2019 - Forgotten Weapons

SSG-82: The Enigmatic East German Sniper Rifle

September 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 3533 in the September 2019 RIA auction. When East Germany received the technical data package for the 5.45x39mm cartridge, they began a program to make their own AK-74 model. Alongside, they also wanted a […]

Lakeside Vindicator BF1: A Belt-Fed .22 Plinker

September 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Lot 3837 in the September 2019 RIA auction. In 1983, Dennis Tippmann started a company making beautiful half-scale Browning machine guns, fully functional and chambered for the .22LR cartridge. This was a pretty cool idea, […]

America’s First Contract Pistol: North & Cheney Model 1799

September 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Lot 1421 in the September 2019 RIA auction. In 1798, the US Congress allocated a huge sum of money – $800,000 – to the procurement of military equipment to supplement the output of the Springfield […]

Nichols & Childs Revolving Rifle

September 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

Lot 3077 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Rufus Nichols and Edward Childs had a partnership in Conway MA making revolving firearms in the late 1830s. Their patent was granted in 1838, for an indexing […]

Menz Liliput Pocket Pistols: 4.25mm and 6.35mm

September 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

Lot 517 (5.25mm) and lot 444 (6.35mm) in the September 2019 RIA auction. The Liliput was made by the August Menz Company in Germany during the 1920s, in several variations. It was introduced in both […]

HK 41: “Paramilitary Rifle” for the Bundeswehr

August 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 30

Lot 440 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The HK41 (designation: “paramilitary rifle”, caliber 7.62x51mm) was the first semiautomatic version of the G3 military rifle. It was made for the Bundeswehr reservist market; a rifle […]

Prisons and Pirate Mutinies: the Duck’s Foot Pistol

August 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

Lot 391 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Duck’s foot pistols are one of the iconic classic “weird gun” categories. The one exemplifies the typical pattern, with four barrels arranged in a wedge, fired simultaneously […]

Boer Lee-Speed Rifle from the Jameson Raid

August 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 1687 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The Jameson Raid in December 1895 was one of the key events in the lead to the second Boer War. Leander Jameson took a force of about […]

HK4: Heckler & Koch’s Multi-Caliber Pocket Pistol

August 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Lot 3959 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The H&K Model 4 was named for the fact that it was offered in four different calibers – .22LR, .25 ACP, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP. The […]

Cummings Dot Rifle: Indoor Marksmanship Training

August 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 1451 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Made by the Cummings Gun Works of Boston late in World War One, this is a pseudo-firearm training device for teaching some aspects of marksmanship without the […]