Hemingway Firearms

[jamesinalaska]

I've just finished reading a biography of Ernest Hemingway. This biography was by Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange, so, as you can expect, Burgess did not shy away from the unpleasantnesses of Hemingway's life story.


Burgess's book had two images of Hemingway as a teenager with a firearm. I'm pretty sure I can identify the lever action shotgun (bottom) but I am not so sure of the pistol Hemingway is shown carrying along with the fishing rod. By the thin barrel I suspect the pistol to be a .22. Can THR members identify these firearms? The photos were taken from between 1910 and 1914.


Hemingway wrote a series of short stories centered on a character named Nick Adams, a WWI veteran returning home. The most popular of these stories would probably have to be The Big Two-Hearted River, where the character goes back to a boyhood fishing spot. As you read these stories the image you will likely get of Nick Adams is very similar to the image of Hemingway with the fly rod. (Below).

 

[AZAndy]

The shotgun looks to be a Winchester 1887, but I don't know what the pistol is. I'm a little curious as to why he seems to have been hunting barefoot.

 

[mnrivrat]

The pistol looks to be a Colt Woodsman .

 

[AZAndy]

The pistol looks to be a Colt Woodsman .

If the latest date for the photos is 1914, it can't be, as the Woodsman was first made in 1915. The barrel looks a little more pencil-ish than a Woodsman, too. (I can't claim I knew any of that off the top of my head; my first thought was Woodsman, too, so I looked it up.)

 

[GunnyUSMC]

The pistol looks to be a Colt Woodsman .

I agree.

 

[Billy.Tif]

Maybe an old stevens design?

 

[stoky]

 

[Speedo66]

The shotgun looks to be a Winchester 1887, but I don't know what the pistol is. I'm a little curious as to why he seems to have been hunting barefoot.

The photo caption says he's on a lake shore, maybe did a little wading.

 

[AZAndy]

The photo caption says he's on a lake shore, maybe did a little wading.

That would explain the rolled-up trousers too. Good point, thanks.

 

[22250Rem]

In the March, 2017 issue of "American Rifleman" there's a good article entitled "Hemingway's Guns" , that I found quite interesting. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. That picture of him on his boat with that Thompson was one of the photos in it. He was an interesting guy, and he even liked guns, too.

 

[mnrivrat]

"If the latest date for the photos is 1914, it can't be, as the Woodsman was first made in 1915. The barrel looks a little more pencil-ish than a Woodsman, too. (I can't claim I knew any of that off the top of my head; my first thought was Woodsman, too, so I looked it up.)"

Hard to see details on the picture . You bring up a good point regarding the year of picture vs the production of the Woodsman. A couple other candidates like the Reising Targer pistol, or the early Star pistols seem to have the same issue ? I guess I won't put my money on anything just yet.

 

[Jim Watson]

I cannot resolve the pistol butt.
It might well be a Stevens single shot as Billy said.

 

[Leanwolf]

Hemingway used to use his Thompson sub-machine gun to shoot sharks when he was fishing out in the Gulf. In his last novel, Islands In The Stream, by Ernest Hemingway, Charles Scribner's Sons Publs., © 1970 (by Mary Hemingway), his main character, Thomas Hudson, uses a Thompson sub-machine gun to shoot sharks ... and bad guys.

FWIW.

L.W.

 

[redbone]

My first impression was "air pistol". Pretty sure that's wrong...

 

[mnrivrat]

"
I cannot resolve the pistol butt.
It might well be a Stevens single shot as Billy said"

The stocks look oversize as in a target model gun, Looking at the bottom of the butt there seems to show a European style magazine release ? Meaning, if true, it would not be a single shot. Again however the photo is not very clear .

 

[Paul7]

He was a big fan of the .30-'06, and even used it on Cape Buffalo and Rhino.

 

[Blkhrt13]

My Google fu is coming up short. I've tried a dozen combinations. I'm not uncertain the woodsman wasn't the first semi auto 22 to hit the market. Certainly seems to be close to it. I can only find old single shots none of which fit the profile.

 

[Blkhrt13]

High standard didn't come out till 30something as a company. So it can't be a sport king.