Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

SSG-82: The Enigmatic East German Sniper Rifle

September 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 3533 in the September 2019 RIA auction. When East Germany received the technical data package for the 5.45x39mm cartridge, they began a program to make their own AK-74 model. Alongside, they also wanted a […]

Lakeside Vindicator BF1: A Belt-Fed .22 Plinker

September 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Lot 3837 in the September 2019 RIA auction. In 1983, Dennis Tippmann started a company making beautiful half-scale Browning machine guns, fully functional and chambered for the .22LR cartridge. This was a pretty cool idea, […]

Nichols & Childs Revolving Rifle

September 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

Lot 3077 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Rufus Nichols and Edward Childs had a partnership in Conway MA making revolving firearms in the late 1830s. Their patent was granted in 1838, for an indexing […]

HK 41: “Paramilitary Rifle” for the Bundeswehr

August 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 30

Lot 440 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The HK41 (designation: “paramilitary rifle”, caliber 7.62x51mm) was the first semiautomatic version of the G3 military rifle. It was made for the Bundeswehr reservist market; a rifle […]

Boer Lee-Speed Rifle from the Jameson Raid

August 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 1687 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The Jameson Raid in December 1895 was one of the key events in the lead to the second Boer War. Leander Jameson took a force of about […]

Cummings Dot Rifle: Indoor Marksmanship Training

August 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 1451 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Made by the Cummings Gun Works of Boston late in World War One, this is a pseudo-firearm training device for teaching some aspects of marksmanship without the […]

Lindsay’s Two-Shot US Army Musket

August 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 1197 in the September 2019 RIA auction. John Parker Lindsay patented a superposed, 2-shot muzzleloading rifle action in 1860, and remarkably, was able to get a contract to sell them to the US Federal […]

Platypus or Prototype? Authenticating a Hybrid Entini

August 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 30

Lot 1688 in the September 2019 RIA auction. I debated whether or not to film this rifle, because I can’t say with 100% confidence that it is genuine. It really seems genuine to me though, […]

6mm Navy Straight Pull: The 1895 Lee Navy Rifle

August 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 36

Lot 3311 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The US Navy held a trial in 1894 to adopt a new rifle, one to finally replace the .45-70 black powder Trapdoor Springfield. The rifle was to […]

Barnekov Greene Prototype 1870 Open-Bolt Army Rifle

August 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 16

Lot 3293 in the September RIA auction. Patented by Kiel V. Barnekov of New York in 1870, this is a toggle-locked, single shot, open bolt rifle. It was entered into the US 1872 rifle trials […]