Single-shot Pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Failed Good Intentions: S&W’s Straight Line Target

May 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

Introduced in 1925 as a major change to the target pistol market, the Straight Line Target used an automatic-style straight grip instead of the traditional revolver frame. S&W had been a market leader in this […]

Rollin White’s Single Shot .38 Rimfire Pistol

October 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Rollin White was the inventor who patented the bored-through cylinder in the US, and sold an exclusive right to this patent to Smith & Wesson. They would use it as the basis for their own […]

Napoleonic Sphinxes: A Magnificent Boutet Carved Pistol Set

September 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 5

Lot 252 in the September 2020 Premier RIA auction. Nicolaus-Noël Boutet is one of the most significant gunsmith artists in the world. He was the “directeur-artiste” of the Manufacture d’Armes de Versailles, set up in […]

Beautiful 16th Century Saxon Wheellock Pistols

September 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

Lot 262 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Today, for your consideration and appreciation, a pair of late 16th century Saxon wheel lock pistols…

Double Barrel Folding Knife Pistol

August 15, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

Lot 3264 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Historically, there are a variety of combination knife/gun/knuckles combination weapons, typically made in the late 19th century. This one is…rather larger than most of those. This […]

Bavarian Lightning: The 1869 Werder Pistol

February 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 27

This is a lot in the upcoming February 2020 Morphy Field & Range auction. Adopted by Bavaria in 1869, Johann-Ludwig Werder’s breechloading rifle was a brilliant piece of engineering, offering an automatically ejecting falling-block system […]

The CIA’s New Liberator: the 9mm Deer Gun

October 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 58

This is Lot 1523 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy’s Extraordinary auction. The Deer Gun is a covert CIA pistol inspired by the Liberator. In fact, the initial desire was to pull Liberators out of […]

Model 1808 US Navy Pistol by Simeon North

September 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

This is Lot 2137 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy Extraordinary auction. The US Congress passed a Militia Act in 1808 to provide funding for military supplies, and one of the immediate resulting contracts was […]

America’s First Contract Pistol: North & Cheney Model 1799

September 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Lot 1421 in the September 2019 RIA auction. In 1798, the US Congress allocated a huge sum of money – $800,000 – to the procurement of military equipment to supplement the output of the Springfield […]

Prisons and Pirate Mutinies: the Duck’s Foot Pistol

August 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

Lot 391 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Duck’s foot pistols are one of the iconic classic “weird gun” categories. The one exemplifies the typical pattern, with four barrels arranged in a wedge, fired simultaneously […]