Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Soviet PSM Pistol History: Really a KGB Assassination Gun?

June 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 37

The PSM is a Soviet pistol from the late 1970s which has gotten itself quite the fanciful reputation here in the US, thanks to extreme rarity and some imaginative magazine articles. Common lore would have […]

Lewis Short Recoil .45ACP Prototype Pistol

June 28, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

Isaac Newton Lewis is best known for the Lewis light machine gun, but that was not his only foray into firearms design. He also patented two different types of handguns – one gas operated and […]

Warner Infallible: An Optimistic Competitor to Savage and Colt

June 14, 2017 Ian McCollum 26

The Warner Arms Company was formed in (or around) 1911 to import and sell Schwarzlose 1908 blow forward pistols in the United States. It was run by Franklin Warner, who also operated a sporting goods […]

Rogak P18 – A Cautionary Tale of Manufacturing

June 10, 2017 Ian McCollum 80

The Rogak P18 was a copy of the Steyr GB service pistol, with some disagreement over whether it was unlicensed or just unfortunately made. Les Rogak was a Steyr distributor in Illinois who managed to […]

What is the German 1920 Double Date Stamp?

June 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

One will sometimes encounter German WW1 arms – mostly Lugers and Kar98 carbines – that have two date stamps, one of them being 1920. What is the significance of this? The crux of the matter […]

Unintended Consequences of the AWB: The Olympic Arms OA-98

June 1, 2017 Ian McCollum 56

The AR-15 does not lend itself to stock-less use, because its basic design places the recoil spring in the length of the stock, and requires that space for the bolt carrier to travel in. Olympic […]

Webley 1913 Semiauto Pistol: Shooting

May 26, 2017 Ian McCollum 62

Following up on yesterday’s history and disassembly of the Webley 1913, today I am taking one of them out to the range. Courtesy of Mike Carrick from Arms Heritage magazine, I am shooting original WWI […]

Webley 1913 Semiauto Pistol: History and Disassembly

May 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 60

William Whiting and the Webley company had high hopes for their self-loading pistols being adopted by the British military – but they never got the success they were hoping for. After the poor performance of […]

Laumann 1891 and Schonberger-Laumann 1894 Semiauto Pistols

May 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

Josef Laumann was an Austrian designer of early ring-trigger manually repeating pistols, and was one of the first to develop that type of handgun into a semiautomatic. He took an 1891 pattern ring trigger gun […]

1891 Salvatore-Dormus: The First Automatic Pistol

May 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

The Salvatore-Dormus has the distinction of being the world’s first semiauto pistol, being patented in 1891. It is chambered for the 8mm Dormus cartridge, and holds 5 rounds in a Mannlicher type clip. Only about […]