M1868 Papal States Remington (Pontificio) Rifle
It is interesting to see the St. Peter’s Keys of Heaven stamped on a firearm.
Tam writes …
Because if the dead rise and walk the earth in search of human brains, there’s nothing better with which to put them back into the hereafter than a rifle with the Keys of St. Peter stamped right into the receiver, no matter what Hornady may state to the contrary. Too bad the 12.7x45R cartridge is a handloader-only proposition these days; maybe we can get them to do a run of Z-Max, just in case.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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Had a tour around Vatican City in the seventies. There were quite a few guns in evidence mainly Berettas. The Swiss guard are of course Swiss but must have completed national service in the Swiss army prior to joining the Guard. I remarked to my friend who was showing us around that the pike the Swiss Guard were carrying was hardly an effective weapon and he told me to have a quick peak in the 'umbrella stands' beside each uniformed Swiss Guard and there I saw Beretta SubMachineGun mod. PM12S in each one!
I want one of their retired K31s.