Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

“System Mauser” – The Very First C96 Pistols

February 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

The very first group of C96 pistols made. -about 200 in total – are called “System Mauser” pistols. They have this hand-engraved on the top of the barrel, and have a number of other very […]

SIG 44/16: The Best Service Pistol, But The Road Not Traveled

February 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

When SIG was developing the pistol that would ultimately be adopted as the m/49 by the Danish Army and the P49 by the Swiss Army (P210 commercially), they initially experimented with both single stack and […]

Evolution of the Military Mauser HSc Pistol

February 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 28

Mauser had been at the forefront of military self-loading pistol design with its C96 pistol, but by the 1930s it had lost major market share to Sauer and Walther in police and commercial guns. The […]

Real, Reworked, or Faked? Authenticating a C96 Mauser

January 20, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

When you get into expensive historical firearms, values begin to diverge significantly for guns in particularly good condition. This, naturally, leads some people to take poor quality guns and make them better. Sometimes this is […]

Overview of Danish Schouboe .45 & .32 Caliber Pistols

January 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 35

In 1903, Danish engineer Jens Schouboe began developing an automatic pistol for the Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat in Copenhagen (later to become the Madsen company). He made the guns in both .32ACP and also in a […]

H&K’s Hydrocephalic P7M10 in .40 S&W

January 8, 2020 Ian McCollum 45

Everyone has an off day eventually, and for H&K one of those off days took the form of the P7M10. Introduced in 1991, the M10 was based on the frame and magazine body of the […]

SS-Contract Walther PP and PPK Pistols

January 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 35

Today, courtesy of Tom from Legacy Collectibles, we are taking a look at Walther PP and PPK pistols made specifically for the SS and RSHA. These guns comprised several special contracts, distinct from general military […]

Comparison: French 1935A vs 1935S Pistols

December 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

I finally have a source for top quality reliable 7.65mm French Long, thanks to Steinel! I can’t link to them, but I’m sure anyone who wants some themselves can find them online. Anyway, with ammo […]

Ballester-Molina Pistols from German Pocket Battleship Armor?

December 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

There is an old gun shop tale that Argentine Ballester-Molina pistols were made form the salvaged armor plate of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. The Graf Spee was scuttled in the Rio de la […]

Bulgarian M1911 Luger

December 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Bulgaria bought its first Lugers in 1903; 1000 Old Model guns in 7.65mm. It bought another 1300 New Model Lugers in 1908 (again in 7.65mm), but both of these orders were intended for private purchase […]