Single Shot Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Remington’s Last Rolling Block: the No.7 Target Rifle

May 6, 2021 Ian McCollum 4

Remington introduced the No.7 Rolling Block in 1903, and it was the last pattern of the action to be introduced. They were expensive, hand fitted guns, costing $24 in 1903 (compared to $12 for a […]

Colt-Berdan I: Russia’s First Military Cartridge Rifle

May 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 20

In 1867, a Russian delegation came to the United States to source new small arms for the Czar. In addition to purchasing Gatling guns, they met with Hiram Berdan and agreed to purchase a trapdoor […]

British Money-Walker 1868 Trials Rifle

May 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 5

Patented in 1868 by Colonel G.H. Money and Mr. M. Walker, this rifle was one of the 10 finalists in the British breechloading rifle trials of 1868. It is a simple falling block system with […]

System Kuhn: A Novel Single Shot Breechloader

April 20, 2021 Ian McCollum 10

This is an interesting single-shot breechloading system built by Kuhn of Besançon – a city near Switzerland in eastern France. It is clearly a sporting rifle, firing an 11mm black powder cartridge and probably dates […]

Howard’s Thunderbolt: A Remarkably Compact Carbine

April 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 1

Designed by brothers Charles and Sebre Howard and first patented in 1862, this is a single shot lever action produced by the Whitneyville Armory between 1866 and 1870. It is a really neat compact design […]

Springfield Model 1795 Musket: America’s First Military Production

April 8, 2021 Ian McCollum 10

The first US-production military arm was the “US musket, Charleville pattern” – known today as the Model 1795 Springfield Musket. Copied from the French 1766 model Charleville which made up the bulk of existing US […]

The First Trapdoor Springfield Carbine, Model 1870

March 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 13

The first production of a carbine model of the Trapdoor Springfield was the Model 1870 (excluding 4 prototypes produced in 1868). There was a focus infantry rifles in theTrapdoor program, and just 362 of these […]

1854 Treuille de Beaulieu: Open-Bolt Pinfire for the Imperial Guard

December 30, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

The Mousqueton Modele 1854, named for General Antoine Hector Thésée Treuille de Beaulieu, was the first breechloader adopted by the French military. It was issued to the Cent Gardes (personal bodyguard) of Emperor Napoleon III […]

Teenagers vs the British Empire: Smith Bateman’s Hall Rifle

November 24, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

On May 20, 1826 the United States Congress formally presented Model 1819 Hall rifles with personalized silver plaques to the 20 members of Aikin’s Volunteers, for their “Gallantry at the Siege of Plattsburg”. The Volunteers […]

Russian Model 1828 Musket from the Battle of Inkerman

November 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 42

For a long time, Russian small arms were patterned closely after French designs – the Russian 1809 family was based on the French 1777 muskets, and the Russian 1828 model – like this one – […]