Single Shot Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Experimental .30-40 Trapdoor Springfield Repro (Video)

April 21, 2014 Ian McCollum 26

We have often touched on the series of US magazine rifle trials that took place through the late 1800s – those trials brought out a slew of interesting new ideas and clever (or not so […]

Followup w/ Pictures – Smoothbore Trapdoor

February 12, 2014 Ian McCollum 38

The owner of this interesting firearm (who is a regular reader of the site) sent me this information about it: Here are the things I do know about this weapon, which is one if six […]

Smoothbore Trapdoor Springfield?

February 2, 2014 Ian McCollum 36

Got a question from a friend, which is outside my area of knowledge. Does anyone know about the history of smoothbore, .45-caliber Trapdoor Springfield rifles? This fellow bought what was advertised as a forager conversion, […]

Model 1871 Ward-Burton Rifle

December 2, 2013 Ian McCollum 10

The Model 1871 Ward-Burton was one of the early experimental rifles trialled by the US military in its search for a new breechloading rifle to replace the theoretically-interim Allin conversion that made muzzle-loading rifles into […]

Book Review:Schuetzen Rifles – History and Loadings

June 27, 2013 Ian McCollum 8

In my ongoing effort to broaden my firearms horizons, I have been reading up on subjects I have little knowledge of. This week, that involved a copy of Gerald Kelver’s Schuetzen Rifles: History and Loadings. […]

Fosbery’s Breechloading Rifle

June 21, 2013 Ian McCollum 16

Col George Vincent Fosbery, V.C., was a definite devotee of small arms design as well as being a bona fide war hero – a combination that isn’t as common as one might expect. He is […]

Book Review: The Military Remington Rolling Block Rifle

June 6, 2013 Ian McCollum 7

During the latter half of the 1800s, a significant fraction of the world’s military forces were being armed by the Remington brothers, and their factory in Ilion, New York. The Remington Rolling Block was one […]