Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Swiss Prototype von Steiger Auto-Ejecting Revolvers

February 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

In the 1870s, Switzerland was looking for a new military revolver, and they were particularly interested in finding a system which would allow faster reloading than the standard loading gate and manual ejection rod. A […]

Walther Olympia: Germany’s Interwar Target Pistol

February 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

The Colt Woodsman, introduced in 1915, was the premier – and really the only serious – option for the competitive target shooter into the 1920s when the Walther company decided to introduce a competitor. […]

China’s CF-98 Modular Service Pistol

February 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 61

China adopted this pistol in 1998 in a domestic 5.8x21mm cartridge, and also manufactured examples like this one in 9x19mm Parabellum for export. It is a design built around a sheet metal skeleton holding the […]

The Only Gun With Rollin White’s Name

February 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

While Rollin White’s patent for the bored-through cylinder was a massively important element in the development of Smith & Wesson as a company, White’s actual firearms design was impractical and never produced. In fact, there […]

SITES Spectre: Think of it as an SMG, not a pistol

February 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 30

The SITES Spectre was originally developed by the SITES company (Societa Italiana a Technologie Speciali SPA) of Torino to be the best police and counterterrorist submachine gun on the market. To this end, they studied […]

Authenticating a Very Rare GL Script Luger

February 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 27

Luger collecting is one of the most detail-oriented and tricky niches in the whole firearms community – the amount of knowledge that has been documented is staggering, and the level of obsession with Lugers has […]

CZ38 – The Czech Ugly Ducking

February 4, 2018 Ian McCollum 42

The CZ vz.38 pistol was developed by the CZ factory as a replacement for Czechoslovakia’s vz.24 pistols. It was formally accepted by the Czech Army in June of 1938, and 41,000 were ordered from the […]

Inglis High Power: How a Chinese Whim Became A British Service Pistol

January 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 46

During World War Two, the Canadian government set up a loan program to help Chinese companies provide all manner of material aid to Canada’s allies. Among many others, one recipient of this aid was the […]

The Jet Li Maneuver: Beretta Disassembly at Gunpoint

January 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 48

In Lethal Wespon IV, Jet Li’s character is caught at gunpoint by Mel Gibson’s character…until he turns the tables by stripping the slide right off Gibson’s Beretta 92FS. I wonder how feasible that really is? […]

Is My Luger All Matching?

January 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

Today I am visiting Simpson Ltd in Galesburg, Illinois – a gun shop, import/export shop, and premier Luger dealer. The question we are look at is one of the most common they hear from customers: […]