Our Old West Rifles Ornaments
are 4 inches tall and 2¼ inches across. The Western Christmas Ornaments Old West Rifles are mounted on a rustic looking wagon wheel. The stock and barrel look like metal and the butt and guard are brown. The wagon wheel is painted to look old and rustic. The Old West Rifles Ornaments are made of resin and hang from a loop of jute. Select to see a complete listing of our Christmas Decorations Ideas.

History of The Rifle.
A rifle is any gun with a rifled barrel. A rifled barrel has a series of spiral grooves on its inner surface to make the bullet spin rapidly as it leaves the gun. Any bullet except a ball will tumble as it flies through the air unless it is made to spin. A spinning bullet holds a steady course with the nose forward. Rifling is one of the most important discoveries in the history of guns.
Authorities do not agree as to the inventor of rifling. Some point to a record dated 1746, showing the invention of a weapon with a spirally grooved barrel. Others say the rifle was invented about 1520 by Gaspard Koller of Vienna. The first rifles were used by either hunters or for amusement.
Modern rifles developed from the crude, muzzle loading firearms of the 1400’s. Smooth bore firearms or ones without rifling could not be depended on to hit targets more than 100 steps away.
The Jaeger rifle of central and northern Europe was the first accurate rifle. It was developed about 1665. German immigrants brought Jaegers to Pennsylvania in the early 1700’s and gave them new features, including longer barrels. The Pennsylvania made Kentucky rifle developed from the Jaeger. Some Kentucky rifles were used in the Revolutionary War in America.
Rifles used round bullets until the 1850’s, when more accurate Minie bullets became popular. Minie bullets had hollow bases and pointed tips and were used in the U.S. Civil War. Improvements of the late 1800’s included repeating rifles, smokeless explosive powder and jacketed bullets, which have a tough metal cover over a lead or steel core.

How a Rifle Works.
A rifle is ready to be fired when a cartridge has been fed into the firing chamber. Then the rifle is aimed and the trigger squeezed. The rifle’s hammer or firing pin strikes the rear end of the cartridge and ignites the primer. The primer in turn ignites the propeller powder in the cartridge. The powder burns rapidly creating pressure that drives the bullet down the barrel.
The rifling in the barrel makes the bullet spin. Without spin, a bullet would not stay pointed forward in flight, but would tumble over and over. The spinning motion increases the accuracy of a bullet. Check out our selection of Unique Christmas Ornaments for your Christmas tree.

Santa’s Elves.
Santa has many helpers, called Elves. They live with him and Mrs. Claus at the North Pole and work all year long to help Santa get ready for his big night. Santa’s Elves wear their favorite costume that includes red and green outfits with striped socks. Their shoes curl up at the toes and their hats are similar to Santa’s but the pointed top stands up and they have bells on the toes of their shoes and the end of their hat. These elves help Santa by checking the toys and gift wrapping them. They also pack all of the toys and goodies into his toy bag.
There are elves assigned to sort all the mail and print all the emails that come into the North Pole all year long so that Santa can keep his list up to date. There are elves who take care of Santa’s sleigh and feed and care for Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Comet, and Rudolph. They polish all the reindeer sleigh bells and make sure that every child will hear them ring on Christmas Eve. While Santa is making his rounds on Christmas Eve some of the elves keep Mrs. Claus company. They make lots of hot chocolate and play games until Santa comes home. Each year Santa assigns certain elves to keep track of who has been naughty and who has been nice. This is the biggest job of all and takes a lot of time and patience. Select this link to view our Christmas Trees Artificial, collars, coats and stoles as well as beaded bags and garments are quickly transformed into stunning teddy bears.