Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Extra-Fancy 20-Shot Pinfire Revolver

April 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 36

The pinfire cartridge was a popular development in Europe in the mid-1800s that never saw much exposure in the United States. A huge variety of pinfire revolvers were made by a myriad of large and […]

RIA: 1929 Simson Prototype 9mm

April 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 67

In the late 1920s, German Ordnance hinted at an interest in replacing the P.08 Luger pistols with a less expensive handgun design. This prompted a number of submissions from hopeful companies, including this design from […]

RIA: Walch Navy 12-Shot Revolver

April 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 28

Patented by John Walch in 1859, this is a .36 caliber revolver using superimposed chambers – meaning that each of the six chambers could hold two shots, for a total of 12 rounds before reloading. […]

RIA: Nambu 15-Shot Type A Experimental

April 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

Before the Type 14 Nambu pistol was developed to replace the “Papa” Nambu, Kijiro Nambu experimented with a high-capacity design with a 15-round magazine. This pistol was called the Type A Experimental, and was designed […]

RIA: Saxon Double Barreled Wheel Lock

April 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

Wheel locks are one of the less common types of early firearm ignition systems, as the were much more expensive as the contemporary flintlocks. The wheel lock had a major advantage in reliability, though. Many […]

RIA: Thompson Model 1923 Autorifle

April 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 42

One of the very early entrants into the United States Ordnance Department’s semiauto rifle trials was the Auto-Ordnance Company, makers of the Thompson submachine gun. For the rifle trials, they designed a .30-06 rifle using […]

RIA: CZ Model S Prototype (1929)

April 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

This CZ Model S rifle is one of many prototypes made between the world wars in Czechoslovakia in an effort to develop a military semiautomatic rifle. Similar efforts were underway in most other countries at […]

RIA: Reifgraber .38 S&W Automatic

April 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 21

Designed by Austrian immigrant Joseph Joachim Reifgraber, this is a prototype gas-assisted short recoil pistol in a .38 rimmed revolver cartridge. While this version did not see any serial production, the Union Firearms Company of […]

RIA: 15mm Belgian Pinfire Revolving Rifle

April 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

The pinfire system was a popular type of early self-contained metallic cartridge in Europe, but didn’t find much use in the United States. Pinfire revolvers were made in a variety of calibers from 5mm up […]

RIA: Spreewerke VG-2

April 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 35

Five different companies in Germany produced designs for the last-ditch Volkssturm bolt action rifles, and they were designated VG-1 through VG-5. The VG-2 was developed by the Spreewerke company, and differed from the others in […]