Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Lebeda 4.5mm Pocket Watch Gun

November 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 18

Made by one Francis Lebeda, this is an Elgin classic pocket watch with the internal mechanism removed and replaced with a single-shot pistol mechanism. It fires a 4.5mm BB using just a No.11 percussion cap, […]

Colt’s First Double Actions: The 1877 Lightning & Thunderer

November 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

Samuel Colt disliked the idea of a double action revolver, considering the idea to be wasteful of ammunition and likely to be fragile. However, he passed away in 1862, and by 1873 double action Webley […]

British L66A1: A Pistol for Northern Ireland

November 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 40

In 1974, the British Royal Army Ordnance Corps purchased about 3,000 .22lr caliber Walther PP pistols to issue as Personal Defense Weapons to service members of the Ulster Defense Regiment. These were to be issued […]

.38 ACP Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver

November 11, 2020 Ian McCollum 35

The rarest variation of the Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver is the .38 ACP model. Only 341 of these were made by Webley, in an attempt to compete with the new semiautomatic pistols appearing on the market […]

Russian World War 1 Contract Colt 1911

November 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 22

During World War One, the Russian Government purchased some 51,000 Colt 1911 pistols. These were standard commercial production guns, chambered for .45 ACP, and were shipped in 1916 and 1917, with JP Morgan acting as […]

Vickers Ltd Luger Pistols for the Dutch East Indies

November 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

The Dutch government adopted the Luger for the KNIL (Dutch East Indies colonial forces) in 1910, and placed an initial order for 4,182 pistols from DWM in Germany. These were standard 9mm New Model Lugers, […]

Königliche Marine (Prussian Navy) Colt 1851 Rig

October 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

In 1855, Prussian customs officials discovered a shipment of 3,000 Colt 1851 Navy model revolvers (and their accouterments) hidden in bales of cotton being shipped from New York to Russia. Prussia was a neutral power […]

WW1 British Contract M1911 in .455 Webley Self-Loading

October 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

On the eve of World War One, the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Flying Corps had both adopted the Webley Self-Loading Pistol, chambered for a special .455 caliber semi-rimmed cartridge. With the needs of wartime, […]

Rollin White’s Single Shot .38 Rimfire Pistol

October 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Rollin White was the inventor who patented the bored-through cylinder in the US, and sold an exclusive right to this patent to Smith & Wesson. They would use it as the basis for their own […]

The Most Popular Percussion Colts: 1848 Baby Dragoon and 1849 Pocket

October 17, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

The most-produced Colt percussion revolver was not one of the big sexy Army models, but rather the humble 1849 Pocket. It was first introduced as the Model 1848 Baby Dragoon, in .31 caliber. By 1850, […]