Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Walch Double-Shot Revolver at RIA

November 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 16

Consider the problem of the pocket revolver of the 1860s. In order to be small enough to be reasonably concealable and comfortable to carry, it would typically be made in .31 caliber. That’s not a […]

Detonics MkI at RIA: The Original Sub-Compact 1911

November 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 40

Today we are accustomed to seeing sub-compact 3.5″ 1911 pistols for sale from a whole bunch of manufacturers – but this was not always the case. Making a really small 1911 actually run reliably is […]

Braverman “Stinger” Pen Gun at RIA

November 22, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

The US National Firearms Act includes a category called “Any Other Weapon”, which encompasses a variety of regulated weapons, including firearms which are disguised to look live other everyday objects, such as canes, and pens. […]

Plus Ultra: The Supersized Ruby Pistol at RIA

November 21, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

The “Plus Ultra” was a variation on the Ruby automatic pistol made by Gabilondo y Urresti (the original holders of the Ruby trademark) just shortly before they changed their name to Llama. The Plus Ultra […]

1847 Walker Revolver at RIA

November 18, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

The Colt 1847 Walker revolver was a massive 4 1/2 pound handgun made for Samuel Walker of the US Mounted Rifles (he also served with the Texas Rangers) as a way to equip mounted troops […]

Colt Z40 Pistol #1 at RIA

November 15, 2015 Ian McCollum 50

However, after only 800 had been sold, Colt backed out of the deal and dropped the Z40 from its catalog. Why? Because they had happened to use a Z40 as the base gun for a […]

Colt Model 1909 Automatic at RIA

November 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

A while back I put together a video on the development of the Colt/Browning 1911 pistol, and one of the missing links in that video was the Model 1909. Well, one of the 23 Model […]

FP-45 Liberator at RIA

November 10, 2015 Ian McCollum 38

The Liberator is one of those interesting artifacts of WWII; an extremely simple single-shot .45 caliber pistol made by the boxcar-load (a million, specifically) with the intention of being dropped en masse across Europe to […]

Sunngård 1909 Pistol

November 8, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

Just a photo – of probably the nicest Sunngård pistol in existence today, along with its holster. Thanks to Lars for sending it!

Q&A Video, November 2015

November 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 17

Thanks to the awesome people supporting Forgotten Weapons through Patreon for sending in more questions that I could get to for another month! This month the subjects include: Browning lock vs others in handguns Best […]