Switzerland - Forgotten Weapons

W+F Bern P47 Experimental Gas-Delay Pistol

July 29, 2017 Ian McCollum 26

The Swiss were the first country to adopt a self-loading service pistol; the Luger in 1900. They would keep those in service clear through World War 2, at which point they began seriously looking for […]

W+F Bern P43: A Swiss Take on the Browning High Power

July 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

In 1940, Switzerland began a series of trials to replace their Luger service pistols with something equally high quality, but more economical. They had squeezed as much simplification out of the Luger as they could […]

B&T VP9 Silenced Pistol: A Modern Welrod

July 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions field. For detailed photos of the guns in […]

SIG KE7 Light Machine Gun

May 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 33

The KE-7 was the product of two Swiss designers, Pal Kiraly and Gotthard End, and was introduced in 1929 by the Swiss manufacturer SIG. It was a recoil operated design and fired from an open […]

Bern Prototype Carbine: Intermediate Cartridges in the 1920s

April 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 23

Designed by Adolf Furrer, this carbine represents a very early experiment with intermediate power ammunition. It is a long recoil semiautomatic carbine with an under barrel tube magazine – quite the interesting combination of 19th […]

Four Fun Facts about the Oerlikon 20mm Antiaircraft Cannon!

April 13, 2017 Ian McCollum 57

The 20mm Oerlikon automatic cannon was a mainstay of United States naval air defense during World War 2, and today we will look at a few of the characteristics and questions that apply to this […]

SIG PE-57: Swiss Roller-Delay! (Video)

February 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 35

The SIG PE-57 is the civilian semiauto version of the Stgw57, Switzerland’s first self-loading service rifle. Developed from the German MG-42 but incorporating a substantial influence form the FG-42 as well, the PE-57 is a […]

Swiss 1882 Ordnance Revolver (Shooting)

December 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

The Swiss military dabbled in revolvers with their rimfire 1872 model (about 900 made) and the followup 1878 centerfire version (5500-6000 made), but their first large-scale service revolver was the Model 1882, designed by Colonel […]

Müller 1902 Prototype Pistol (Video)

October 26, 2016 Ian McCollum 25

Bernhard Müller designed this locked-breech pistol in 1902, seemingly a hybrid of the Luger and P38 (of course, the P38 did not exist at that time). It appears to use a modified Luger magazine and […]

RIA: Müller 1895 Curved Recoil Pistol (Video)

August 31, 2016 Ian McCollum 13

The model 1895 Müller automatic pistol is an interesting and unusual design, despite being a simple blowback action. Where most pistols have a bolt or slide that moved directly rearward, the Müller pushes the bolt […]