Spain - Forgotten Weapons

Bergmann Mars 1903

January 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 33

The military breakthrough for Bergmann finally came in 1903 with a new locking system for the pistol, designed by Louis Schmeisser (who had also designed the previous Bergmann handguns). In 1901, Schmeisser developed the new […]

JoLoAr .45 ACP One-Hand-Cocking Pistol (Video)

November 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 10

The JoLoAr pistol was a combination of a poor-selling and unremarkable Spanish blowback semiauto pistol called the Sharpshooter and an idea by a man named Jose Lopez Arnaiz (whose name is the source of the […]

Astra Model F (Video)

November 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 25

The Astra Model F was the final evolution of the Astra 900, a C96 Mauser lookalike. The Model F used detachable magazines and was select-fire, with a very effective rate reducing mechanism in the grip. […]

Spanish 8×33 Mosqueton CB-51 Prototype (Video)

October 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

The Spanish military, like many others, was quite interested in developing a new semiautomatic or selective fire combat rifle after World War II. Franco’s political ties to Germany (combined with Spanish neutrality in the war) […]

Early Ruby .45 ACP Pistol

October 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

The Spanish company Gabilondo y Urresti, later to become known as Llama, introduced this locked-breech .45 ACP copy of the Colt 1911 in 1924. It was not a slavish copy, however, and introduced a captive […]

Weapons of the Spanish Civil War

October 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

The Spanish Civil War is a relatively un-remembered conflict here in the US, but it is a fascinating event for firearms enthusiasts because of the huge variety of arms used. Both sides were supplied by […]

Astra Model 900

September 28, 2016 Ian McCollum 16

The Astra 900 was a pistol developed to take advantage of a large Chinese demand for semiauto pistols with shoulder stocks, following on the massive sales of the Mauser C96 “Broomhandle” in that country. In […]

Book Review: “Star Firearms” and “Astra Firearms” by Leonardo Antaris

September 10, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

Leonardo Antaris has written massive and excellent volumes on two of the major companies in the Spanish firearms industry, Star and Astra. Both of these companies made a wide range of military and commercial handguns, […]

CETME-LC (the short one): Safety PSA

September 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 78

As you may or may not be aware, I recently built a semiauto CETME-LV rifle using a parts kit imported by Apex Gun Parts and an 80% flat from Hill & Mac Gunworks. Now, the […]

CETME-L History & Disassembly (Video)

July 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 30

The CETME-L was Spain’s replacement for the CETME Modelo C, which was the 7.62x51mm rifle that was essentially adopted by Germany as the G3 in the 1950s. By the 1980s Spain needed to move to […]