Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

The First S&W .38: The “Baby Russian”

August 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

Lot 1249 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Taking what they had learned in developing their series of large-frame .44 caliber revolvers, Smith & Wesson introduced the “Baby Russian” in 1876 as their first […]

The Coolest Volcanic Ever: A Vintage Scoped Pistol-Carbine

August 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

Lot 1011 in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. The “Pistol-Carbine” was a pattern offered by the Volcanic Arms Company combining a 16 inch rifle-length barrel with a pistol grip and detachable shoulder stock (it […]

Hopkins & Allen XL Navy Rimfire .38 Service Revolver

August 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Lot 3204 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. At the top end of Hopkins & Allen’s revolver line were the XL Navy, XL Police, and XL-8 Army. We covered the Army in a separate […]

Neither Fish nor Fowl: the Colt 1903 Pocket Hammer

August 17, 2020 Ian McCollum 21

Lots 102 (round hammer) and 1416 (spur hammer) in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. The 1903 Pocket Hammer was an effort by Colt to adapt the Model 1902 pistol for better civilian sales. They […]

Double Barrel Folding Knife Pistol

August 15, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

Lot 3264 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Historically, there are a variety of combination knife/gun/knuckles combination weapons, typically made in the late 19th century. This one is…rather larger than most of those. This […]

The Coolest Gun You Will See All Day: China’s Type 64 Silenced Pistol

August 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

Lot 1487 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. The Type 64 is a dedicated suppressed pistol first introduced in 1965 and used in the Vietnam War. It uses a rimless version of the .32 […]

Prototype Colt-Vektor: A 1911 on the Outside and a Beretta on the Inside

August 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 31

In the late 1990s Colt was looking for pistols it could license for sale in the United States, in the wake of the failures of both eh Double Eagle and All-American 2000. They approached CZ, […]

Prototype .45 Caliber Roth-Krnka for US and UK Trials

August 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 24

In an effort to appeal to American and British military testing commissions, Georg Roth produced a handful of prototype Roth-Krnka pistols in .45 caliber. They used a proprietary cartridge; the 11.5mm Roth (approximately 200 grains […]

Longslide 10mm Javelina 1911: Plate Rack Obliterator (When it Works)!

August 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

In 1977, Arcadia Machine & Tool introduced the Hardballer, the first commercial stainless steel 1911. Stainless steel was a hot commodity, although there were some initial teething issues with slide/frame galling. Eventually, AMT introduced a […]

British Ballester Molina for Special Operations Executive

July 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 21

During World War Two, the British government contracted for about 8,000 Ballester Molina pistols from HAFDASA in Argentina. They were produced between 1942 and 1944, and are easily identified by the application of a second […]