J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum

The J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum holds over 12,000 firearms and approximately 20,000 related artefacts — swords, edged weapons, World War I and II posters, outlaw and lawman memorabilia, steins, and Native American items. It bills itself as the largest privately assembled collection in the world, and that may well be accurate.

The collection is genuinely comprehensive as a history of firearms: everything from 14th-century crossbows to 20th-century assault weapons, with particular strengths in Colt revolvers, Winchester rifles, and guns with historical provenance. The outlaw section is notable: weapons carried by Jesse James, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Pancho Villa are displayed alongside documentation. The World War I poster collection is also unexpectedly good. The museum is located on the original Route 66 alignment at 330 N. J. M. Davis Blvd. Open Monday–Saturday 10am–5pm, Sunday 1pm–5pm; small admission fee.

things to do museum
A story
J. M. Davis was an Oologah-born businessman and politician who spent decades accumulating what became one of the largest private firearms collections in the United States. He reportedly told his wife, when she objected to the ever-expanding collection filling their home, that he would build a museum — so he did, in 1969. The collection passed to the state of Oklahoma after his death and is now one of the stranger state-run museums in America.