United Kingdom - Forgotten Weapons

S&W 1940 Light Rifles: Receiver Breakage is a Problem

September 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 29

Mark I Mark II Designed in 1939 by S&W engineer Edward Pomeroy, the S&W Light Rifle is an extremely well manufactured but rather poorly thought out carbine. It is a 9mm Parabellum open-bolt, semiautomatic, blowback […]

The Last Lee Enfield: the L42A1 Sniper

August 31, 2018 Ian McCollum 28

RIA’s catalog page for this rifle When the British military adopted the FAL (L1A1 SLR) in 1960, they adopted the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge along with it. While the Brens guns were converted to the new […]

Heavy But Effective: Britain’s No4 MkI (T) Sniper Rifle

August 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

RIA’s catalog page for this rifle The main British sniper rifle of World War Two, and arguably one of the best looking military sniper rifles of all time, the No4 MkI (T) was something the […]

Enfield MkI Revolver: Merwin Meets Webley (Sort Of)

August 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

RIA’s catalog page for this revolver Adopted in 1880 to replace the Adams revolver, the Enfield MkI was based on an extraction system patented in the 1870s by Owen Jones of Philadelphia. This was similar […]

Classic Imperial British Revolvers: the Webley WG Army and Target

August 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

RIA’s catalog pages for these revolvers: WG Model of 1889 WG Army Model WG Target Model The Webley company used the “WG” (Webley Government) nomenclature in its literature starting in 1883, but the first revolver […]

Forgotten History: World’s Biggest Black Powder Cannon – a 100-Ton Gun

July 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 32

The largest muzzleloading black powder cannons ever built were the Armstrong 100-ton guns which saw service with the Italian Navy and with British coastal fortifications on Malta and Gibraltar. They were purchased by the Italians […]

Short: Revolvers with Manual Safeties

June 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 35

One of the classic mistakes make by authors who are not “gunnies” is to have a character threateningly click off the safety catch…on a revolver (sound effects editors do it in movies and TV, too). […]

Britain Goes From Trainer to Competition: the No 8 Mk I

June 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

This rifle is coming up for sale at RIA on June 21. Initially intended to be used only by the British Army (the Land Service), in 1950 the No8 rifle’s role was expanded to cover […]

Britain’s Only Repeating Trainer: the No7 Mk I

June 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 9

This rifle is coming up for sale at Rock Island on June 23. Developed by BSA immediately after World War Two, the No7 MkI training rifle was the only one of the British Enfield trainers […]

Britains First Standard Trainer: the No 2 Mk IV*

June 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

This rifle is coming up for sale at RIA on June 23. The British military started using training rifles in 1883, with the .297/.230 Morris cartridge in adapted Martini rifles. This would give way to […]