Bannerman's

[Kleanbore]

Decades ago, The Gun Digest had an article on Bannerman's, the New York outfit that bought and sold surplus and modified weapons and accessories of all kinds..

I had forgotten all about it until a friend pointed out to me that a crumbling stone structure in the Hudson in the background of a New York Central poster advertising the passenger trains on their Water Level Route was the remains of Bannerman's Castle.

Perhaps some here remember mixed-bag assemblies built around Krag and US Model 1917 actions. There was much, much more.

Enjoy this:

https://www.guns.com/news/2015/11/07/bannermans-legacy-ultimate-army-navy-store

 

[Bush Pilot]

Wow, just wow

 

[GEM]

When I was a kid, in Brooklyn, the local Macy's sold military surplus rifles in their sporting goods section in the basement. Just barrels full of old stuff - '03's, Mausers, Enfields, and who knows what else.

 

[scaatylobo]

As a youth,I was in that store in NYC.

Wish I could go back and remind myself to buy ANY & EVERTHING that I could !!.

 

[Dunross]

Before my time by a bit, but I would have loved to have gone to their store.

 

[Walkalong]

I saw an oak barrel full of 1911s once in a small store when I was a kid, Centerville Al IIRC.

 

[rust collector]

Bannerman's business, involving all sorts of ordnance and materiel, was located in central NYC before they moved out to the island. Tons of artillery shells, mines and rocket probably made the neighbors a bit jittery. Even in my small town, however, there were barrels of Argentine mausers and other milsurps for $25, with ammo in large bowls at a nickel or dime each. The military surplus trade was a thriving market until we couldn't be trusted anymore...

 

[hps1]

All those guns, and in NYC; what, no mass shootings? But............How can that be!!!??

Great article, thanks for the link.

Regards,
hps

 

[theotherwaldo]

I got a part from Bannerman's not too long ago.
Well, sort of.
A guy was selling a musket lower band that he had snagged off of the bottom of the Hudson River near Bannerman's Island.
Just what I needed to complete my Belgian flintlock trade musket... .

 

[alsaqr]

In the mid 1950s my brother, a couple friends and i worked for a big time landscaper in Yonkers. We dug up wild shrubs and trees in WV and hauled them to Yonkers.

We sometimes visited the Bannerman down town store. First visit i drove the diesel truck with 20 foot bed right down town. Several cops chewed me out badly. After that we parked the truck out of town and caught a cab. My brother found a like new trapdoor officers carbine in a barrel of guns. Payed about $20 for the rifle.

 

[Iggy]

Irrelevant.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I almost bought an early M91 Mosin that Bannermans had converted to .30-06. It was in rough shape and I set it down to sleep on it. The internet said they had a known history of kabooms, so I never went back for it, lol.

 

[CapnMac]

Bannerman is (slightly) notorious for having enough goods on hand to have supplied some nations their arms & uniforms (or at least the junta of the day).

The videos from the remains of the estate today are some what amazing. And complicated for seeing the efforts made to try and preserve them. Also slightly amazing to see that he was allowed to make an actual barge breakwater in the Hudson.

 

[22250Rem]

The Bannerman story is fascinating; thanks for that link. I've always been interested in that subject and have read about it a lot, but that link was well worth a re-read. A few years ago I saw I story about the group organized to preserve the castle and that also had a lot of interesting historical details in it. Apparently Mr. Bannerman was the right guy in the right place at the right time to put together an enterprise like that. What a neat piece of American history.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I keep several Bannerman's catalogs for reference.
It's amazing, the items that he moved through that store.

 

[PapaG]

An old friend from Peoria, about 1970, had me over to show me his collection. U.S. martial arms from the Brown Bess and Committee of Safety muskets through Mississippi, Harpers Ferry, Springfield, Colt, and on through the Krag. He said he had paid at most $20 per. If he got one that wasn't good enough, he'd order another. All from Bannerman's.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I read the linked article and I agree.
That IS what IMA, J&G, and AIM Surplus are missing!
They don't have a castle on a river!

 

[RON in PA]

Memories, I went to the Broadway store a couple of times in the mid-1950s. Bushel baskets full of surplus Union cavalry sabres. My cousin and I each bought one and wrapped in newspaper brought them on the New York subway up to his home in the Bronx. After the store on Broadway closed they opened out on Long Island.

 

[Speedo66]

When I was a kid, in Brooklyn, the local Macy's sold military surplus rifles in their sporting goods section in the basement. Just barrels full of old stuff - '03's, Mausers, Enfields, and who knows what else.

I remember the Herald Sq. Macy's having guns also. A local NY sporting goods chain, Modell's, also used to sell guns. Got my first gun there at age 12, a .22 Marlin 80DL, at their Broadway store.

When I was there picking it up with my parents, they also had a dump table filled with greasy Carcano's @ $11. An army-navy store on the west side in lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center stood, Kaufman's, had barrels of Martini's at $12 back then.

Used to ride a bus by myself at 12 y.o in Queens with the Marlin in a soft case to get to a range. Once got stopped by a police officer who asked me if I had a permit. Told him I didn't need a permit for a rifle. He laughed and told me I was right. A little mom & pop sporting goods store across the street from the range would sell you ammo if you told them you were going to the range, 50 cents a box for Remington standard velocity.

Had a boat slipped on the Hudson, several miles down from Bannerman's Island, whose original name is Pollepel Is. Was on the island several times over 25 years, and watched the castle deteriorate . The real threat there wasn't unexploded ordinance, it was falling bricks and rampant poison ivy.

@CapnMac said "Also slightly amazing to see that he was allowed to make an actual barge breakwater in the Hudson."

The state was probably so thrilled to get him and his high explosive artillery shells out of Manhattan they would have let him do anything within reason. Plus, he had a pretty big company, who knows where he was putting lobbying money. Anything was possible in Albany with sufficient funds, still is.

 

[Mk VII]

There is a long article about Bannerman's Island as an appendix to Bill Edwards' Civil War Guns based on a visit he and Val Forgett made to it at the request of the Bannerman Estate. This was before it burned down.

 

[JTHunter]

A great article Kleanbore. Thanks.

IIRC, there was a show, "Mysteries of the Abandoned" (?), that had a segment on the "castle" where they talked about how they stored both powder and live munitions at the castle. And, as rust collector noted, the neighbors were "nervous".

 

[WheelGunMan]

Great article..what a great time to be a gun enthusiast.

 

[deputy bruce]

I have an old catalog from there

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I have a Trapdoor that is believed to be a Bannerman's product.