Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Bergmann 1896 / No.3 Pistol

September 7, 2015 Ian McCollum 8

Bergmann was one of the reasonably successful yet relatively unknown manufacturers of early automatic pistols. Originally a delayed blowback patent purchased by Bergmann, the design was refined and simplified by none other than Louis Schmeisser […]

RIA: Menz Liliput 4.25mm

August 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

The Menz Liliput is one of the smallest functional firearms ever put into mass production. It was offered in 4.25mm (.17 caliber) in addition to the more popular .25ACP and .32ACP. The 4.25mm cartridge is […]

RIA: The ASP Subcompact 9mm for Sneaky People

August 22, 2015 Ian McCollum 39

The ASP was a custom take of the S&W Model 39 autoloading pistol developed by a man named Paris Theodore in the 1970s. Theodore made a wide variety of sneaky James-Bond-like guns for various clients, […]

Inside a Chinese Mystery Pistol

August 13, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

I recently did some horse trading with Chuck at GunLab, and he ended up with a couple of my Chinese Mystery Pistols. Today, he pulls one apart to look at the insides…and it’s not a […]

Slow Motion: .32ACP Baby Luger Malfunctions

August 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 31

Mike Krause of San Mateo, California makes some gorgeous reproduction Luger pistols, including copies of the extremely rare .32ACP “baby” Lugers. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much luck with this particular one on the range. Still, […]

Slow Motion: Luger Snail Drum

July 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

The 32-round snail drum (or as it was properly known, the trommelmagazin 08) was developed in 1916 to give increased firepower to units armed with the LangePistole 08, or artillery Luger. These pistols were also […]

Swiss Prototype Pistols: P44/8 and W+F Bern P43 (Video)

July 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

Switzerland was an early adopter of the Luger pistol as a standard military sidearm, but by WWII that design was becoming obsolete and the Swiss began looking for a newer sidearm. Several lines of development […]

BSW Prototype Gas-Operated Pistol (Video)

July 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 116

In 1936 or 1937, the BSW company (Berlin-Suhler Waffenwerk) produced a small number of prototype pistols for German Army trials. These trials were eventually won by the Walther P38, and for good reason in this […]

Khyber Pass Colt Copy at RIA

June 19, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

The Khyber Pass is a region near the Afghan/Pakistan border known for firearms production – particularly for very crude guns made with crude tools. This particular pistol is an excellent example of the type – […]

One More Chinese Mystery Pistol at RIA!

June 15, 2015 Ian McCollum 14

This particular Chinese pistol is a great example of all the elements of a proper Chinese Mystery Pistol: sights that don’t function, gibberish markings, mechanical derivation from the Browning 1900, aesthetic elements form the C96 […]