Prototype - Forgotten Weapons

Mauser 1912/14 Automatic Pistol (Video)

August 11, 2014 Ian McCollum 13

The Mauser 1912/14 automatic pistol was the final stage of a dead-end development track for a military sidearm in 9mm Parabellum made by Mauser. The program began as a plain blowback pistol in 1909, which […]

Smith-Condit Rifle

July 23, 2014 Ian McCollum 11

In the years prior to World War I, the US Army Ordnance Department was already investigating the possibility of adopting a self-loading service rifle, even as the 1903 Springfield rifle was being adopted. In 1904 […]

Ole Krag’s Experimental Pistol: Made By Norinco

July 18, 2014 Ian McCollum 38

In 1908, Ole Krag (the same man associated with the Krag-Jorgensen rifle) applied for a US patent on an automatic pistol design. This design, along with many others, would be submitted to the Norwegian military […]

US Model 45A

July 16, 2014 Ian McCollum 60

by Tom Laemlein A couple of years ago, I wrote a short article for Small Arms Review magazine on the strangely futuristic “Model 45A”, which was the subject of a group of photos by a […]

Reed Knight’s Experimental 1903 Semiauto

July 15, 2014 Ian McCollum 21

I saw this rifle when I visited Reed Knight’s Institute of Military Technology a while back, but didn’t have a chance to examine it. Well, he took it off the wall for a video segment […]

Mayn Experimental Carbine

May 28, 2014 Ian McCollum 28

To the left there is a Soviet memo on the subject of the experimental carbine designed by a Colonel P.I. Mayn. The memo reads: To the chief of the Red Army GAU, General-Lieutenant-Colonel comrade Yakovlev […]

Calzada Bayo CB-51

May 1, 2014 Ian McCollum 20

Thanks to reader Barton and some connections in Spain, we have some outstanding photos of a couple experimental rifles from the post-WWII era before Spain adopted the CETME rifle. After the war, virtually every major […]

Japanese Type 1 HMG

April 16, 2014 Ian McCollum 19

I was recently contacted by a fellow looking for information on the Japanese Type 1 heavy machine gun – a replacement for the Type 92 whose name would suggest it was adopted in 1941, but […]

Savage Prototype .38ACP Autopistol

April 14, 2014 Ian McCollum 21

We have another new unique item from the September 2013 Rock Island Premier auction today – a prototype pistol made by Savage in .38ACP caliber.

Prototype FN-49 Photos

April 8, 2014 Ian McCollum 18

I was planning to do a brief post today on a photo of a Spencer-Lee slide-action rifle, but as I started looking I found more and more information about it. I’m going to need a […]