United States - Forgotten Weapons

Winchester Model D: The WW1 Origin of the Famous Model 70

August 11, 2021 Ian McCollum 13

Just as World War One broke out in Europe, TC Johnson was working on a new Mauser-based sporting rifle design for the Winchester company. With the war, Johnson added options for military configurations (handguard, bayonet […]

Spanish Patent Quirks: Anitua Y Charola’s Copy of the Merwin & Hulbert

August 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

The firm of Anitua Y Charola in Eibar, Spain (later renamed Charola Y Anitua) was founded in 1880 or 1881, and their first substantial product was a copy of the American Merwin & Hulbert revolver. […]

Book Review: The US M3/M3A1 Submachine Gun by Michael Heidler

July 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 48

It is a bit surprising that there has not previously been a significant book written on the M3 “Grease Gun” submachine gun – but Michael Heidler has corrected that empty space in the firearms literature. […]

Winchester’s Prototype Model 1911 Was Actually a Browning Auto-5

June 28, 2021 Ian McCollum 14

When John Browning developed the self-loading shotgun that would become the Auto-5, he decided to depart from his existing standard business relationship with the Winchester company. Browning had historically sold his patents to Winchester for […]

Book Review: The Guns of John Moses Browning, by Nathan Gorenstein

June 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

John Moses Browning is, without argument, the greatest firearms designer in history. While we have had many brilliant designers who had their names forever connected to guns (Maxim, Luger, Kalashnikov…), Browning invented whole *categories* of […]

Colt Prototype Double Action 1911

June 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

Thanks to Legacy Collectibles, today we have a unique Colt prototype pistol to look at today – a double-action variation of the 1911. Judging by the grips and markings, this was made in the late […]

Prototype Johnson Model R Military Rifle

June 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

When Melvin Johnson’s rifle design was first going through US military testing in 1938, it was set up to use box magazines. These magazines were a problem – they were not quite fully perfected, and […]

The M1 Garand’s Mysterious 7th Round Stoppage

June 10, 2021 Ian McCollum 54

The M1 Garand ran great in testing, but as soon as Springfield began to crank out production-line guns a mysterious problem appeared. If the top round in the clip was on the right-hand side, the […]

The Crazy Guns of the Winchester-Bannerman Pump Action Lawsuit

June 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

Today I’m at the Cody Firearms Museum, taking a look at two of the guns that were used in the court case between Francis Bannerman and the Winchester company – a prototype Magot pump-action rifle […]

An Economy Model WWSD: The Civil Defense Rifle

May 29, 2021 Ian McCollum 46

The initial rollout of the WWSD2020 rifles has been slow, as a shortage in a couple key components (primarily carbon fiber hand guards) has been a bottleneck in completing rifles. However KE Arms and Brownells, […]