Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Mauser 1913 Selbstladegewehr Sporter (Video)

August 30, 2016 Ian McCollum 50

Paul Mauser spent nearly 20 years attempting to perfect a self-loading rifle for military service. He came closest with this, his 1913 patent model, which was used by German balloon and aircraft fliers as the […]

RIA: Prototype CZ-38 Trials Rifle (Video)

August 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

Like most other nations with modern military forces. Czechoslovakia was interested in developing a semiautomatic infantry rifle in the 1920s and 1930s. The most successful such rifle to come out of Czech factory during this […]

RIA: Ethiopian ZH29 and Czech Experimental Z37

August 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

The ZH-29 was an influential early semiautomatic military rifle, although not one that saw any significant adoption. As best I can tell, only two countries purchased them in any quantity: China and Ethiopia. This ZH-29 […]

RIA: Prototype W+F Bern AK44 Copy of the SVT

August 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 45

The Swiss factories of SIG and W+F Bern both produced a remarkable number and variety of experimental self-loading rifles in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. Nothing would be adopted by the Swiss military until […]

GX vs GY: What Are the Differences in Pedersen’s Garands?

August 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

In a last hopeful attempt to get a rifle adopted and produced for the US military, John Pedersen designed his own copy of the M1 Garand rifle in the late 1930s (approximately 1939). His toggle-locked […]

RIA: CheyTec M200 Intervention

August 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

The CheyTac M200 Intervention is a massive precision rifle chambered for the .408 CheyTac cartridge (although it can also be had in .375 CheyTac). It uses an action made by EDM Arms, and is capable […]

RIA: Prototype Gustloff 206 Rifle

August 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 49

German arms development during World War II was quite the chaotic mess, in many ways. While it is not uncommon for different service branches to have independent procurement systems, in fascist-era Germany this was coupled […]

RIA: Japanese ZH-29 Copy by Tokyo Gas & Electric

August 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 36

The Japanese military experimented with self-loading rifle designs through the 1930s, and had 4 major rifles in testing during that period. One was a new design by Kijiro Nambu, one was a Pedersen copy made […]

RIA: 2nd Model Smith-Jennings Rifle

August 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

The Smith-Jennings rifles are one of the evolutionary steps towards the revolutionary Henry and Winchester lever-action rifles. Here is the rifle that brought together the ideas of Hunt (who invented the rocket ball cartridge) and […]

RIA: Beretta 1918/30 Semiauto Carbine

August 11, 2016 Ian McCollum 37

The Model 1918/30 is a semiauto-only carbine made by Beretta in between the early Model 1918 submachine guns and the excellent Model 38 family. It was marketed (well, sold) primarily to security and police forces, […]