Museum Review
Cody Firearms Museum Virtual Tour
The Cody Firearms Museum is a part of the Buffalo Bill Center for the West, and one of the very best firearms museums in the US (if not the world). It incorporates a number of […]
Video
Prototype
Burton 1917 Light Machine Rifle
America’s first assault rifle? Well, it does meet all the requirements – select-fire, intermediate cartridge, and shoulder-fired. It was never actually fielded, though. The Burton Light Machine Rifle was developed during World War One, with […]
Prototype
Beretta Model 1931 & 1937 Prototype Semiauto Rifles
In the 1930s, the Italian military (like all major military forces at the time) was investigating options for a semiautomatic service rifle. Beretta’s Tulio Marengoni developed one such rifle, and submitted it in two forms. […]
Gunsmithing
Q&A #5: Rollin White and Other (Better) Designers
Questions in part I of today’s Q&A: 1:04 – What was Rollin White’s revolver like? 7:09 – Why did pan magazines disappear? 10:14 – Why no pointed pistol bullets? 13:24 – Funky rounds like Trounds […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Transitional Swiss Sniper K31 Rifles (Video)
During World War II, the Swiss military experimented with two models of K31 carbine with integral optics (the K31/42 and K31/43). These were found to be not sufficient for military service, and after more experimentation […]
Semiauto pistol
RIA: Praga 1921 One-Handed Pocket Pistol
This cute little pocket pistol was an early project of Vaclav Holek, who would become much better known for his work with the ZB-26 light machine gun and ZH-29 rifle. It is a very small […]
Semiauto pistol
RIA: Beretta 1915 – the First of the Beretta Pistols
The Italian military went into WWI having already adopted a semiautomatic sidearm – the Model 1910 Glisenti (and its somewhat simplified Brixia cousin). However, the 1910 Glisenti was a very complex design, and much too […]
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA – Swiss Model 1893: A Mannlicher Cavalry Carbine
The Swiss were the first country to adopt a bolt action repeating rifle with their Vetterli, and followed this by changing to a straight-pull design in the 1880s. The straight-pull Schmidt-Rubin system was quite good, […]
Revolver
RIA: A Pair of Arresting Montenegrin Gasser Revolvers
This is quite the eye-catching pair of revolvers… The Model 1870 Gasser was a behemoth of a pistol designed by Leopold Gasser for the Austro-Hungarian cavalry – it was built around the 11x36mm cartridge used […]
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA: Winchester Thumb Trigger Rifle
The Winchester Thumb Trigger rifle was a very inexpensive boy’s rifle developed from the Model 1902. It is a single-shot .22 rimfire bolt action system, on which the trigger was replaced by a thumb-activated sear […]