United States - Forgotten Weapons

Suppressed OSS M3 Grease Gun and Bushmaster Booby Trap Trigger

May 9, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

Today, we have a chance to take a look at a suppressed M3 “Grease Gun”, as purchased and issued by the Office of Strategic Services (the OSS; predecessor to the CIA). Thanks to its readily […]

Shattuck “Unique” Hideout Squeeze Pistol

April 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

C.S. Shattuck’s “Unique” squeeze pistol is one of the last of this sort of sightless, underpowered hideout guns. Its core patent was actually filed by Oscar Mossberg, who worked for Shattuck before setting up his […]

Miller Pill-Lock Revolving Rifle

April 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

John and James Miller of Rochester New York designed and built this rifle, which is an example of an intermediate revolving firearm. It comes after the flintlock Collier guns, but before Sam Colt’s Paterson demonstrated […]

Ljutic Space Gun

April 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 12

Al Ljutic (LEW-tic) was quite the interesting character, from his early days as a professional boxer to his selection for the US 1940 Olympic rifle team, to his eventual primary business making excellent high-end trap […]

Remington-Rider Magazine Pistol

April 17, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

One of many firearms developed for Remington by Joseph Rider was the Rider Magazine Pistol – a manually operated 5-shot repeater chambered for the .32 extra-short rimfire cartridge (the same round used by the Chicago […]

Lamson & Ball Carbine: Henry Meets Spencer (Sort of)

April 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 11

The Lamson & Ball repeating carbine was one of the last Civil War arms manufactured, as an initial order of 1,000 units was placed in June of 1864 but not actually delivered until April and […]

M3 and M3A1 Grease Guns

April 14, 2017 Ian McCollum 67

The US began looking for a cost-effective replacement for the Thompson submachine gun in 1942, and the “Grease Gun” was the result. Designed by George Hyde (a noted firearms designer at the time) and Frederick […]

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 […]

Springfield .22 Rimfire 1911 Conversions at James D Julia

April 10, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

Unnumbered Slide Slide #24 Almost immediately after adopting the Colt/Browning Model 1911 pistol, the US military requested a .22LR conversion for training purposes. In 1913 Springfield Arsenal developed a conversion, but it was woefully inadequate. […]

A Connoisseur’s Pistol: Devel’s Full House S&W 59 Conversion at James D Julia

April 9, 2017 Ian McCollum 21

Produced by gunsmith Charles Kelsey, the Devel “Full House” package was a conversion of the Smith & Wesson Model 39 or Model 59 pistol (the 39 was a single stack and the 59 a double […]