Prototype - Forgotten Weapons

Gewehr 71 with Experimental Magazine at RIA

November 19, 2015 Ian McCollum 9

The Model 1871 Mauser was adopted as the newly united Germany’s first standard rifle, and it was a good design. However, it was a single shot rifle and soon it became apparent that the additional […]

White Prototype Open-Bolt LMG at RIA

November 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

Along with his two semiauto rifle prototypes, when White went to England for rifle testing he took along a work-in-progress light machine gun. The weapon was trsted by British officials, but found wanting – largely […]

White Toggle-Locked .30-06 Prototype Rifle

November 13, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

This toggle-locking rifle chambered for the .30-06 cartridge is the second of two rifles submitted by White for the 1930 US military trials. It was not actually tested by the US, but White did take […]

White Gas-Operated .276 Prototype at RIA

November 12, 2015 Ian McCollum 26

One of the competitors against the Garand and Pedersen rifles in the 1929 and 1930 US Army trials was the White rifle. White actually submitted two rifles, but only this gas-operated design was actually tested […]

Colt Model 1909 Automatic at RIA

November 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

A while back I put together a video on the development of the Colt/Browning 1911 pistol, and one of the missing links in that video was the Model 1909. Well, one of the 23 Model […]

Sunngård 1909 Pistol

November 8, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

Just a photo – of probably the nicest Sunngård pistol in existence today, along with its holster. Thanks to Lars for sending it!

Landstad 1900 Autorevolver Disassembly

November 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

You may recall seeing my post about the Landstad model 1900 semiauto revolver a while back… Well, the gun (only one was ever made) was in a British collections for a hundred years, but recently […]

System Luger 1892/6 Bolt Action

October 20, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

Georg Luger is known today for just one firearm: the Luger pistol. However, he actually spent significantly more time during his career working on rifles than he did on that iconic handgun. One project in […]

Vintage Saturday: Maxim’s First Maxim

October 10, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

Not actually a photo, but a good likeness of both Maxim and his first working machine gun. That lever on the side is to set the rate of fire, and one of these is still […]

Howard Francis 7.63mm SMLE

October 9, 2015 Ian McCollum 43

The Howard Francis carbine was a design submitted to the British Ordnance Board for consideration in 1943 – one of many weapons proposed to help meet wartime requirements. Specifically, the Howard Francis carbine was a […]