Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Schulhof Model 1887 Manual Ring-Trigger Pistol

March 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

Josef Schulhof was the the first and most prolific designer of manually operated pistols in Austria in the 1880s. For a brief few years, there was a lot of developmental work done in this field, […]

Göring’s Platinum Lugers

March 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 28

There are a lot of guns out there attributed to German leaders and politicians of the Second World War. Many of these are completely specious, and many more are true simply because these men had […]

Uruguayan Celmi Hermanos .32 ACP Pistol

March 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

The Celmi brothers were Italians who moved to Uruguay and opened an arms factory. They are best known for sporting shotguns, but in 1943 they introduced an automatic pistol, much like the Walther PP but […]

Max Popenker on Russian Pistols and Ammunition: 7N21, 9x21mm, 9x18mm, and more

February 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 32

Today I am again joined by Max Popenker, Russian small arms historian and researcher. Max is explaining the basic history of Russian handguns and ammunition, starting with the adoption of the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge to […]

Broomhandle Mauser “Red Nine” – the C96 in World War One

February 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 7

The German military did not actually adopt the Mauser C96 “broom handle” before World War One. It was the first really successful semiauto pistol, but the German military chose the Luger instead, in 1908. However, […]

The 80s Strike Back! Linda and Qwik-Point at the BUG Match

January 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

Yesterday we took a look at the history and operation of the Wilkinson Arms Linda, and today I have it out at the BackUp Gun Match. Since I don’t have iron sights on mine, I […]

Wilkinson Arms “Linda”

January 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

The Linda is a semiauto 9mm pistol that just exudes 1980s aesthetics. It was made along with a carbine version called the Terry, by Wilkinson Arms of California (later Idaho). Both were named after daughters […]

Pistols of Denmark’s Artist-Turned-Inventor Bent Agner Nielsen

January 18, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

Bent Agner Nielsen was a Danish tinkerer born in 1925, who studied art as a young man and worked as a painter. In the 1970s he became interested in firearms, beginning with engraving work. This […]

Terrible 2-Gun: Lebel, 1892 Revolver, and a WW1 Gas Mask

January 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 35

Today, I thought it would be fun (or at least interesting) to shoot a 2-gun match in a reproduction World War One gas mask and helmet. Specifically, a French M2 pattern, which was used extensively […]

Tarn: A Terrible British WW2 Experimental Pistol

January 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 30

The Tarn was a 9x19mm pistol developed by a Polish ex=pat designer named Z. de Lubicz Bakanowski. It was a simple blowback design, with a quite heavy slide and recoil spring. It was manufactured by […]