When Rick Harrison got his first look at the Hotchkiss .37 millimeter revolving cannon on 'Pawn Stars' (Mondays, 10PM on History), he said it looked "like hellfire and damnation." Anyone facing down the weapon when it was used in the 1870s might have felt the same way. Harrison was looking at the cannon as a potential investment, and got to try it out with live ammunition.

Harrison turned the crank and fired the weapon at a bunch of water-filler barrels, hitting the targets with a force that impressed him. But it was the last barrel, rigged with explosives, that was the clincher. When Harrison hit it, the barrel exploded into a high cloud. Rick was giggling like a school kid the whole time.


"When I hit that target, my god, I did not expect that," he said. "This thing is awesome. For something built back in the 1870s, it really packs a punch. If I can work out a decent price, you're damn right, I'm going to buy it." Anyone trying to rob Harrison's Gold & Silver Pawn Shop might want to think twice after this. Or bring the Spanish Armada.