2020 - Forgotten Weapons

Lee Metford MkI: Great Britain’s First Magazine Rifle

September 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

The British went into the 1880s with plans to adopt the Enfield-Martini as its new rifle, a single shot Martini-action rifle with essentially a sidesaddle of ready-access cartridges on the side of the receiver. It […]

Elbonian Prototype Hakim LMG

September 12, 2020 Ian McCollum 42

Pre-order your Elbonian shirt or poster here! Pre-orders will be open for two weeks before the shirts are printed and ship. Orders after that are subject to availability. Elbonia had a brief partnership with Egypt […]

Testing the Duckbill Choke with Matt Haught

September 11, 2020 Ian McCollum 34

Today I am out at the range with Matt Haught of Symtac Consulting to test out a duckbill choke. Also known as a spreader, this was a muzzle device used briefly by SEALs in Vietnam […]

Napoleonic Sphinxes: A Magnificent Boutet Carved Pistol Set

September 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 5

Lot 252 in the September 2020 Premier RIA auction. Nicolaus-Noël Boutet is one of the most significant gunsmith artists in the world. He was the “directeur-artiste” of the Manufacture d’Armes de Versailles, set up in […]

Merrill Breechloading Conversion of the 1841 Mississippi Rifle

September 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

Lot 1171 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. James Merrill of Baltimore had his hands in several Civil War era firearms – rifles built from scratch, conversions of the Jenks carbines, and also conversions […]

Webley-Kaufman: The Improved Government Pattern Revolver

September 8, 2020 Ian McCollum 26

Lot 1328 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Michael Kaufman was a talented gunsmith who worked for the Webley company from 1878 until 1881. While there, he patented a substantially improved clockwork for the […]

Hall Model 1819: A Rifle to Change the Industrial World

September 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

Lot 1193 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. John Hall designed the first breechloading rifle to be used by the United States military, and the first breechloader issued in substantial numbers by any military […]

Beautiful 16th Century Saxon Wheellock Pistols

September 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

Lot 262 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Today, for your consideration and appreciation, a pair of late 16th century Saxon wheel lock pistols…

Norinco 84S: China Makes a 5.56mm AK Specifically for the US

September 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

Lot 1685 in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. With the commercial success of the semiauto Type 56S AK rifles in the US, Norinco looked for other options for export rifles to sell. Given the […]

Hopkins & Allen XL-6 Revolver with a Surprising Swing-Out Cylinder

September 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 5

Lot 1104 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. “XL” was a brand name used by Hopkins & Allen to cover several different styles of revolver, but the first were a series of rimfire, spur-hammer […]