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HomePrototype

Prototype

Prototype

Madsen M1888 Forsøgsrekylgevær: The Strangest Semiauto

May 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

Development of the weapon that would eventually become the very successful 1902 Madsen light machine gun began many years earlier, in 1883. Two Danes, Madsen and Rasmussen, began working on a recoil-operated self loading rifle […]

Prototype

Maschinengewehr des Standshützen Hellriegel: A WW1 Phantom

May 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 44

I have gotten quite a lot of questions about this experimental Austrian machine gun or submachine gun since it was included in the Battlefield One computer game. Unfortunately, the sum total of information we have […]

Conversion

Dutch Mannlicher Plus Lewis Gun Bolt Equals Semiauto…?

May 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

Basically nothing is known about this rifle in terms of who created it or when – but it is a pretty interesting example of an attempt to convert a bolt action rifle to semiautomatic. This […]

bullpup

Vektor CR21: South Africa’s Futuristic Bullpup

April 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

The CR-21 was a private effort to create a new rifle for the South African military in the 1990s. Bullpup designs were all the rage at the time (Austria has the AUG, France had the […]

Prototype

SIG’s World War Two Semiauto Rifle: The Model U

April 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

The SIG company of Neuhausen Switzerland spent the 1920s, 30s, and 40s working on developmental semiauto rifles to sell both to the Swiss military and abroad. One of the experimental models in the succession of […]

Prototype

Colt Tries To Make a Service Pistol: The Model 1971

April 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 22

In the early 1970s, Colt wanted to develop a new military pistol so that it could offer a modern replacement for the venerable 1911. Colt Engineer Robert Roy designed the new gun in 1971, and […]

Prototype

McCarty’s Peculiar Revolver

April 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 54

William McCarty patented this turret revolver design in 1909 (submitted in 1908, approved in 1909), with the idea of making a high capacity revolver. His gun held 18 rounds of .22 rimfire ammunition – double […]

Prototype

Colt’s Prototype Post-War Pocket Hammerless Model M

April 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

Production of the Colt Pocket Hammerless (aka the Model M) pretty much died at the end of World War Two. Military contracts ended, and the civilian market was quite weak – Colt shipped just 132 […]

Prototype

Norton DP-75: Titanium Plus German Police Pistol

March 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 43

This pistol is something of a mystery – its design comes from the experimental Mauser HsP of the mid 1970s. It uses a short recoil system with a pivoting locking block vaguely like a P38, […]

Prototype

Swiss Prototype von Steiger Auto-Ejecting Revolvers

February 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

In the 1870s, Switzerland was looking for a new military revolver, and they were particularly interested in finding a system which would allow faster reloading than the standard loading gate and manual ejection rod. A […]

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