Competition
Taurus Curve: My Worst Backup Gun Match Yet!
A little while back during the summer I went to our monthly Backup Gun Match with, of all things, a Taurus Curve. Why do I even own one of those? Well, I found one new […]
Handgun
Revolver
Brazilian 1883 Nagant Revolver: The .44 Henry Rides Again!
In 1883, the Brazilian government decided to purchase 3,000 new revolvers, and they chose the Mauser Model 1878 “Zigzag” to procure. The officer charged with making the purchase in Europe, however, appears to have done […]
Antiques
Mauser “Zigzag” Revolver Patent Model and its Unique Cartridge
The Mauser brothers’ first handgun was the single shot C77, which they quickly followed with the C78 “zig zag” revolver, so named for the cam grooves on the circumference of its cylinder. What we are […]
Antiques
Napoleonic Sphinxes: A Magnificent Boutet Carved Pistol Set
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 […]
Revolver
Webley-Kaufman: The Improved Government Pattern Revolver
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 […]
Antiques
Beautiful 16th Century Saxon Wheellock Pistols
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…
Antiques
Hopkins & Allen XL-6 Revolver with a Surprising Swing-Out Cylinder
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 […]
Crude Copies
L.E. Tucker’s Confederate Texas Navy Pattern Revolver #1
Lot 1149 in RIA’s September 2020 Premier auction. Laban E. Tucker and his sons Elihu and Argyle were several of the original partners in the Tucker & Sherrard Company, which contracted with the State of […]
Prototype
Toolroom Prototype Smith & Wesson No.3 Revolver
Lot 3197 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Good inventors are always trying out new solutions to problems. Those solutions may or may not work (hence Thomas Edison’s 10,000 ways not to make a […]
Manual Repeater
Tribuzio Ring-Trigger Squeeze Pistol
Lot 1235 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. This palm-squeezer type pistol was designed by Catello Tribuzio (sometimes spelled Trabuzio) of Turin around 1890. It is a very simple design, including a clever dual […]