Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Glock Meets 1911: The Alchemy Arms Spectre

November 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

Alchemy Arms was a company formed in 1991 making parts and accessories for both the Glock and 1911 platforms. Its founder, William McMoore, got the idea to combine elements of both pistols to make the […]

Korriphila HSP-701: A Masterful Bespoke German Pistol

November 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

The Korriphila HSP-701 is a boutique luxury pistols designed by Edgar Budischowsky in the late 1970s, which entered production in 1984. It uses a fixed barrel and roller-delayed blowback action with a single roller below […]

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 20

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, […]