United States - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

White-Merrill Experimental Model 1911 Pistol at James D Julia

April 6, 2017 Ian McCollum 17

In the aftermath of their rejection in the US 1907 pistol trials, Joseph White and Samuel Merrill continued working on handgun designs. In 1911, Merrill wrote to the Ordnance Department to inquire about whether they […]

High Standard T3 Prototype: An American Blowback at James D Julia

April 5, 2017 Ian McCollum 53

In 1947, the US Army Air Corps (it had not yet become the Air Force) was assessing its pilot survival equipment, and decided that it wanted a smaller and lighter handgun than the Colt 1911. […]

Joseph White Experimental .38 Caliber Automatic Pistols at James D Julia

April 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 7

Joseph White’s experiments in handgun design did not begin with the White-Merrill 1907 submitted to US handgun trials. In 1905 he submitted a patent (US #888560) for features in these two .38 caliber semiauto prototype pistols. […]

US Test Trials White-Merrill .45 Caliber Pistol at James D Julia

March 29, 2017 Ian McCollum 29

One of the domestic US made pistols entered in the US military pistol trials of 1907 was this White-Merrill design. It is particularly interesting because White and Merrill submitted a manual along with the gun, […]

Knoble .22 Rimfire Prototype Pistol at James D Julia

March 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

W.E. Knoble of Tacoma, Washington is not a well-known gun designer, and was in fact not a successful gun designer. But he did enter a .45 caliber pistol in the 1907 US pistol trials, and […]

A Swarm of Angry Bees: The American 180 at James D Julia

March 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 37

The American 180 is a .22 rimfire submachine gun that fires at 1200-1500 rounds per minute or more, and feeds from drums of 177 to 275 rounds capacity. While it makes a great recreational machine […]

The M2 Carbine: Assault Rifle or Submachine Gun?

March 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 46

The M2 Carbine was a mechanically simple modification of the M1 Carbine to allow fully automatic fire. The fire prototypes of the M1 Carbine had actually been selective-fire guns, but that requirement had been dropped […]

US Test Trials .45 Caliber Knoble Pistol at James D Julia

March 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

One of the domestic American pistols entered in the US 1907 pistol trials was this short recoil, toggle locked design by W.E. Knoble of Tacoma Washington. Knoble submitted two experimental pistols to the trial, one […]

Axel Peterson’s Complicated .22 Luger Conversion at James D Julia

March 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 17

Axel Peterson was a Swedish immigrant who became a very respected gunsmith in the Denver area in the late 1800s, and whose shop remained in business until World War 2. Peterson was best known for […]