Revolver - Forgotten Weapons

McCarty’s Peculiar Revolver

April 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 54

William McCarty patented this turret revolver design in 1909 (submitted in 1908, approved in 1909), with the idea of making a high capacity revolver. His gun held 18 rounds of .22 rimfire ammunition – double […]

Swiss Prototype von Steiger Auto-Ejecting Revolvers

February 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

In the 1870s, Switzerland was looking for a new military revolver, and they were particularly interested in finding a system which would allow faster reloading than the standard loading gate and manual ejection rod. A […]

The Only Gun With Rollin White’s Name

February 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

While Rollin White’s patent for the bored-through cylinder was a massively important element in the development of Smith & Wesson as a company, White’s actual firearms design was impractical and never produced. In fact, there […]

Captain Fraser’s Webley-Fosbery: WWI in Microcosm

December 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 20

Captain Percy Fraser, DSO was born on January 22, 1879 and died in Ypres on the night of February 23, 1915 while attempting to aid men wounded outside their trench. His unit of the Queen’s […]

The Most Ornate Knife-Gun You Will Ever See: CM-1 “Dragon”

November 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 6

Combination knife-gun devices have been popular for hundreds of years, spurred initially by the single-shot nature of early firearms. The designs evolved to incorporate revolver cylinders when the revolver was invented, and remain interesting to […]

A Beautiful Alsop Pocket Revolver

November 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 5

Charles Alsop patented the Alsop revolver design in 1861 and 1862, and produced it in two varieties – a .36 caliber Navy and a .31 caliber Pocket. The two were made in a single serial […]

The Butterfield Army Revolver and its Automatic Priming

October 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 17

Patented in 1855 by James Butterfield, this revolver is a 5-shot, .41 caliber percussion revolver with a brass frame and 7.5 inch barrel. Aside from its somewhat unorthodox grip configuration, what makes it interesting and […]

Shawk & McLanahan – A Would-Be St Louis Revolver Company

October 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

Revolver: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52428-2-397/ Holster: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52458-1-397/ The Shawk & McLanahan revolvers are a lesser-known example of a very low production Civil War era revolver not made in the Confederacy. Abel Shawk was manufacturing entrepreneur in St Louis […]

Griswold & Gunnison: The Best Confederate Revolver Makers

October 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

Standard: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52430-6-397/ Presentation: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/51957-17-397/ Iron frame: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/51957-13-397/ Griswold and Gunnison were rather unique among Confederate revolver manufacturers for their ability to actually create a reliable and high quality product and produce it on a regular […]

Oversized 8-Barrel British Pepperbox Revolver

October 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 11

The typical pepperbox revolver is a sleek and small .31 caliber double action pocket gun, like the Allen & Thurber standard type. This one, however, is anything but typical. This London-made gun is a far […]