Shotgun - Forgotten Weapons

Franchi LAW12 – Like the SPAS-12, but Semiauto Only

June 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

The shotgun in this video is coming up at auction here. The LAW-12 was a sister product to the much better-known SPAS-12 shotgun made by Franchi in the 1980s. The SPAS was a selectable pump […]

Walther Toggle-Locked Semiauto Shotgun (ouch!)

April 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

Between the world wars, the Walther company designed and marketed a short recoil, toggle-locked 12 gauge shotgun for sporting use. It was patented by the Walther brothers, but actually manufactured by the Deutsche-Werke consortium, which […]

Lancaster Four-Barrel Shotgun With Double-Action Trigger

March 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

Charles Lancaster started his unmaking business in London in 1826, and it would survive more than one hundred years, being run after Charles’ death by his sons and then by an apprentice who bought out […]

Darne “Canardière Portatif” Shoulder-Fired Punt Gun

March 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

In the days when market hunting was a normal practice, hunters would use pretty huge shotguns to harvest large numbers of waterfowl. These were called punt guns, named after the small shallow-draft boats which they […]

Parallel-Bore Side by Side Shotgun – Look Ma, No Rib!

March 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

Virtually all side by side shotguns are not actually made with the barrels parallel – they are made pointing just slightly together, so that the shot patterns will converge and meet up at a particular […]

Nock’s Volley Gun: Clearing the Decks in the 1700s

March 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 27

The Nock Volley Gun was actually invented by an Englishman named James Wilson in 1789, and presented to the British military as a potential infantry weapons. This was declined as impractical, but the Royal Navy […]

Armalite AR-17: A Shotgun from the World of Tomorrow!

January 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 72

Armalite was a company founded as an offshoot of the Fairchild Aircraft company, and working with aluminum was their specialty. This was a fairly novel material to the arms industry, and they were able to […]

Fosbery’s Pump Shotgun: An AR15 Bolt in 1891

September 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 26

Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions field. For detailed photos of the guns in […]

A Unique Pre-WWI Custom Combination Gun

April 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

This unique custom sporting rifle (and shotgun) is a very cool example of the true gunsmith’s art. This firearm began as a Mauser model 98 action, which was embellished and fitted with a fancy barrel […]

Ljutic Space Gun

April 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 12

Al Ljutic (LEW-tic) was quite the interesting character, from his early days as a professional boxer to his selection for the US 1940 Olympic rifle team, to his eventual primary business making excellent high-end trap […]