?
A father who still knows every line of True Grit. A grandfather with a Colt in the closet and a story he's never quite finished telling. ARSENALS is the history behind the guns he grew up with, and the Do You Own One? pages might tell him something new about his own.
How to send it: at checkout, tick "Give as a gift", enter his email and add a note. He gets the book and your message straight away. No shipping, no waiting.
Send it as a gift · $37Who made it
From the channel that opens the safe.
On Famous Arsenals we go inside the gun collections of famous Americans, one man at a time. Every video asks the same two questions: was that really his, and where is it now? This book answers them for 36 legends, with the dated record behind every answer.
Famous Arsenals
YouTube · inside the gun collections of America's legends
Every price dated. Every photograph traced. Every label sourced.
Watch on YouTube →
The record
How every gun was checked
Auction catalogs and results, museum files and factory letters. Where the sources disagree, the book prints both sides and labels the gun Disputed.
Questions
Before you buy
Is this a printed book?
No. ARSENALS is an ebook in three editions: a designed PDF (351 pages, 13 MB), a large-print PDF (463 pages, 15 MB) and an EPUB that fits any screen (16 MB). Gumroad emails you the download link the moment you buy, and the files are yours to keep.
Can I read it on my Kindle?
Yes. Send the EPUB to your Kindle with Amazon's free Send to Kindle, and it appears in your library. The EPUB also opens in Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books.
Is the print big enough to read comfortably?
Yes. The large-print PDF is included, set on US Letter pages, and in the EPUB you choose the text size yourself.
Is it the same as the videos?
No. The videos cover a few guns per man. The book has every gun we could document, the Arsenal File, the dated prices, the photographs and the sources a video has no room for.
Are the photographs real?
Yes. All 169 are real archival photographs, each credited with its source and date. No AI images.
How do you know which guns were really theirs?
Every gun carries a label, Owned, Gifted, Screen-used or Disputed, decided by auction records, museum files and factory letters. Where the sources disagree, the book prints both sides.
Is it endorsed by the families or estates?
No. ARSENALS is an independent history, not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone it covers, their families or estates.
Is this a how-to or a shooting manual?
No. It's a history book about famous men and the guns they kept.
How do I pay?
Checkout is by Gumroad, which takes cards and other common payment methods and adds any sales tax that applies where you live. We never see your card details.
What if I don't like it?
Write to us through the contact form within 30 days and we'll refund you in full. No questions asked.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. At checkout, tick "Give as a gift", enter his email and add a message. He gets the book and your note right away.
Can I read a chapter first?
Yes. The John Wayne chapter is free, 25 pages. Enter your email and Gumroad sends it to you. Get it here.
36 legends. One safe.
The guns behind the legends. Checked against the record.
351 pages, 169 archival photographs, every gun labeled and every price dated, a Myth vs. Fact box in every chapter, and a guide to tracing your own gun's history.
Get my copy · $37- PDF, EPUB + large print
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Secure checkout by Gumroad
Photo: Buffalo Bill Cody, c. 1895-1905 · Milner Library, Illinois State University