Prototype - Forgotten Weapons

Mauser 1902 Prototype Long Recoil Rifle at James D Julia

September 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 14

Paul Mauser was very persistent – if ultimately unsuccessful – in his long-tim goal to create a practical semiautomatic rifle using a full-power cartridge. In total he tried some 17 different designs, including one in […]

BSA’s Experimental .34 Caliber Pistols at James D Julia

September 18, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

During World War One, Birmingham Small Arms (aka BSA) grew into a massive arms manufacturing facility to supply the previously inconceivable military appetite for rifles. When the war ended, they were left with a bit […]

Pancor Jackhammer

September 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 78

The Pancor Jackhammer was a select-fire combat shotgun designed by John Andersen in the 1980s. He was a Korean War veteran who had used a pump shotgun in combat, and while he liked the shotgun […]

RIA: Liegeoise 1888 Trials Rifle

August 19, 2015 Ian McCollum 69

The Belgian Army held rifle trials in the late 1880s to choose a new infantry rifle, and the winner was the Model 1889 Belgian Mauser. Quite a few different guns were involved in the competition […]

American WWI Experimental SMG (Video)

August 7, 2015 Ian McCollum 54

Reader Larry sent me this video, which was produced by the US Army Ordnance Corp just recently. It’s a one-off experimental submachine gun built in 1918, and is definitely not something like you have seen […]

Furrer M1919 Double-Barrel SMG

July 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

We have looked at one of Adolf Furrer’s M1919 submachine guns before, but this one is a much different implementation. The model 1919 Furrer designed was basically a chassis for converting a Luger pistol […]

Swiss Prototype Pistols: P44/8 and W+F Bern P43 (Video)

July 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

Switzerland was an early adopter of the Luger pistol as a standard military sidearm, but by WWII that design was becoming obsolete and the Swiss began looking for a newer sidearm. Several lines of development […]

British trials Bang Rifle, caliber .303 (photo courtesy National Firearms Centre, Leeds, UK)

Danish Bang Rifle for British Trials

July 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 26

One of the first semiautomatic rifles tested by the US military was a design by a Dane named Søren Hansen Bang, which was first presented to the government in 1911. The rifles used a […]

BSW Prototype Gas-Operated Pistol (Video)

July 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 116

In 1936 or 1937, the BSW company (Berlin-Suhler Waffenwerk) produced a small number of prototype pistols for German Army trials. These trials were eventually won by the Walther P38, and for good reason in this […]

Canada’s WWII Self-Loading Rifle Experiments

July 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

(The material for this post came primarily from a post made by Roger V. Lucy at the MilArt blog, which also has information on a couple other WWII Canadian experimental projects) When we see rifles, […]