Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Nambu 15-Shot Type A Experimental

April 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

Before the Type 14 Nambu pistol was developed to replace the “Papa” Nambu, Kijiro Nambu experimented with a high-capacity design with a 15-round magazine. This pistol was called the Type A Experimental, and was designed […]

RIA: Reifgraber .38 S&W Automatic

April 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 21

Designed by Austrian immigrant Joseph Joachim Reifgraber, this is a prototype gas-assisted short recoil pistol in a .38 rimmed revolver cartridge. While this version did not see any serial production, the Union Firearms Company of […]

RIA: Walther P38 Development

April 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 52

The Walther P38 was adopted by Germany in 1938 as a replacement for the P08 Luger – not really because the Luger was a bad pistol, but because it was an expensive pistol. Walther began […]

RIA: Japanese 8mm Hamada Pistol

April 11, 2016 Ian McCollum 32

Just as production of the .32ACP Type Hamada pistols was reaching full scale, Bunji Hamada was asked to redesign his pistol to use the standard 8mm Nambu cartridge. This he did, and after several changes […]

RIA: Japanese 7.65mm Hamada Pistol

April 10, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

The Hamada was one of very few Japanese military weapons made by a private commercial firm. Designed and introduced in 1940, the basic Type Hamada pistol was a blowback .32ACP handgun similar in style to […]

RIA: Yovanovitch Model 1931 Pistol

April 5, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

Lazar Yovanovitch was a Serbian native of Yugoslavia, born in Belgrade. He left engineering school to design firearms, and developed a couple .22 and .380 caliber pistols. None were adopted by the Yugoslav military, but […]

Ross Model A-2 Pistol Photos

March 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 27

A reader named Paul sent me these photos of a very odd pistol that was allegedly found in Germany during WWII. In fact, this is a very rare Ross automatic pistol, patented in 1903 by Charles […]

Savage .25ACP Automatic Pistol

March 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

Savage made more than a quarter-million pocket pistols in .32 and .380 caliber, but never commercially marketed a .25ACP design. They did design such a “baby” pistol, though, beginning in about 1912. Despite a significant […]

Today’s New Tech: Red Dot Handguns

March 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 75

https://youtu.be/U3ogBYjTQqk I am often asked what is the coolest new thing in firearms technology…and the answer isn’t anything having to do with the actual gun design. Our guns today are mechanically the same as they […]

RIA: Warwinck Copy of the Savage Automatic Pistol

February 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 22

The Eibar region of Spain is known as the center of a lot of pistol production from WWI through the Spanish Civil War, typically pistols called Ruby clones. Well, the various small gunmakers there were […]