Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Czech CZ-50 Pistol: CIA Assessment

February 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 35

So those CZ50 little semiauto pistols that came into the US as surplus a few years ago? Well, those weren’t always cheap and easy to get – when first introduced, of course, the were novel […]

Astra 700 Special: Failed Copy of the FN 1910

February 12, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

The Model 700 Special was an attempt by Astra to piggyback on the popularity of the FN Model 1910 automatic pistol. Astra took their Model 100 (a renamed Ruby pistol of WWI lineage) and changed […]

Star Model A Carbine (Video)

January 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

Star introduced the Model A as the commercial sale version of the Model 1920 and 1921 pistols which they had entered into Spanish military trials in 1920. The pistol was rejected by the Army in […]

Bergman 1920s Trials Prototype Pistol

January 20, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

This was, as far as I can tell, the final iteration of the Bergmann pistols, developed by AEP in Liege for potential military contracts. It retains the locking system of the 1910 pattern pistol, but […]

Carl Ehbet’s Gas Operated Bergmann?

January 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 43

I got a really interesting patent in my mail recently, from Othais at C&Rsenal. It’s and idea clearly based on a Bergmann 1894 or 1896 pattern pistol, but instead of being blowback it uses a […]

Bergmann 1908, 1910, and 1910/21 Pistols

January 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 20

By the time Bergmann found a production subcontractor in AEP for the Spanish order of 1903 Bergmann pistol, the Spanish had added a few new changes to their order, which became known as the Model […]

Magnificent Engraved Bergmann Pistols

January 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

Today we are taking a brief side trip in Bergmann development to look at a couple of magnificent engraved Bergmann pistols – specifically, a pair of model 1896 No.3s, a Bergmann Mars 1903, and a […]

Bergmann Mars 1903

January 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 33

The military breakthrough for Bergmann finally came in 1903 with a new locking system for the pistol, designed by Louis Schmeisser (who had also designed the previous Bergmann handguns). In 1901, Schmeisser developed the new […]

Bergmann Transitional No 4/5 Pistols

January 13, 2017 Ian McCollum 3

Another pair of transitional Bergmann transitional prototypes today, this time ones that sit between the 1896 and 1897 designs (No2/3/4 and No5). One of these is basically an 1896 frame with an 1897 upper assembly […]

Bergmann No.5 / 1897 (Video)

January 12, 2017 Ian McCollum 8

The Bergmann #5 was the first pistol in the Bergmann line to have a locked breech action, taken from one of Schmeisser’s machine gun patents. This model was introduced in 1897 using a more powerful […]