French's Boxer

I didn't mean to disappear from the web for ten days, but that's what happens if you forget to take along your password and security questions for your blog account on your vacation.  We had a terrific time in London and I'll post up some of the highlights, including my Downtown Abbey moment and lunch with Elaine, just as soon as I get organized.  In the meantime, here's a post I did before I left and intended to post from London.

It just struck me that India and French both use guns named after dog breeds: the Bulldog and the Boxer.  I always refer to India's revolver as the Bulldog but the proper name given the gun by Webley, its manufacturer, is the British Bulldog.  No doubt the name was chosen deliberately as the bulldog is frequently invoked as a symbol of England and the English character.  There's a picture of a Bulldog revolver on my sidebar.

The Boxer dog did not become an established breed until the beginning of the 20th century and I doubt that Webley associated its Boxer revolver with the breed.  More likely, the choice of "Boxer" was meant to evoke the notion of pugilism.  French carries a .577 Boxer Revolver, which might have looked something like this:

It's difficult to find accurate pictures of this gun as Webley apparently manufactured very few of them.  I do love the look of this revolver.  It has a pugnacious attitude that justifies the name "Boxer."