Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Mondragon 1908 Semiauto Rifles – 4 Different Examples (Video)

January 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 17

Best known as the first semiautomatic service rifle adopted by a mainstream military force, the 1908 Mondragon was designed by Mexican native Manuel Mondragon, manufactured by SIG in Switzerland, and adopted by the Mexican Army […]

Swiss Prototype: N33 (Video)

December 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

The N33 is one of a series of Swiss prototype semiautomatic rifles developed between WWI and WWII (the “33” refers to 1933). This particular design is interesting because it fires from an open bolt, a […]

Israeli Dror LMG: Shooting & Disassembly (Video)

December 21, 2015 Ian McCollum 38

The Dror was an Israeli copy of the Johnson LMG, which was made domestically in Israel as part of Israel’s war of independence in the late 1940s. The design was developed through a combination of […]

Mystery Japanese Semiauto

December 18, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

While in the Smithsonian gun room, I noticed a semi auto Japanese rifle of a type I have not seen reference to before. It is definitely Japanese, judging from elements like the split buttstock and […]

SIG Prototype 1924/1925 Semiauto Rifles (Video)

December 10, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

The Swiss SIG factory was one of the earliest producers of semiautomatic military rifles, having produced the M1908 Mondragon rifles for Mexico. They continued to experiment with self-loading rifle designs, and in the mid 1920s […]

H&K SL-6 and SL-7 Rifles at RIA

December 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

The German firm Heckler & Koch spent several decades building firearms all based on the same basic operating system: roller-delayed blowback (often called roller-locked, although they are not technically locked breech actions). The two best […]

Two VG1-5 Gustloff Last Ditch Rifles at RIA

November 20, 2015 Ian McCollum 137

The Volksstrumgewehr Gustloff, more commonly (albeit incorrectly) known as the VG1-5, was one of the few semiautomatic Volkssturm weapons produced at the end of WWII. I have discussed these rifles before, but wanted to take […]

RSC 1917: France’s WW1 Semiauto Rifle at RIA

November 17, 2015 Ian McCollum 31

Did you know that the French Army issued more than 80,000 semiautomatic rifles during WWI? They had been experimenting with a great many semiauto designs before the war, and in 1916 finalized a design for […]

White Prototype Open-Bolt LMG at RIA

November 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 28

Along with his two semiauto rifle prototypes, when White went to England for rifle testing he took along a work-in-progress light machine gun. The weapon was trsted by British officials, but found wanting – largely […]

White Toggle-Locked .30-06 Prototype Rifle

November 13, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

This toggle-locking rifle chambered for the .30-06 cartridge is the second of two rifles submitted by White for the 1930 US military trials. It was not actually tested by the US, but White did take […]