When a museum gets a bequest, sometimes the gift winds up being much more extensive than anticipated. The late Raymond Suckling of Pittsburgh, Pa., had made provision for the NRA National Firearms Museum collection to receive material collected over the last 60 years. Included were hundreds of firearm locks from all eras: wheellocks, flintlocks, miquelets, snaphances and much, much more. A very small selection is represented here, including a combination wheellock/doglock, an elaborately engraved wheellock, a spanner, a gold-washed snaphance and a left-handed LePage pattern percussion lock.
The NRA National Firearms Museum at NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Va.; the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo.; and the Frank Brownell Museum of the Southwest at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, N.M.; all have fine selections of historic arms on display. Admission to each is free, and donations are gratefully accepted. For more information, visit nramuseums.com, phone (703) 267-1600 or email nfmstaff@nrahq.org.
