Single Shot Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

William Soper’s Direct Action Breech Loader

June 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 22

William Soper of Reading, England designed this “Direct Action Breech Loader” and attempted to have it tested for British military adoption – but he was one day too late to have his rifle included in […]

Britain Goes From Trainer to Competition: the No 8 Mk I

June 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

This rifle is coming up for sale at RIA on June 21. Initially intended to be used only by the British Army (the Land Service), in 1950 the No8 rifle’s role was expanded to cover […]

Citadel Martini – British Guns Rebuilt in Cairo

June 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 5

This rifle is part of a lot coming up for auction at Rock Island here. In 1903, the British government shipped a load of spare/surplus Martini parts and tooling to Egypt, where it was set […]

Incompetence, Corruption, and a Rioting Mob: The Gibbs Carbine

April 5, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

The Gibbs carbine is fantastic illustration of just how difficult it can be to actually manufacture a new firearm. The gun itself is a breechloading, percussion fired cavalry carbine designed to use paper cartridges. It […]

Remington Split Breech – Before It Was Famous

April 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

The Remington Rolling Block was one of the most widely successful and popular military rifles of the late 1800s, and its development began with the Remington Split Breech carbine during the American Civil War. The […]

Merrill-Jenks Navy Carbine Conversion

March 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 39

James Merrill was a Baltimore inventor and businessman who patented an improvement to the Jenks pattern carbine in 1858. His idea was for an improved locking lever for the gun, which would also allow the […]

The Svelte Jenks Navy Carbine of the Mexican-American War

March 26, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

The Jenks carbine was a remarkably svelte and elegant breechloading system patented by South Carolinian William Jenks in 1838. It was tested by the US Navy in 1841, and found to be quite successful. The […]

Swiss 1897 Schmidt-Rubin Kadettengewehr Training Rifle

March 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

The Swiss replaced their Vetterli rifles in the late 1880s with the new Schmidt-Rubin pattern, and this eventually trickled down to the cadet corps. These youth programs had been using short single-shot 1870 Vetterli carbines, […]

Cook and Brother of New Orleans – A Confederate Rifle Factory

March 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 4

Cook and Brother was one of the largest and most successful of the private ordnance factories in the South during the Civil War. It was formed by two British brothers who had moved to New […]

Scoped Sharps 1874 Buffalo Rifle

March 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

This 1874 Sharps rifle is a great example of a been-there, done-that authentic western buffalo rifle. It was shipped from Sharps in 1879 with double set triggers, open sights, and a medium-weight .45 caliber barrel, […]