Mystery
Mystery “Rocking Block” Pistol at RIA
There isn’t much I can say about this very unusual pistol, as I have no idea who made it or when. What I can tell is that it is a blowback action with a rather […]
Handgun
Prototype
Gustloff Prototype Pistol at RIA
Gustloff was a large industrial concern in Germany which made many different weapons for the military. In addition to these, its attempted to market a small-caliber pistol for police or SS use. This pistol used […]
Percussion
Pinfire LeMat Grapeshot Revolver at RIA
Colonel Jean Alexandre LeMat was a native Frenchman who emigrated to the United States and in 1856 secured a patent for a “grapeshot revolver”, which had both a 9-shot .42 caliber cylinder and a 20-gauge […]
Prototype
Very Early Mars Pistol #4 at RIA
Until the midle of the 20th century, the most powerful automatic pistol made was Sir Hugh Gabbett-Fairfax’s Mars pistol. With the .45 caliber version approaching the energy of a .45 Winchester Magnum, it was quite […]
Semiauto pistol
Japanese Inagaki and Sugiura Pistols at RIA
The most common Japanese pistols used during World War II were the Type 14 and Type 94 Nambu designs, by a huge margin. However, there were a number of other handguns used in small numbers, […]
Semiauto pistol
Schouboe .32ACP Pistol at RIA
Before he adapted it to .45 caliber for US Army pistol trials, Jens Schouboe was building his pistol design in .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning). It was a blowback action, hammer fired, and very quick and […]
Revolver
Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Navy Revolver at RIA
Not all companies responded in the same way to the development of cartridge revolvers and the Rollin White patent. Allen & Wheelock, for example, decided to simply ignore the patent and make revolvers for their […]
Semiauto pistol
A Selection of Chinese Mystery Pistols at RIA
During the 1920s and 1930s, a combination of civil wars and international arms embargoes led to a lot of domestic firearms production in China. The size and quality of manufacturing facilities varied widely – everything […]
Semiauto pistol
Collected Works of John Pedersen
John Pedersen was one of the more prolific and successful gun designers in American history, having even been described by John Moses Browning as “the greatest gun designer in the world”. And yet, many people […]
Semiauto pistol
North Korean Type 70 Pistol at RIA
The “Hermit Kingdom” of North Korea has a number of somewhat unusual military firearms that are not quite direct copies of anything else, but we very rarely get to see example of them up close. […]