J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum, Firearms museum in Claremore, United States.
The J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum occupies a 40,000 sq ft building in Claremore, Oklahoma, opened in 1969. Its galleries hold over 20,000 firearms and firearm-related items, from Kentucky rifles and a Gatling gun to rare Colts and Winchesters. The collection also includes 1,200 German beer steins, John Rogers statues, swords, knives, Native American artifacts and hundreds of animal horns and trophy heads.
J. M. Davis received his first gun at age seven and collected for 78 years until his death in 1973. He moved to Claremore in 1917, bought the Mason Hotel, and by 1929 displayed over 99 gun types on its walls. In 1965 he transferred the collection to the J. M. Davis Foundation, which gave it to the State of Oklahoma on condition it be housed and shown free of charge; the 40,000 sq ft museum opened within four years, on Davis's 82nd birthday.
Beyond firearms, the museum holds 1,200 German beer steins, statues by John Rogers, late 19th-century music boxes, swords, knives, Native American artifacts, household antiques, a large boot jack collection, local cattle brands, hundreds of animal horns and trophy heads, and World War I posters. The museum takes its name from J. M. Davis, who began collecting after receiving his first gun at age seven.
The museum occupies a 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) building opened within four years of the 1965 agreement, on Davis' 82nd birthday. Admission is free, a condition of the state agreement. The galleries hold over 20,000 firearms and related items, so allow time to work through the themed displays.
Among the exhibits is one of the smallest manufactured firearms ever made and a Chinese hand cannon over 500 years old. These rare pieces show the craft diversity of weapons-making across cultures and centuries.
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