Hi gunchris!
Nice username/post anti-combo.
The USS Constitution? And doesn’t the US Air Force still fly some 50 year old bombers?
What if he comes at you with a pointy stick?
In the spirit of the question, The Canadian Rangers are an actual combat unit of the Canadian army and are actually armed with Lee Enfield rifles, which as a design dates back to 1895.
The Tupelov Tu-16, a contemporary of the B-47, was still being built in China in the late 2000s.
Yes. Almost 60 now. And they are expecting around 90 years total. Unless we extend their service life again in the next 30 years. Could become the worlds first “Century Boomber”.
What? You think you know it already!?
Also, gunchris, it’s considered bad form not to read the thread all the way through: 1) respect for other posters’ thoughts, and 2) not duping information, wasting time.
Wartime "souvenirs"brought back by GIs prove that some Japanese soldiers went onto WWII battlefields armed with katanas manufactured in the 1800s. I can’t research any specific examples right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even older ones were found in active use in 1945.
The Cape Town Noon Gun has that beat - still using the guns from 1806, when the practice was instituted. The guns themselves are likely several years older than that.
The Aim-9 sidewinder is going to be in the running in a few years, I believe it actually beats the B-52 in time served.
Declan
I submit the US M116 pack howitzer. It was designed in the 1920s, produced from 1927-1944, and still in use today.
Since when? I’ve seen plenty of people post that exact same caveat in their replies.
That occured to me. But then I looked it up on Wikipedia and found that the Constitution’s cannon are all replicas made in the 1930s or later. And they aren’t fired, as well. Probably never been fired.
FWIW, my first vote was for the Mosin Nagant 91/30. However, I’ve also seen Webley Revolvers in Iraq. The weapon was first fielded in 1887, so it would predate the 91/30.
This is to say that I’m working off the year the weapon was designed… not the year that particular specimen was manufactured.
Way older than 1800’s. I have one where the scabbard had WWII modifications, probably a GI bringback (don’t know for sure, bought in an antique store in Boise). It was estimated by a professional japanese sword appraiser as having been originally made in the 1300’s. Any signature and date was probably cut off in the 1400’s, so can’t tell for sure. Every knowlegable person who has looked at it says no newer than 1450.
These are not at all uncommon, there is usually one or two at the gunshow that is at least pre-meiji (1860 or so). I’m not enough an an expert to date better than that tho.
Although these 1828 cannon at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven, MA, are only fired ceremonially today, they could be fired at an enemy. Fort Phoenix guns They were cast at the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, NY, and have been in their current location since the Civil War.
We fire them on the Fourth of July and at Spring and Fall historical encampments held by the Fairhaven Village Militia. (I hold a Massachusetts cannon firing license.)
There’s a link on that page to a video of us firing them at dusk.
Agreed.
However, me-too posts are most definitely frowned upon.
Baldrick’s shorts killed the dinosaurs.
That’s gotta count for something.
A lot of katanas are centuries old and still serviceable.