Accessories
Testing the Duckbill Choke with Matt Haught
Today I am out at the range with Matt Haught of Symtac Consulting to test out a duckbill choke. Also known as a spreader, this was a muzzle device used briefly by SEALs in Vietnam […]
United States
Conversion
Merrill Breechloading Conversion of the 1841 Mississippi Rifle
Lot 1171 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. James Merrill of Baltimore had his hands in several Civil War era firearms – rifles built from scratch, conversions of the Jenks carbines, and also conversions […]
Antiques
Hall Model 1819: A Rifle to Change the Industrial World
Lot 1193 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. John Hall designed the first breechloading rifle to be used by the United States military, and the first breechloader issued in substantial numbers by any military […]
Antiques
Hopkins & Allen XL-6 Revolver with a Surprising Swing-Out Cylinder
Lot 1104 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. “XL” was a brand name used by Hopkins & Allen to cover several different styles of revolver, but the first were a series of rimfire, spur-hammer […]
Bayonet
Bowie Knife Bayonet and Bolo Bayonet for the US Krag
Lot 164 (Bolo bayonet) and Lot 165 (Bowie bayonet) in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. When the US adopted the Krag rifle in 1892, a remarkably efficient and simple decision was made regarding its […]
Antiques
Peabody Sidehammer: The Best Martini Action You’ve Never Heard Of
Lot 152 (long rifle) and lot 1164 (carbine) in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. Henry Peabody was one of the less-recognized American firearms designers. A machinist from the age of 17, he worked at […]
Prototype
Toolroom Prototype Smith & Wesson No.3 Revolver
Lot 3197 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Good inventors are always trying out new solutions to problems. Those solutions may or may not work (hence Thomas Edison’s 10,000 ways not to make a […]
Antiques
The First S&W .38: The “Baby Russian”
Lot 1249 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. Taking what they had learned in developing their series of large-frame .44 caliber revolvers, Smith & Wesson introduced the “Baby Russian” in 1876 as their first […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Not Always Bubba: A Factory Sporter Winchester-Lee Navy Rifle
Lot 3106 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. I am happy that the practice of sporterizing military rifles has fallen out of favor, but sometimes one can throw the baby out with the bathwater. […]
Antiques
The Coolest Volcanic Ever: A Vintage Scoped Pistol-Carbine
Lot 1011 in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. The “Pistol-Carbine” was a pattern offered by the Volcanic Arms Company combining a 16 inch rifle-length barrel with a pistol grip and detachable shoulder stock (it […]