Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Welrod Mk IIA (Video)

December 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 59

The Welrod is a nearly completely silent bolt action pistol designed by SOE Section 9 for covert operation and assassination use during WW2. Chambered for the .32ACP cartridge (which is subsonic to begin with), the […]

Swiss 1882 Ordnance Revolver (Shooting)

December 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

The Swiss military dabbled in revolvers with their rimfire 1872 model (about 900 made) and the followup 1878 centerfire version (5500-6000 made), but their first large-scale service revolver was the Model 1882, designed by Colonel […]

Guycot 40-Shot Chain Pistol (Video)

December 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 28

The Guycot chain pistol was the development of two Frenchmen, Henri Guenot and Paulin Gay in 1879. It is chambered for a unique 6.5mm caseless rocket ball type cartridge in which the base of the […]

Shooting the 1883 Reichsrevolver (Video)

December 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 44

The 1883 Reichsrevolver is not the weapon most people would expect to see in German service – it was a decidely obsolete weapon from the moment of its adoption. The initial 1879 model was actually […]

Lewis Gas Operated Pistol (Video)

December 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 26

Isaac Newton Lewis is best known as the designer of the Lewis light machine gun, of course – but that was not his only work in the firearms field. In 1919, he patented a semiauto […]

Nomar M1911 Magazine-Stock (Video)

December 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

In 1936, Lewis Nolan Nomar patented this device, which is basically a large 40-round magazine for the 1911 pistol. He envisioned a military use for the device in trench raiding, giving men a compact weapon […]

What Was the First Automatic Pistol? (Video)

December 5, 2016 Ian McCollum 30

What was the first true semiautomatic pistol? Let’s take a look… Before there were self-loading pistols, there were manually operated repeating pistols with magazines – like the 1850s Volcanics. A surprising number of this type […]

Roth-Theodorovic Pistol w/ Tambour Safety (Video)

December 1, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

Georg Roth’s company in Austria presided over a wonderful variety of interesting handgun development, and this is one example of that lineage. Roth’s licensed or purchased the patent for this pistol from its inventor, Wasa […]

Colt “Brevete” Copy Overview: Legal, Illegal, and Post-Legal (Video)

November 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

When you think about early revolver patent infringement, the name that probably comes to mind is Rollin White. But Sam Colt had more than his share of infringement to deal with as well! Colt’s most […]

Frommer 1901 Pistol (Video)

November 26, 2016 Ian McCollum 19

Rudolf Frommer was a self-taught engineer and firearms designer who worked his way up through the FEG concern in Budapest to eventually hold the position of CEO. During this time he developed a series of […]