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February 28, 2008
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Is there any logical explanation for picking the December 31, 1898 date as the end of the "Antique" firearm designation date, or is it just an arbitrary date that someone decided upon?
This has probably been covered before, but I couldn’t find it in a quick search that I did. I found over 700 related topics. I didn’t have time to go through all of them (lazy I guess).
I’m fairly sure that there were center-fire cartridges and smokeless powder before this date, so these couldn’t be the reasons.
April 15, 2005
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I believe that it was an arbitrary date that some government bureaucrat picked out of his hat.
You are correct, center-fire smokeless powder cartridge were in use well before January 1st, 1899.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
September 22, 2011
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I believe it was somewhat arbitrary…but not entirely so! The Gun Control Act of 1968 came about following the assassination of RFK and Martin Luther King, and, of course, JFK 5 yrs previously. It was determined that anything 70 yrs of age would be considered an antique, and the last day of 70 yrs previously was 31 December 1898.
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