Conversion
L4: The Bren in 7.62mm NATO
When the British military transitioned form the .303 British cartridge to 7.62mm NATO in the 1950s, it replaced the Enfield rifles with the new L1A1 SLR (the FAL) but retained the Bren gun as a […]
Conversion
Competition
PCC Course: Lage Max31A Mk2 Submachine Gun
How does full automatic effect a gun’s time on the PCC Cours of Fire? Well, let’s find out with a Lage Max31A Mk2 on a M-11A1. I’ve got a red dot optic on the gun […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Charger-Loading Lee Enfields: The CLLE MkI* and MkII
In our continuing series on the development of the British Lee Enfield rifles, we are looking at the CLLE conversions today. In 1907 the British adopted a new universal short rifle (the SMLE) that used […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Uniquely Ethiopian Shortened Lebel Rifles
Today we are looking at an interesting sub-type of Ethiopian Lebel short rifle. When InterOrdnance brought in the surviving Lebels from Ethiopian storage, eleven of one hundred were in this configuration, with barrels shortened to […]
Conversion
Experimental Pre-WWI Ross .30-06 Automatic Rifle
In August 1913, the British War Office wrote to Sir Charles Ross requesting a sample automatic rifle for trials in the UK. Ross was able to submit a prototype on May 1914, which was tested […]
Conversion
Elbonian M52/57/61 Paratrooper Carbine
In 1960, Elbonia set out an RFP for a new carbine for a fledgling paratroop brigade. They wanted a rifle to provide a higher volume of firepower for these troops, rather like the intention of […]
Antiques
Model 1881 Trapdoor Forager: Cheap Entertainment for the Troops
This is Lot #1236 in the upcoming December 2020 RIA Premier auction. At the suggestion of Colonel J.C. Kelton (Assistant Adjutant-General, Military Division of the Pacific and Department of California), the US Army adopted a […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vetterli-Ferracciu for the Italian Navy
The Italian military adopted the single-shot Vetterli rifle in 1870, and by 1882 the Italian Navy was looking for something with a bit more firepower. The proceeded to adopt the Vetterli-Bertoldo in 1882, a version […]
Conversion
Merrill Breechloading Conversion of the 1841 Mississippi Rifle
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 […]
Conversion
Prototype Tube-Magazine Trapdoor Springfield
Lot 1078 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. This experimental repeating conversion of a Trapdoor Springfield was most likely made by Augustine Sheridan Jones, of the Dakota Territory in the 1880s. We know he […]