2019 - Forgotten Weapons

The Type 81 LMG in Civilian Form: Norinco Model 313

August 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

Lot 1817 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The Norinco 313 is the semiauto commercial variation of the Type 81 LMG. The Type 81 was a small arms family of rifle and LMG developed to […]

Scheintod Revolver: A German Tear Gas Pepperbox

August 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

Lot 3129 in the September 2019 RIA auction. First appearing in the decade of so before World War One, the Scheintod guns were designed to fire either flash or irritant cartridges, not lethal projectiles. The […]

Walther KKW: Competition Shooting in Nazi Germany

August 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

Lot 3620 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The KKW (“Klein Kaliber Wehrsportgewehr”, or small caliber military sporting rifle) was developed by BDW in 1937 as an amalgamation of various .22 rifle elements form other […]

Freeman’s Patent Revolver

August 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 7

Lot 259 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Patented by Austin H. Freeman in 1862, 2000 of these revolvers were manufactured by Hoard’s Armory in Watertown New York in 1863 and 1864. None were purchased […]

SPAS-15: Franchi’s Improvement on the SPAS-12

August 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 46

Lot 776 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The SPAS-15 was Franchi’s successor to the SPAS-12, improved with detachable box magazines (6 round capacity) and a construction of simple sheet metal samplings and polymer. Like […]

Book Review: Carvings From the Veldt (3 Volumes)

August 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 1

Over the past 15 year, Dave C. George has compiled three volumes of his book “Carvings From the Veldt”, documenting nearly a thousand carved rifles from the Boer War. This is feature almost unique to […]

The French Finger Trap: Because Soldiers Will Be Soldiers…

August 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

Soldiers will be soldiers…give them something that *can* be screwed up, and they *will* screw it up. Haven’t ordered a copy of Chassepot to FAMAS yet? You can place your order right now!

Berthier Carbine with Chauchat Magazine

August 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Early in World War One, a small number (less than 200) Berthier rifle and cavalry carbines were adapted to use Chauchat magazines for aerial use. They were employed as defensive arms in observation balloons and […]

Q&A 32: Curatorial Adventures with Ashley Hlebinsky

August 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

The Cody Firearms Museum recently held its third annual Arsenals of History symposium, gathering professionals from firearms museums across the world to discuss issues specifically related to this particular speciality within the museum world. This […]

Hiram’s Extra Light Maxim Gun

August 7, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

Designed in an effort to compete with the then-new Colt/Browning air cooled 1895 machine gun, the Extra-Light Maxim weighted in at just 27 (maybe 28) pounds for the gun, and 44 pounds with tripod. This […]