Gunsmithing
W.B. McCarty’s Peculiar Revolver
Okay, to be precise I should say that it is W.B. McCarty’s idea for a peculiar revolver. We know nothing about Mr. McCarty beyond the fact that in 1909 he was granted a patent for […]
United States
Lever Action Rifles
Ball Repeating Carbine (Video)
The Ball Repeating Carbine was one of the last Civil War arms manufactured, as an initial order of 1,002 units was ordered in 1864 but not delivered until shortly after the cessation of hostilities in […]
Book review
Book Review: Firearm Anatomy I – Thompson M1A1 Submachine Gun
One of the questions I have gotten quite a few times is what resource I would recommend for folks who are interested in the technical engineering aspects of firearms design. It’s always been a tough […]
Semiauto Rifles
Johnson M1941 Video
Melvin Johnson was a gun designer who felt that the M1 Garand rifle had several significant flaws – so he developed his own semiauto .30-06 rifle to supplement the M1. His thought was that if […]
Semiauto Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance
Cuban exiles training in Florida for the Bay of Pigs invasion, with scoped M1941 Johnson rifles. (coming Monday, a video on the Johnson…)
Accessories
“I Found This Old Maxim Silencer…”
Since I posted my brief article on the original Maxim silencers, I’ve had more than a few people contact me saying that they have found one among the possessions of a deceased parent or grandparent. […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Model 1871 Ward-Burton Rifle
The Model 1871 Ward-Burton was one of the early experimental rifles trialled by the US military in its search for a new breechloading rifle to replace the theoretically-interim Allin conversion that made muzzle-loading rifles into […]
Book review
Book Review: Allied Rifle Contracts in America
One of the characteristics that often leads me to be particularly interested in a given gun is a long and convoluted history. I really enjoy finding firearms that have found their way across the world […]
Revolver
Streetsweeper Shotgun (Video)
It may seem sometimes that I’ve never met a gun I didn’t like…but I can assure you that isn’t the case. The Streetsweeper, for example, is a pretty terrible gun. Originally designed in 1980 by […]
Semiauto pistol
Vintage Saturday: Rifles? What Rifles?
US World War I doughboys with M1911 pistols on display. Trigger discipline wasn’t what it is today.