Slow motion
Italy’s Sleeper Submachine Gun: The Beretta 38A
The Beretta 38A is not a gun that comes to mind for many people today when discussing World War Two submachine guns, but at the time it was one of the most desirable guns of […]
Video
Gunsmithing
Scoped Sharps 1874 Buffalo Rifle
This 1874 Sharps rifle is a great example of a been-there, done-that authentic western buffalo rifle. It was shipped from Sharps in 1879 with double set triggers, open sights, and a medium-weight .45 caliber barrel, […]
Heavy MGs
Browning M1917: America’s World War One Heavy Machine Gun
When the United States entered World War One, its military has a relatively tiny handful of machine guns, and they were divided between four different types, as the military budget was small and machine guns […]
Submachine Guns
Japanese Contract Steyr-Solothurn S1-100 (aka MP34)
In order to circumvent Versailles Treaty restrictions on arms manufacture, the German Rheinmetall firm purchased a small Swiss company called Solothurn Waffenfabrik in 1929, allowing it to route its business through Switzerland instead of Germany. […]
Lever Action Rifles
First Variation Flatside Winchester 1895 Musket
When Winchester first began producing Model 1895 rifles, they made a model that only lasted a short time. Between serial numbers 5000 and 6000, the first pattern 95s were replaced by a second pattern of […]
Submachine Guns
George Hyde’s First Submachine Gun: The Hyde Model 33
George Hyde was a gun designer who is due substantial credit, but whose name is rarely heard, because he did not end up with his name on an iconic firearm. Hyde was a German immigrant […]
Shotgun
Darne “Canardière Portatif” Shoulder-Fired Punt Gun
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 […]
Slow motion
Shooting the M3A1 Grease Gun
The M3 (and its followup improved M3A1 model) was the United States’ answer to the high cost and manufacturing complexity of the Thompson submachine gun. The M3 “Grease Gun” (because really, that is what it […]
Artillery
M20 75mm Recoilless Rifle: When the Bazooka Just Won’t Cut It
The M20 75mm Recoilless Rifle was developed starting in 1944 as a replacement for the 3.5” bazooka in an antitank role. It was developed and produced in parallel with a 57mm recoilless rifle (the M18), […]
Revolving Rifles
Porter Turret Rifle (2nd Variation) – Unsafe in Any Direction
The Porter Turret Rifle was patented in 1851 by Perry W. Porter, and is a vertical turret design – meaning that it has a revolving cylinder in which the chambers are aligned pointing outward radially […]