Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Very Early Mars Pistol #4 at RIA

April 18, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

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 […]

Japanese Inagaki and Sugiura Pistols at RIA

April 15, 2015 Ian McCollum 13

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, […]

Schouboe .32ACP Pistol at RIA

April 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 11

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 […]

Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Navy Revolver at RIA

April 13, 2015 Ian McCollum 12

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 […]

A Selection of Chinese Mystery Pistols at RIA

April 12, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

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 […]

Collected Works of John Pedersen

April 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 8

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 […]

North Korean Type 70 Pistol at RIA

April 9, 2015 Ian McCollum 87

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. […]

Grant Hammond .32ACP Prototype at RIA

April 7, 2015 Ian McCollum 33

Grant Hammond is best known (to the extent he is known at all) for a .45 caliber pistol submitted to US military trials in 1917 and 1918. This pistol is a proof of concept prototype […]

Merwin & Bray .42 Caliber Cupfire Revolver at RIA

April 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

One of the many revolver systems designed to work around the Rollin White patent was the Pant’s Patent cupfire revolver, made by Merwin & Bray in several calibers (.28, .30, and .42). This particular example […]

7.65mm Radium Pistol at RIA

April 4, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

The Radium was the predecessor to the much more well-known (and more successful) Ruby pistol made by Gabilonda y Urresti, which was sold to the French Army by the hundreds of thousands during World War […]