Germany - Forgotten Weapons

Nickl Prototype M1916/22 Pistol at James D Julia

March 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 9

Josef Nickl was one of the chief R&D designers at Mauser after the Federle brothers, and one of his pet projects was a rotating barrel military pistol developed from the Steyr-Hahn M1912 pistol. He built […]

Experimental “Joint Safety” C96 Mauser at James D Julia

March 9, 2015 Ian McCollum 5

This particular 1902-made example of the C96 Mauser incorporates several experimental features of the design that would never go into mass production. It was an effort to make a version of the C96 that would […]

Mauser 1912/14 Experimental .45ACP Pistol at James D Julia

March 8, 2015 Ian McCollum 11

Before World War One, the Mauser company tried to make a follow-up automatic pistol to replace its famous C96 “Broomhandle” design with something more modern. The result was a very successful pocket pistol in .25ACP […]

20-Shot C96 “Broomhandle” Mauser at James D Julia

March 4, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

Early in the production of the C96 Mauser, the company tried a variety of different configurations of the pistol, to see what would be popular and sell well. Most of these were abandoned by about […]

Dreyse/Kufahl Needlefire Revolver at James D Julia

February 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 11

Needlefire rifles were developed in the 1830s and represented and early effective type of breechloading rifle. As such, they were adopted by both German and French armies – but only in rifle form. Needlefire handguns […]

Walther MP-PP Prototype at James D Julia

February 26, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

During the late 1920s, it looked like the German Army was going to replace the P08 Luger with a less expensive sidearm, and several major German companies developed prototype guns to meet this anticipated need. […]

A Rifle of Many Travels

February 19, 2015 Ian McCollum 33

I was visiting a friend recently (James, who runs Tombstone Territorial Firearms, which you should definitely visit if you are ever in Tombstone – it’s a remarkably well-stocked shop), and he had pulled out a […]

Sharps-Borchardt M1878 at RIA (Video)

February 18, 2015 Ian McCollum 13

The M1878 was the last new rifle produced by the Sharps company before it went out of business in 1881. It was the invention of none other than German gun designer Hugo Borchardt, better known […]

Shansei .45ACP Broomhandle Mauser at RIA (Video)

February 12, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

During the Chinese civil war in the 1920s and 30s, international arms embargoes made rifles difficult to acquire – which led to a lot of popularity for pistols with shoulder stocks. The C96 “broomhandle” Mauser […]

Vintage Saturday: Why They Make Tripods Like That

January 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 38

Waffen-SS soldier manning a Czech ZB-37 machine gun on its tripod. Note that the articulated tripod legs have been put to good use mounting the gun up on a large rock that offers some cover […]