Gun Satisfies His Historical Aim

Steve G. Peterson has a sort of love connection with his 1883 Gatling gun, one of the most awesome and deadly weapons of its age.

Says Peterson, 41: “I guess I’m different. I enjoy unusual and old things and the Gatling is an old thing and certainly unusual.”

But more to the point, his fondness for the gun is mainly for its historical value.

“I like to collect things, especially bizarre things, not for their intrinsic value, but to own a piece of history,” said Peterson, a graduate of both Fullerton College and Cal State Fullerton who lives in North County.

The Gatling is the clear favorite of all his collectibles, which include a World War II half-track, an armored reconnaissance car, a passel of uniforms and guns, a 1956 Austin-Healy and a 1949 Jeep he reconditioned when he was 15 years old.

He learned about cars from his father, who was an antique car collector.

“I still have the Jeep, but I put it into semi-retirement,” Peterson said.

Peterson periodically takes the 260-pound Gatling gun, which was first used in the Civil War, to the public firing range at Coto de Caza.

The thundering noise from the gun usually draws a big crowd.

“People have no perception of what it takes to shoot it, and I think people should see the reality of that time,” said Peterson, a voracious reader, especially of history. “The gun is an attention getter.”

For years Peterson has been intrigued with the mechanism of the gun, which he bought from another collector.

Although he would not disclose what he paid for the gun, he said Gatlings fetch anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000, according to the year they were built and their current condition.

Only 1,000 of the guns were manufactured by Colt from 1865 to the early 1900s, and many were scrapped for their brass, according to Peterson.

The Gatling was known both as a volley gun and repeating rifle. Firing its bullets by way of a hand crank, in volleys or one at a time, it was the predecessor of the machine gun.

“I love watching it being fired and the more noise, the better I like it,” said Peterson, whose wife, Barbara, shares his interest in the gun and the other collectibles.

She works at his East Los Angeles plastic-manufacturing business.

Peterson also owns a Cessna 140 and a Cessna 180, the remnants of a collection of airplanes that included World War II fighters.

Before disposing of the fighters, Peterson often took part with other pilots in mock dogfights over Chino.

The “kills” were electronically recorded.

“We would get 50,000 people out there to see the action . . . it was their only chance to see history in action,” he said.

While the dogfights fulfilled his need for adventure, the Gatling satisfies his historical interests.

“The Gatling was the epitome of the 1800s weapon development and gave the user a great psychological advantage,” Peterson noted.

“It was the sound of the time. Nothing could approach it,” said Peterson. “I not only wanted to see how it worked, but I wanted to look into its history and what was behind it. That gun has always intrigued me.”

The gun and his other unusual collectibles give him a measure of joy, but he is not yet satisfied.

“I’m always looking,” he said. “One of these days I’ll trip over something else.”