Firearms museums...

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A little off tangent, but if you happen to go to London and have a free afternoon definitely see the Imperial War Museum. Most of it is excellent.

The Holocaust Exhibit is something you may or may not want to venture into. I will never forget it. When I was there some years back they had an age request of (I believe) 14+ and positively would not admit young children.
 
Browning museum in Ogden, Utah is amazing to see. There are a lot of the originals there that started it all for browning. My favorite part is all of the Military firearm originals. After that you can go a couple of miles over to the Ogden Cemetary to see John's Grave site.
 
Not quite near me, but the Air Force Armament museum at Eglin Air Force Base, FL has the Sikes Antique Pistol Collection as well as a selection of military rifles, pistols, machine guns and Gatling guns.

Much closer is the Armed Forces Military Museum in Largo (just north of St. Petersburg) , FL contains various U.S. and German WWII weapons.
 
Not to be a buzz killer, but the gun museum at the NRA's Whittington Center in Raton, NM, is pretty small, especially considering the trip to get there. But guns are always cool to look at. I haven't checked out the range, but I did stop by once to check out the gun museum and use the restroom. I've "heard" the NRA has a dandy museum at their headquarters in VA.

And a big X2 for the Woolaroc Museum in Oklahoma! I haven't been there since I was a kid, but I remember it was a helluva place. There's all kinds of stuff there.
 
West Point (US Military Academy) has a nice museum that's accessible by the public (it's before entering the military reservation proper). Don't be afraid to ask since you'll probably run into the visitor gift shop first - the museum is in the large church-like building behind it.
 
Another EXCELLENT museum is the US Army Ordnance Museum in Aberdeen, MD. Now THAT place has the shizz!
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Yes they do, or did. The museum is being phased out to Leesburg, Va I beleive as part of the military BRAC program. I spent many summer afternoon taking my daughter there when she was young. I must have her pic with half of the tanks and missles there. really very sad to see it leave.
 
As another poster said, the Cody Historical Museum. It is actually five museums under one roof, but for when it comes to guns, the Cody Firearms Museum has one of the greatest firearm collections in the world. And what one sees in the museum is only a teaser, they have many, many, more warehoused. Over six thousand objects in the collection chronicle the technological development of firearms from the earliest incarnations to the most modern forms.

http://www.bbhc.org/firearms/

It is hard to believe that a small town like Cody could have such a huge first class museum as this.

Buffalo Bill Historical Center: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill_Historical_Center
 
If you are ever in the Chicago suburbs of IL, the First Infantry Division (Big Red One) museum located in Wheaton is a pretty good place to visit. It costs $5/car for parking- no entrance fee for individuals (only donations accepted inside). The museum has pictures/dioramas of WW1, WW2, Vietnam, the Gulf War and the current Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. In these dioramas, they have various rifles (Mauser, Garand, Thompson, BAR, Grease Gun, AK47, M16, etc.). The museum also has various US tanks outside for viewing (kids can climb on these).

Definitely a must visit if you have the time.
 
When I was about fifteen or so, we went to Colorado and stopped in Dodge City, Kansas on the way home. If you like old west guns, the museum there is great. They have a lot. I don't remember everything about it because it's been so long, but I remember they had to drag me out of there.
 
You guys are making me want to take a road trip as Ive never been to any of these places.
 
A few more...

The Bennington Museum in Bennington, VT has a Pederson device and a few "bring-back" items from local vets in their miltary history gallery.
They also have a revolutionary war uniform from a local family.

The VT state archives in Montpelier also has a few gun exhibits and in the lobby of the capitol building is an old gun that was used to shoot the last catamount (also displayed) hunted instate.

The Groton Historical Society displays an engraved powderhorn and "Brown Bess" that was carried by one of my wife's relatives...

BTW, I don't go to a museum simply because it displays firearms/weapons, but I do make it a point to go on any school fieldtrips with my kids when they go to museums that display them.

I support the arts...
 
Nobody has mentioned the Kentucky Military Museum in Frankfort. (If they ever get finished with renovations and get their State budget straightened out..)
Last time I was there they had probably the finest collection of automatic weapons around. George Chinn (he who "wrote the book" on machine guns) was curator there and they have his collection. They even had a Puckle Gun.
 
+1 on the National Firearms Museum.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, VA. Outstanding.

And while they are decidedly not close by, I can recommend the Musee de l'Armee in Paris (it's at Les Invalides), the Military Museum in Vienna, and the Imperial Armory in Vienna.
 
MikeOTDP

Definitely a must see on the Marine Corps Museum. Besides the firearms and historical items on display, the superb action dioramas have got to be experienced to be appreciated. The Korean War and the Vietnam War displays were truly amazing, like you were really there.
 
offthepaper said:
Yes they do, or did. The museum is being phased out to Leesburg, Va I beleive as part of the military BRAC program. I spent many summer afternoon taking my daughter there when she was young. I must have her pic with half of the tanks and missles there. really very sad to see it leave.
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+2 for the Ord Museum at APG. Its moving (or slated to move) to Ft. Lee VA, just south of RIchmond in the Hopewell/Petersburg area. Not Leesburg.
 
Another EXCELLENT museum is the US Army Ordnance Museum in Aberdeen, MD. Now THAT place has the shizz!
Yes they do, or did. The museum is being phased out to Leesburg, Va I beleive as part of the military BRAC program. I spent many summer afternoon taking my daughter there when she was young. I must have her pic with half of the tanks and missles there. really very sad to see it leave.
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Ahh. APG Ordinance Museum. Visited it many times. My father built many of the display cases and exhibits there. He worked about a block south of the museum from about 1962 until he retired sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. I seem to recall the museum was built in the early 70s.
 
The best firearms museum and general military museum I have been to is the Infantry museum at Ft. Benning, Georgia. They have recently remade it and I spent about 3 hours in there, but it is still incomplete as of August 2010. It had an indoor shooting range using laser sighted M-4s that you could rent for a few minutes, as well as all the usual exhibitions. Hopefully it will be done when I get back to Georgia so I can see the remaining two rooms that were incomplete when I went last time I was there.

In addition, if you ever get down to Ft. Benning and the Columbus, Georgia area, there is the Confederate Naval Museum, which is the only CNM in the world. You could spend a good 2-3 hours there looking at the exhibits.

Here in Korea, where I reside, the Korean War Museum is pretty good. It is three stories of Asian warfare artifacts from the BC era all the way up to modern time. If you are like me and like to look at and read everything, between the 3 stories and the outdoor exhibits, you could spend 6-8 hours there.
 
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Yeah JM Davis in Claremore is top notch. Woolaroc is a great place too. there is a room full of mounts . They have everything that ever walked or crawled mounted in there.
 
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