Prototype
RIA: Walther P38 Development
The Walther P38 was adopted by Germany in 1938 as a replacement for the P08 Luger – not really because the Luger was a bad pistol, but because it was an expensive pistol. Walther began […]
Prototype
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA: Japanese Type 100 Paratrooper
The Type 100 (sometimes called the Type 0) was one of the initial Japanese experiments in paratroop rifles. Manufactured from standard Nagoya Arsenal Type 99 rifles, the Type 100 used a set of interrupted lugs […]
Prototype
RIA: Walther A115 Prototype Rifle
The Walther A115 was one of the semiauto rifles developed in pre-WWII Germany. Apparently only three were made, and it uses a neat combination of sheet metal construction with a rotating bolt and annular gas […]
Prototype
RIA: Yovanovitch Model 1931 Pistol
Lazar Yovanovitch was a Serbian native of Yugoslavia, born in Belgrade. He left engineering school to design firearms, and developed a couple .22 and .380 caliber pistols. None were adopted by the Yugoslav military, but […]
Prototype
RIA: Japanese Trials Gas-Operated Pedersen Rifle
The Japanese semiauto rifle trials of the early 1930s had a total of four entrants – Kijiro Nambu and his company, Tokyo Gas & Electric, the Tokyo Army Arsenal, and Nippon Special Steel. This rifle […]
garand development
RIA: T3E2 Trials .276-Caliber Garand
By 1932, the competition for the new US emiautomatic service rifle had been narrowed down to just two designs: John Pedersen’s delayed blowback toggle action and John Garand’s gas-operated action. Both rifles were chambered for […]
Prototype
RIA: Bendix-Hyde Second Model Prototype Carbine
In late 1940, the US military opened a competition for what would become the M1 Carbine – a rifle that needed to use the .30 Carbine cartridge and weigh no more than 5 pounds (2.27kg). […]
Prototype
RIA: Japanese Type 4 Garand Copy
Partway through 1944, the Japanese Imperial Navy began a program to provide their infantry units with better firepower than was afforded by the bolt action Arisaka rifles. The initial experimentation was based on rechambering captured […]
Prototype
Swiss SK-46 Prototype Semiauto Rifle (Video)
The SK-46 was one of several post-WWII experimental self-loading rifle designs developed for testing by the Swiss military, or for commercial export. It was manufactured by SIG at Neuhausen in both 7.5mm Swiss and 8mm […]
Bolt Action Rifles
James D. Julia: Experimental Muzzle Cover 1893 Mauser
(Note: this rifle was removed from the auction, so I have no link to provide for it) I have been unable to find any history on this particular rifle, which is an experimental mixture of […]