Semiauto pistol
H&K Mk23 SOCOM Development
The H&K Mk 23 pistol was developed in the 1990s for the US Special Operations Command and US Navy. The goal was to produce an “offensive handgun” that could serve as a primary armament for […]
Handgun
Book review
Book Review Double Feature: Webley Solid Frame Revolvers
Joel Black partnered with several coauthors (Joseph L. Davis and Roger G. Michaud for the first and Homer Ficken and Frank Michaels for the second) to produce two volumes cataloging an immense variety of Webley […]
Semiauto pistol
Armaguerra Last-Ditch M35 Pistol
When Italy signed an armistice with the Allied powers in 1944, the German military took over control of several Italian arms factories still in their geographic control. These included Beretta and Armaguerra, in Cremona. The […]
Single-shot Pistol
Nagant Model 1877 Gendarmerie Double Barrel Rolling Block Pistol
This pistol is for sale as part of Lot 280 at Rock Island’s Regional auction on June 20th. Emile and Leon Nagant set up their manufacturing company in Liege, Belgium in 1859, and it would […]
Prototype
Smith & Beecham Prototype Polymer High Power
The South African company Smith and Beecham was not a large operation, and their most notable product was a .380 caliber compact pistol, of which not more than 2000 were ever made (it was not […]
Book review
Book Review: P38 Pistol – Spreewerk Production
I initially put off getting a copy of Jan Balcar and Ron Clarin’s book on the Spreewerk P38 because, well, I assumed it was just about Spreewerk. Upon finally reading it, I discovered that it […]
Machine pistol
Polish PM63 Rak at the Range
Whether it is described as a machine pistol, a submachine gun, or a personal defense weapon, the PM63 Rak is really not the best examples of this sort of thing to actually shoot. The open-bolt/slide […]
Machine pistol
PM63 Rak: An Interesting Polish SMG/PDW Hybrid
The PM-63 Rak is a pretty interesting Polish Cold War machine pistol or personal defense weapon. It fires from an open bolt, but uses a slide like a pistol rather than a bolt in an […]
Semiauto pistol
Charola Y Anitua: Tiny Spanish Broomhandles
Manufactured from 1899 until 1905, the Charola y Anitua pistols (later becoming just the Charola pistols) were basically scaled down C96 Mauser designs chambered for the 5mm Clement and 7mm Charola cartridges. They were briefly […]
Semiauto pistol
Swiss 1929 Simplified Luger (Yes, Swiss and Simplified)
Switzerland was the First Nation to adopt the Luger as a service pistol, and they purchased them DWM in Germany from 1900 until 1914. World War One stopped deliveries, of course, and after the war […]