Handgun - Forgotten Weapons

Czech vz.61 Photos and Catalog

October 9, 2013 Ian McCollum 25

Thanks to reader Denny, we have some more information on the Czech vz.61 “Skorpion” PDW, including pages from a CZ catalog advertising three different versions of the gun for sale. These three variants are: vz.61 […]

Maxim-Silverman 1896 Pistol

October 2, 2013 Ian McCollum 35

We all know of Hiram Maxim for his groundbreaking work in machine gun development – but not many people are familiar with his automatic pistol designs. In fact, this is at least partly because the […]

Skorpion Scarab 9mm (Video)

September 30, 2013 Ian McCollum 22

In my defense, I want to point out that the only reason I wanted to get one of these pistols was to see how much it actually resembled the Czech vz.61 Skorpion, wich is a […]

H&K VP-70Z (Video)

September 23, 2013 Ian McCollum 53

I recently had the chance to hit the range with a VP-70Z, the semiauto civilian version of H&K’s 1970 machine pistol. It is notable both for being one of the few production machine pistols around […]

Iver-Johnson Safety Hammerless (Video)

September 16, 2013 Ian McCollum 23

I believe this is the least expensive gun we have yet covered on Forgotten Weapons – this particular example cost me $49 at a local gun shop. Why bother with a cheap old (and pretty […]

Book Review: Handguns of the World

September 12, 2013 Ian McCollum 7

I normally don’t have all that much interest in coffee table type gun books – the glossy photos are nice, but they generally don’t have all that much actual information. I had assumed initially that […]

The Sauer Bär Pistol

September 11, 2013 Ian McCollum 22

Today we have a another guest article by Peter Rasmussen, this time on the subject of a unique and little-known pocket pistol dating to 1899. The Bär was designed as a compact gentleman’s defensive arm […]

Union Auto-Revolver Addition

September 8, 2013 Ian McCollum 13

I forgot to post this with the video last week on the Union automatic revolver – it’s a scan of a vintage catalog page from the Union Firearms Company, listing both their automatic revolver and […]

Biography: William John Whiting

September 6, 2013 Ian McCollum 16

Today is a continuation of an occasion series on the life stories of notable gun designers. I find it interesting to learn more about the men whose inventiveness and industriousness are responsible for the guns […]

Book Review: The Fighting Submachine Gun, Machine Pistol, and Shotgun

September 5, 2013 Ian McCollum 11

I’ve really enjoyed spending this summer shooting some unusual old guns in “practical” type matches, both because it’s simply a lot of fun to do, and because I think it can really help give some […]