Prototype - Forgotten Weapons

Hudson .30 Cal Machine Gun Toolroom Model (Video)

October 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 52

Robert F Hudson developed a series of machine guns for the US Navy during the 1920s and 1930s, including this .30 caliber example as well as .50 caliber and 1.1 inch versions. What makes these […]

Bjorgum 1905 Norwegian Prototype Pistol (Video)

October 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 35

Niels Bjorgum was a Norwegian artist-turned-gun-designer who decided to try his hand at handguns for the Norwegian military. His design work ran from 1894 until 1921 or so, starting with long guns but later turning […]

Magazine for an XM19 SPIW Flechette Rifle

October 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 26

The XM-19 was one of a series of Special Purpose Infantry Weapon (SPIW) prototype designs in the 1960s and 70s – a project which was attempting to increase the hit probability of infantry weapons. Several […]

Terni M91 Carcano Semiauto conversion (Video)

October 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

This rifle started out its life an a normal M91 Carcano long rifle, before being converted into an experimental self-loader by the Terni Arsenal. Rather than adding a gas piston to the barrel, Terni engineered […]

Thompson SMG in 30 Carbine (Video)

October 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 65

When the US military released a request for what would become the M1 Carbine in 1940, the Auto-Ordnance Corporation offered up a Thompson submachine gun simply rechambered for the new .30 Carbine cartridge. This entailed […]

Spanish 8×33 Mosqueton CB-51 Prototype (Video)

October 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

The Spanish military, like many others, was quite interested in developing a new semiautomatic or selective fire combat rifle after World War II. Franco’s political ties to Germany (combined with Spanish neutrality in the war) […]

Detailed Photos: Mannlicher 1901/04 Carbine

October 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 25

One of Ferdinand von Mannlicher’s very last firearms was an experimental 1901/04 carbine, scaled up from its original pistol cartridge to a new 7.63x32mm intermediate-sized cartridge. I had a video on one of these very […]

Great Article on the Dror LMG

October 11, 2016 Ian McCollum 10

Terry Edwards has graciously offered to let me repost the excellent article he wrote for Small Arms Defense Journal. It’s a two part PDF, and I have posted both parts below. If you are interested […]

Hagen Prototype Semiauto Rifle (Video)

October 8, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

The Hagen (more information here) is an early semiauto rifle designed by a Norwegian, manufactured in the UK, and tested by several different militaries – but adopted by none. It uses a long stroke gas […]

Benke-Thiemann Folding Luger Holster

September 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

While most major pistols made before the 1930s had some type of shoulder stock available as an option, the Luger had much more variety of stocks than most others. In addition to the several types […]