Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Alsop Navy Revolver, Compared to its Pocket Model Companion

August 28, 2018 Ian McCollum 3

RIA’s catalog page for this revolver Joseph Alsop and his sons Charles R and Charles H were investors in the Savage Revolving Firearms Company, but also made an attempt to produce revolvers of their own […]

Pair of Rigby Triple-Barrel Percussion Derringers

August 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 6

RIA’s catalog page for this pair of pistols John Rigby founded his unmaking company in 1775, and it continues to exist making fine rifles and shotguns to this day. He himself died in 1818, passing […]

Enfield MkI Revolver: Merwin Meets Webley (Sort Of)

August 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

RIA’s catalog page for this revolver Adopted in 1880 to replace the Adams revolver, the Enfield MkI was based on an extraction system patented in the 1870s by Owen Jones of Philadelphia. This was similar […]

Colt’s Camp Perry Model Target Single Shot

August 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 9

RIA’s catalog page for this pistol The Camp Perry Model was Colt’s top-end target pistol between the world wars. Based on the same frame and grip as the Officer’s Model revolver, it was designed to […]

Classic Imperial British Revolvers: the Webley WG Army and Target

August 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

RIA’s catalog pages for these revolvers: WG Model of 1889 WG Army Model WG Target Model The Webley company used the “WG” (Webley Government) nomenclature in its literature starting in 1883, but the first revolver […]

Colt Prototype Self-Ejecting Revolver

August 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 30

RIA’s catalog page for this revolver Robert Roy was a career Colt employee, who began his work as an engineer in 1963 (including work on the 1971/SSP pistols and the CMG machine gun series) and […]

Maltese Flintlocks: Girard Mle 1733 Pistols of the Order of St. John

August 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

The Order of St John – the Knights of Malta – began as an order to protect Christian pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem, but transformed into an organization dedicated to corsairing in the Mediterranean […]

Project Ultra: Germany Wants a Stronger Compact Pistol

August 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

This pistol is one of just a couple surviving from a development project run by Walther in the mid to late 1930s. The goal was to produce a compact sidearm for pilots and officers using […]

Sunngård Automatic Pistol: 50 Rounds in 1909

July 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Harald Sunngård was Norwegian inventor in the early years of the 20th century who noticed a common perceived weakness of automatic pistols: reloads under stress were often bungled by shooters, leaving them vulnerable to return […]

Hafdasa’s Ballester Campeon Competition .22LR Pistol

July 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Made after World War Two until 1957, the Ballester Campeon was a .22 rimfire competition pistol built on the frame of the Argentine Ballester-Molina .45 ACP service pistol. Two versions were made, a standard 5 […]