Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

H&K’s New SP5 – A Civilian Semiauto MP5 Pistol

December 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

The MP5 is widely regarded as the best submachine gun ever made, and it has been widely copied. But only now has H&K released a semiauto civilian version of it in pistol form. Prior to […]

1884 Tacticool: Silver & Fletcher’s “Expert” Auto-Ejector

December 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 29

In 1884, High Silver and Walther Fletcher patented a system to rapidly unload a gate-style revolver. They negotiated an agreement to have their system integrated into Webley revolvers (specifically the New Model RIC) as an […]

Pillars of Gediminas: The Lithuanian High Power

November 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

Between 1935 and 1937, the recently independent nation of Lithuania purchased 5,000 Browning High Power pistols from FN. These were early pattern guns, with 500m tangent rear sights and stock slots, although Lithuania did not […]

Ballester Molina: The Underrated Argentine .45

November 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

The Ballester-Molina was designed to be a more economical pistol to produce than the 1911A1, which had been adopted by Argentina as the Pistola Sistema Colt Modelo 1927. It was produced by a company called […]

Ludicrously Huge .45-70 and .50-70 Revolvers

November 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 17

Created in 1973 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the .45-70 cartridge by the US military, the Model 100 revolver is a behemoth of a six-shooter. It was made by Earl Keller […]

Czechoslovakia’s First Pistol: Praga Model 1919

November 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 34

Having gained independence after World War One, Czechoslovakia looked to standardize and improve its armaments. Václav Holek went to work for the Zbrojovka Praga factory in Prague in 1918, and they introduced the Model 1919 […]

Noël’s 10-Shot Pocket Turret Revolver

November 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Designed by A. Noël in 1865 and manufactured by Gouery, Canat et Cie in Paris, this is a .28 caliber, 10-shot turret revolver. It has a folding double-action trigger, and is actually a remarkably svelte […]

Kommer Models 3 and 4: German Browning Copies

November 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Theodore Emil Kommer was born in 1866, son of a German gunsmith. He took the same profession, and at the age of 23 in 1889 opened his own business making guns. He initially focused on […]

Estonian Home Guard Browning High Power

November 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Estonia purchased several batches of early FN High Power pistols in the 1930s. First in 1936 120 were ordered for the police, and then much larger orders followed in 1937. The military bought 5,338 and […]

Beautiful Webley WS Target in 22 Rimfire

November 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 7

Webley introduced the WS model revolver in 1902, combining the square grip of the earlier WG model with the mechanical system of the Mark IV government revolver. The new WS pattern was available in both […]