Competition
Star Model 1914 at a Backup Gun Match
This didn’t come out as well as I was hoping (one of the stage videos got corrupted and the others don’t show the shooting stages as well as I’d anticipated), but I will do better […]
Spain
Submachine Guns
CETME C2, aka CB-64: Spain’s Version of the Sterling SMG
This is Lot 2068 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy’s Extraordinary auction. Developed by CETME in the 1960s, the C2 (aka CB64) submachine gun was clearly inspired b y the Sterling, but includes several clever […]
Semiauto pistol
Ecia Model 1930 Family: Competitors to the Astra
Juan Esperanza was one of the two partners who formed the Astra company (with Pedro Unceta). When the two had a falling-out in 1925 and parted ways, Esperanza formed his own company and went on […]
Semiauto pistol
Star Pistol-Carbines: Model MMS and Model MB
Star produced 1911-style pistols in a wide variety of calibers and configurations for more than 50 years, including several models with shoulder stocks. Two of the later such models were the MMS and MB. These […]
Semiauto pistol
Charola Y Anitua: Tiny Spanish Broomhandles
Manufactured from 1899 until 1905, the Charola y Anitua pistols (later becoming just the Charola pistols) were basically scaled down C96 Mauser designs chambered for the 5mm Clement and 7mm Charola cartridges. They were briefly […]
Book review
Book Review: Basque-Made Rolling Blocks of the 3rd Carlist War
This new book from Mowbray is an English translation of a work originally written in Spanish by Fernando de Aguinaga and Jose Luis de Aguinaga, which clearly involved a tremendous amount of original research. The […]
Artillery
Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon from San Juan Hill
This Hotchkiss and its accessories are lot #1116 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction: Benjamin Hotchkiss was an American artillery designer who moved to Paris in 1867 in hopes of building a business for his improvements […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Spanish 1892: Last of the Single Stack Magazine Mausers
The Mauser 98 may have been the best bolt action design of all time, but it did not spring forth from Paul Mauser’s head fully formed. The Mauser took nearly 10 years of development and […]
Select-fire Rifles
CETME Modelo A: First Step Towards the G3
The Modelo A was the first series production version of the CETME rifle, following a series of successful trials in Spain. It was developed by a team of ex-Mauser engineers led by Ludwig Vorgrimmler, and […]
Semiauto pistol
La Lira: A Spanish Copy of the Mannlicher 1901
The Spanish firm of Garate Anitua y Cia manufactured this copy of the Mannlicher 1901/1905 pistol for just a brief period around 1910. It is not a straight copy, as the Mannlicher was chambered for […]