Thread: Firearms in NZ in the 1850s

Wow, thanks so much for these contributions - much appreciated! That gives me a great start. I will read those links, read those books and and take note of the info volunteered. I am particularly interested in Canterbury, and in what might have been washing around in the civilian population as well as the police. I've read a few newspaper accounts from the time of highwaymen, for example, and of people arming themselves with pistols for self defence in certain circumstances. Eg when Sidebottom, the foreman of the Levels station, was on the track of Mackenzie the sheep rustler, he asked the boss to send him a pistol. So it was pretty lawless and wild west at the time. I'm trying to figure out what actual firearms these might have been, and I'm guessing maybe a lot of them were older weapons, outdated technology. I know very little about this topic (but will be educating myself) so I don't even know at this stage when black powder was replaced by smokeless, so a lot to learn. But it's a fascinating period. Just to explain myself, I'm writing about it, so want to get my facts as straight as I can.