Antiques - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

Marston 3-Barrel Selectable Pocket Derringer

August 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

Lot 1173 in the September 2019 RIA auction. William Marston was born in the UK in 1822 and emigrated to the US in the 1830s with his father, who was a gun smith. William became […]

Morse Carbine: If the Army Says No, Sell it Commercially!

April 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

This carbine is lot #3208 in the upcoming Rock Island May 2019 auction. George Morse was one of the most significant American inventors in the development of modern ammunition. In 1856 he received a patent […]

WW Marston Breechloading Pistol and Leather-Base Cartridge

September 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 3

RIA’s catalog page for this pistol William Walker Marston was born in 1822, and would spend his career as a gunsmith and gunmaker in New York City. He produced a wide variety of firearms, including […]

Maltese Flintlocks: Girard Mle 1733 Pistols of the Order of St. John

August 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

The Order of St John – the Knights of Malta – began as an order to protect Christian pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem, but transformed into an organization dedicated to corsairing in the Mediterranean […]

King Louis XV’s Magnificent Engraved Lorenzoni Rifle

February 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This Lorenzoni-pattern rifle was presented to King Louis XV of France in the mid 1700s, and is an exquisite example of firearms deemed suitable for royalty at the height of the European kings. It is […]

Le Petit Protector Ring Pistol: A Modern Antique

April 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 29

Le Petit Protector is a ring pistol, made in both 5 shot/5mm and 6 shot/4mm pinfire variations, as well as a smaller version holding 7 rounds of 2mm pinfire, called the “Femme Fatale”. They are […]

Miller Pill-Lock Revolving Rifle

April 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

John and James Miller of Rochester New York designed and built this rifle, which is an example of an intermediate revolving firearm. It comes after the flintlock Collier guns, but before Sam Colt’s Paterson demonstrated […]

Massive Wheellock Hand Mortars at James D Julia

April 8, 2017 Ian McCollum 13

These wheellock hand mortars, or katzenkopf, are an example of a weapon made and used for everything from front line military application to civilian parades to simple decoration. The pair we are looking at today […]

Wheellock 101: History and Shooting (Video)

March 11, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

The wheel lock was one of the first types of early gun or firearm, developed as an alternative to the simple but problematic matchlock musket. The wheellock uses an iron pyrite set against a spinning […]