Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Japanese Type 4 Garand Photos

May 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

Towards the end of WWII, in 1944, the Japanese Navy developed a copy of the American M1 Garand rifle, chambered for the 7.7mm cartridge. This followed attempts to simply rebarrel captured US guns, which did […]

Detailed Photos: Walther A115 No. 3

May 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 5

I did a video on this very interesting German prototype semiauto rifle a few weeks ago, and took one or two photographs at the same time. The genesis of the Gewehr 41 gas system is […]

Review: Inland Reproduction M1 Carbine

May 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

A little while back I got my hands on a T&E sample of the new reproduction Inland M1 Carbine, and have spent some time with it. I addition to regular range plinking, I used it […]

RIA: Walther/Heinemann Toggle Lock Sporting Rifle

April 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

In 1928 and 1929, the Swiss Rheinmetall company produced about 50 examples of a toggle-locked rifle designed by Karl Heinemann. It was tested by the United States among other countries, but never found military acceptance. […]

RIA: Japanese Army Pedersen Copy Trials Rifle

April 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 21

The Japanese military was interested in finding a new self-loading rifle to adopt in the 1930s. The development project began with a request to retired General Kijiro Nambu who designed a gas-operate,d rotating bolt rifle […]

RIA: 1929 Simson Prototype 9mm

April 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 67

In the late 1920s, German Ordnance hinted at an interest in replacing the P.08 Luger pistols with a less expensive handgun design. This prompted a number of submissions from hopeful companies, including this design from […]

RIA: Thompson Model 1923 Autorifle

April 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 42

One of the very early entrants into the United States Ordnance Department’s semiauto rifle trials was the Auto-Ordnance Company, makers of the Thompson submachine gun. For the rifle trials, they designed a .30-06 rifle using […]

RIA: CZ Model S Prototype (1929)

April 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

This CZ Model S rifle is one of many prototypes made between the world wars in Czechoslovakia in an effort to develop a military semiautomatic rifle. Similar efforts were underway in most other countries at […]

RIA: Walther A115 Prototype Rifle

April 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 46

The Walther A115 was one of the semiauto rifles developed in pre-WWII Germany. Apparently only three were made, and it uses a neat combination of sheet metal construction with a rotating bolt and annular gas […]

RIA: Japanese Trials Gas-Operated Pedersen Rifle

April 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 32

The Japanese semiauto rifle trials of the early 1930s had a total of four entrants – Kijiro Nambu and his company, Tokyo Gas & Electric, the Tokyo Army Arsenal, and Nippon Special Steel. This rifle […]