Introducing: The Gun Katar

I’m not really into politics, however it appears that the Good ‘ol U. S. of A. is going to have it’s first African American President. Now while that is of itself a noteworthy and landmark occurrence, as the transition from slavery to presidency is no mean feat, I’m also hoping it will bring with it important changes. Like an improved economy. Reduced national deficits. Better international relationships. You know. Good Presidential stuff.

However we will just have to wait and see. Politicians are politicians after all, it doesn’t matter whether they are black or white, which is a fact many seem to have forgotten. The proof is in the pudding. Whatever that means… I never really liked pudding anyway. Only time will tell how well campaign promises equate to results…

Anyway, in honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I’d break out a beauty of a weapon I ran into a while back. I have done a few gunblade posts in the past, but none of them compare to the sweetness that is the Gun Katar:

Gun Katar

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Is that not completely and uncompromisingly awesome? Now this is a weapon for which a Gun Kata would make practical sense. Yes, A Gun Kata. You know, that little gun dance that seemed to occur at random in the movie “Equilbrium”? The one with Christian Bale before he became the “Dark Knight? Yeah. That one. Go look up Gun Kata (not Katar) on the YouTubes or something. But I’m ranting here. Back to Gun Katar goodness.

What you are looking at here is a Katar, a traditional Indian punch dagger, primarily a thrusting  weapon, often designed to penetrate chain mail armored opponents. It has a thick wedge shaped blade, and unlike most other weapons, the blade is held vertically, by a grip and a set of side bars that sit at right angles to the blade.

Gun Katar - Side View

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This one is a particularly ornate one, featuring some very intricate engravings. You can see an elephant and a boar on one side, as well as flowers, leaves in the center area where the blade emerges, and other traditional Indian adornments.

Gun Katar - Engravings

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Gun Katar - Engravings

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Like many other katar, this features a double bar center grip, with the traditional side bars that run down either side of the blade and acts as guard as well as added support for the weapon.

Gun Katar - Side Guards

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Under normal circumstances, that would be the sum total of the design of a traditional Katar. Except this one takes quite a hike from the traditional beaten Katar path. This Katar is loaded. With black powder. A double charge no less… 🙂

Gun Katar - Flintlock Pistol Barrel

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This Katar is sporting a pair of flint lock pistols, one attached to either side of the weapon. If you look closely at the grip, you can see a pair of triggers recessed into the front bar, one at the top and one at the bottom.

Gun Katar - Flintlock Pistol Triggers

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As you can probably imagine, a person wielding this in battle would have a healthy advantage over your poorly equipped standard Katar wielding schlub. I can just imagine how confrontations with the original owner of this weapon would have ended. Indiana Jones style.

I love weapons that make the old saying: “never bring a knife to a gun fight.” redundant… 😉

Anyway I thought this was a cool weapon for a special day… There are one or two more pics at the link after the jump. Here’s to great things in our future… 🙂

Peace!

Gun Katar – [CollectorEbooks.com]

The Ultimate Gunblade…

OK, I know I just blogged about the wonders of the gunblade, but I still have another one to show you. Now this blade is also a prop from the Final Fantasy franchise, but, in my humble opinion, I think this is *Teh Pwnerer* of all gun blades right here. Yep. The Ultimate Gun Blade. What? Never heard of “Teh Pwnerer” before? *snort* Yeah, I’m a bad, bad, man… That’s right, don’t mess wit’ me or imma have to break out my GUNBLADE up in this mug…

Ya skeerd? Not buying it huh? Oh well. It was worth a try… I’ll bet you’d be skeerd if it you happened to meet Seifer Almasy in a dark ally… ‘Cause this here is his gunblade. I present:

Seifer Almasys Hyperion Gun Blade.

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Now at this juncture, I suppose you’ll be wanting me to actually qualify the opined ultimacy of this here gunblade. I would be extremely happy to oblige.

First, the hyperion blade is, imho, a much cooler design than Squall’s Gunblade. In contrast to the curved lines of Squalls gunblade, The Hyperion Gunblades transitional areas all seem to terminate in corners or wicked points. This gives it a much more sinister appearance. If you have been reading my blogs for any amount of time, you should have figured out that this is a great big plus in my book.

Now if that wasn’t enough, take a look at the type of firearm the blade is attached to. A pistol! Yes, ladies and germs, the Hyperion Gunblade is a giant sword with an automatic pistol attached, as opposed to Squalls gunblade, which is attached to a revolver. Now I have mentioned before that I am a fan of weapons in general, and firearms are no exception, so allow me to provide a little insight as to why I feel that a pistol-based Gunblade is a superior combat weapon. It is true that, from at least a zen perspective, a revolver might appear to be better, since they do not rely on large magazine springs or highly complex mechanisms, are simpler, more robustly designed and therefore generally more reliable.

HOWEVER, a pistol can generally carry more ammo than a revolver, (usually 50%-100+% more), can be designed for full automatic fire, and can be lighter and smaller than a revolver for any given caliber. I think these qualities outweigh the potential pitfalls, and make it a shoe-in for total combat dominance. Hence the “Ultimate” title. What? Don’t believe me? Look it up, buster. Don’t make me bust a cap in yo… Oww… that really hurt! Sheesh! No pinching!

Seifer Almasys Hyperion Gun Blade – [True Swords]

The Amazing GunBlade

It’s a Gun! Its a Sword! No, Its the Gun Blade! Today we get the opportunity to look at another unique entry in the humongousword saga, with a twist. This is Squall Leonheart’s Gun Blade Sword From Final Fantasy VIII

Squall Leonheart’s Gun Blade

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Now here we are presented with a unique combination. I have in fact seen a similar, more realistically scaled combination before, however this one is definitely more commanding. It is essentially another large sword, 30″ to be exact, but this time attached to a revolver, which acts as both the gun stock and the sword grip.

Or is it a large caliber revolver with an over sized, permanently fixed bayonet? Either way, it isn’t exactly a conventional bladed weapon, but then few of the weapons I post about will be particularly standard.

Kinda puts a whole new spin on the old phrase about bringing a knife to a gunfight…

Squall Leonheart’s Gun Blade Sword – [True Swords]