Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Pietro Venditti Copies the Volcanic Repeating Pistol

March 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 6

This is lot #11 in the upcoming April 2020 RIA Premier Auction. The Venditti pistols are copies of the Volcanic made in southern Italy in the mid to late 1870s – well after the rocket […]

Prototype Locked-Breech 9x19mm Mauser HSc

March 23, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

When Mauser began development of the HSc pistol, it was intended to be a pair of guns – a simple blowback gun in .32 or .380 caliber for civilian and police use and a larger […]

Blow-Forward Schwarzlose 1908 at the Backup Gun Match

March 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 9

The Schwarzlose 1908 is the only blow-forward firearm ever to see real commercial sale. It is a compact pocket pistol chambered for .32 ACP, with a 7-round magazine. They were sold by Schwarzlose in Germany […]

Military Trials Beretta 34 – Can You Make it More Walther?

March 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

When the Italian military was looking for a new sidearm in the early 1930s, they really liked the pistol submitted by Beretta – but they also really liked the Walther PP. During the development process, […]

FAMAS PGMP w/ EOTech in a Team 2-Gun Match

March 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

My book is now in stock and shipping! Order your copy today! The PGMP (Poignée Garde-Main Polyvalente) handguard assembly is the original modification to allow mounting of optics to the FAMAS rifle. The FAMAS handguard […]

How the 1911 Got Its Safeties – and Why Its Ancestors Had None

March 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 37

Some people put a lot of weight on the fact that the 1911 has a grip safety and a thumb safety…but I don’t think many folk understand how it ended up that way. John Browning’s […]

High Standard’s Prototype World War One .45 ACP Pistol

March 2, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

The High Standard company only made on .45 caliber pistol, and it was an improvement on the Grant Hammond pistol tested by the US military during World War One. After his gun’s rejection by the […]

The Truth About the Type 94 Nambu “Surrender Pistol”

February 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

If there is a historical military firearm out there as badly misunderstood as the Chauchat, it is probably the Type 94 Nambu pistol. Nambu designed this pistol with an exposed sear bar, which was not […]

Type 94 Nambu at the Backup Gun Match

February 22, 2020 Ian McCollum 18

The Type 94 Nambu pistol is best known for the exposed sear that allows it to be fired by pressing on the side of the gun. This is actually not really the safety issue it’s […]

FN Grand Browning: The European 1911 that Never Happened

February 17, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

When John Browning licensed his handgun patents, the North American rights were granted to Colt, and the Western European rights to FN in Belgium. Browning provided the patents and patent model guns to the companies, […]