Semiauto pistol

Roller Locked Czechnology: the CZ 482 Pistol (Which Eventually Became the vz.52)

January 26, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

The Czech vz.52 service pistol actually began as a commercial export program at CZ. It was developed by two brothers, Jan and Jaroslav Kratochvíl. They actually designed two pistols with similar shape and controls, one […]

Mauser M80SA: Actually a High Power and Actually Hungarian

January 21, 2026 Ian McCollum 29

Our book on Hungarian AKs, “Rifles on the Danube”, is available here: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/danube-book In the 1980s, the Mauser company was completely adrift, without any real plans or goals or good leadership. They had been trying […]

Tomiska’s Czech Army Pistol: Empty Magazine Auto-Ejection

January 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 10

Alois Tomiška is best known for designing the first commercially successful double-action semiautomatic pistol, the “Little Tom”. But he also designed this pistol for very early Czechoslovakian military pistol. The first trial in the program […]

SAP M10: RPB Makes a Semiauto MAC-10

December 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

When Wayne Daniels took over control of RPB in 1978, he introduced a semiautomatic pistol version of the iconic MAC submachine gun. Called the “SAP” (Semi Automatic Pistol), there were three versions; .380, 9mm, and […]

PSS: Russia’s Silent Captive-Piston Handgun

December 13, 2025 Ian McCollum 25

The PSS is a semiautomatic pistol using captive piston ammunition to achieve a comparable level of sound suppression to a .22 pistol with a good normal suppressor. It was developed to replace a couple multi-barrel […]

Origins of the Legendary CZ-75: Short Rail and Pre-B Models

November 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Find something cool for Black Friday at Headstamp Publishing! https://www.headstamppublishing.com The CZ-75 began development in the late 1960s as a commercial project. It was not intended for Czechoslovak military use, but instead for export sales […]

Rideout Arsenal Dragon: A New Low-Bore-Axis Lever-Delayed Pistol

November 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 37

Wauser t-shirt available from Varusteleka: https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-wauser-cotton-t-shirt The Rideout Arsenal Dragon is a very interesting new pistol from an independent entrepreneurial designer, Travis Rideout. It is a lever-delayed action with a very low bore axis and […]