Austria - Forgotten Weapons

Steyr ACR: A Polymer Flechette-Firing Bullpup From the 90s

May 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 62

The US Army ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle) program was an effort to find a new type of infantry rifle which could increase the practical accuracy of the M16 by a whopping 100% in the […]

Maschinengewehr des Standshützen Hellriegel: A WW1 Phantom

May 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 44

I have gotten quite a lot of questions about this experimental Austrian machine gun or submachine gun since it was included in the Battlefield One computer game. Unfortunately, the sum total of information we have […]

The Schulhof 1884, Type IIa Manual Repeating Pistol

April 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

Josef Schulhof was an Austrian who decided to leave his farm and work in firearms design. He moved to Vienna and received his first firearms patent in 1882. He would go on to design and […]

Book Review: Vom Ursprung der Selbstladepistole

December 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

Written by Josef Mötz and‎ Joschi Schuy, “Vom Ursprung der Selbstladepistole” (Origins of the Automatic Pistol) is an absolute gold mine of information on early manually operated and self loading pistols. It is limited to […]

Steyr M30S Prototype: A Repurposed WW1 Improved Mauser

November 29, 2017 Ian McCollum 23

This rifle, as best I can tell, is a prototype model made by Steyr in Switzerland in the early 1930s for use in Hungarian military trials. The Hungarians were looking to replace their old 1895 […]

The Steyr Scout: Jeff Cooper’s Modern Day Frontier Rifle

June 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 60

Jeff Cooper was an icon of the American firearms community, best known for his work with the Southwest Pistol League and father of modern practical handgun competition. Cooper was a Marine Corps veteran and avid […]

Rogak P18 – A Cautionary Tale of Manufacturing

June 10, 2017 Ian McCollum 80

The Rogak P18 was a copy of the Steyr GB service pistol, with some disagreement over whether it was unlicensed or just unfortunately made. Les Rogak was a Steyr distributor in Illinois who managed to […]

Laumann 1891 and Schonberger-Laumann 1894 Semiauto Pistols

May 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

Josef Laumann was an Austrian designer of early ring-trigger manually repeating pistols, and was one of the first to develop that type of handgun into a semiautomatic. He took an 1891 pattern ring trigger gun […]

1891 Salvatore-Dormus: The First Automatic Pistol

May 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

The Salvatore-Dormus has the distinction of being the world’s first semiauto pistol, being patented in 1891. It is chambered for the 8mm Dormus cartridge, and holds 5 rounds in a Mannlicher type clip. Only about […]

Mannlicher 1901 & 1905 Pistols (Video)

March 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 25

The Model 1901 and 1905 automatic pistols were the final development of the Mannlicher system. In this iteration they used internal magazines, a straight walled 7.65mm cartridge, and a delayed blowback system in which the […]