Semiauto pistol
Inside a Chinese Mystery Pistol
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 […]
Semiauto pistol
Reproduction
Slow Motion: .32ACP Baby Luger Malfunctions
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, […]
Semiauto pistol
Slow Motion: Luger Snail Drum
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 […]
Prototype
Swiss Prototype Pistols: P44/8 and W+F Bern P43 (Video)
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 […]
Prototype
BSW Prototype Gas-Operated Pistol (Video)
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 […]
Semiauto pistol
Khyber Pass Colt Copy at RIA
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 – […]
Semiauto pistol
One More Chinese Mystery Pistol at RIA!
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 […]
Semiauto pistol
Spanish Anarchist Pistols: the RE and Ascaso at RIA
When the Spanish Civil War erupted, the Nationalist/Fascist forces quickly captured all the major arms production factories in the country. This left the Republican forces dependent on arms importation and the creation of new factories. […]
Semiauto pistol
M1 Enforcer Carbine Pistols at RIA
There are rarely any truly original ideas in the gun world, and today’s “pistol” ARs and AKs are not among them. Back in the 60s and 70s, companies were marketing the “Enforcer” M1, a pistol […]
Semiauto pistol
Campo-Giro M1913 at RIA (Video)
The Campo-Giro was Spain’s first indigenous self-loading military pistol, adopted in 1912 to replace the Belgian 1908 Bergmann-Mars. Only a small number were made of the original M1913 variety, with the vast majority being the […]