Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Hafdasa’s Ballester Campeon Competition .22LR Pistol

July 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Made after World War Two until 1957, the Ballester Campeon was a .22 rimfire competition pistol built on the frame of the Argentine Ballester-Molina .45 ACP service pistol. Two versions were made, a standard 5 […]

Argentina’s Open-Bolt Pocket .22s: the Hafdasa HA and the Zonda

July 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 18

Originally made by Hafdasa (Hispano-Argentina Fábrica de Automóviles S.A.), the HA pistol is a .22 Long Rifle caliber, semiauto only, open bolt pocket pistol. It was produced in the 1950s, right at the end of […]

A Well-Travelled Luger

July 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

This Luger has seen basically all of 20th century German history. It began as a 1917 production DWM pistol, used in World War One. After the war, it was one of the guns remarks for […]

Rhodesia’s First Production: Northwood Developments R76 & M77

June 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

In the mid to late 1970s, several different Rhodesian arms designers were basically racing to be the first to come to market with a domestically produced civilian carbine type weapon. Northwood Developments would be the […]

Book Review: Communist Bloc Handguns by George Layman

June 24, 2018 Ian McCollum 7

There is not really a good reference book available on Communist Bloc pistols – or at least there wasn’t until now. George Layman has just released this overview of Cold War handguns from the USSR, […]

CZ Makes a 45 for the Americans: the CZ-97B

June 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

This pistol is up for auction at RIA on June 23. Introduced in 1997, the CZ-97B is a .45ACP caliber addition to CZ’s line of globally popular handguns. However, the 97 has some substantial mechanical […]

Olympic OA96 Pistol: A Loophole in the Assault Weapons Ban

June 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 39

The pistol in this video is up for auction here. In 1993, Olympic Arms introduced an AR-15 with a side folding stock, as well as a stockless – and buffer-tube-less – pistol version. They did […]

Astra 600/43: A Straight Blowback 9mm for the Wehrmacht

June 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 46

The Astra in this video is coming up for auction here… When Germany acquired a land border with Spain after the French capitulation in 1940, they took advantage of the opportunity to purchase Spanish firearms, […]

Republic Arms RAP-401: Compact South African Steel

June 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 11

This pistol is coming up for auction at Rock Island here. The Republic Arms 401 was originally designed as a compact pistol for the South African Police. The country was under international arms embargo, and […]

10mm is the Best Millimeter: the Colt Delta Elite

June 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This pistol is coming up for auction at RIA on June 23. Colt introduced the Delta Elite in 1987 to take advantage of the hype and publicity surrounding the 10mm Auto cartridge in the Bren […]