United States - Forgotten Weapons

Burgess Folding Shotgun at RIA

April 16, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

Andrew Burgess was an extremely prolific gun designer who gets very little recognition today. One of has particularly interesting weapons was a pump-action, folding shotgun. Because Spencer already had a patent on the use of […]

Allen & Wheelock Lipfire Navy Revolver at RIA

April 13, 2015 Ian McCollum 12

Not all companies responded in the same way to the development of cartridge revolvers and the Rollin White patent. Allen & Wheelock, for example, decided to simply ignore the patent and make revolvers for their […]

Collected Works of John Pedersen

April 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 8

John Pedersen was one of the more prolific and successful gun designers in American history, having even been described by John Moses Browning as “the greatest gun designer in the world”. And yet, many people […]

Prototype Optic on an M1 at RIA

April 10, 2015 Ian McCollum 6

In the years after WWII, several countries experimented with general-use optical sights on service rifles. The Germans had pioneered the concept with the ZF-41 long eye relief optic during the war (and the ZF-4, to […]

Grant Hammond .32ACP Prototype at RIA

April 7, 2015 Ian McCollum 33

Grant Hammond is best known (to the extent he is known at all) for a .45 caliber pistol submitted to US military trials in 1917 and 1918. This pistol is a proof of concept prototype […]

Merwin & Bray .42 Caliber Cupfire Revolver at RIA

April 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

One of the many revolver systems designed to work around the Rollin White patent was the Pant’s Patent cupfire revolver, made by Merwin & Bray in several calibers (.28, .30, and .42). This particular example […]

Duplex .22-06 M1 Garand at RIA

April 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 31

During the 1950s, the US Army ran a series of programs trying to find a better solution for infantry rifles than firing single semiauto bullets. These projects (including SALVO, SALVO II, and SPIW) would include […]

Colt “Cloverleaf” House Revolver at RIA

April 2, 2015 Ian McCollum 11

The Colt House revolver, better known as the Cloverleaf (and sometimes as the Jim Fisk Model) was the first revolver Colt designed from the ground up for rimfire ammunition. It entered the market in 1871, […]

Pedersen GY at RIA: A Copy of the M1 Garand

March 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 27

Two of the scarcest and least known of John Pedersen’s designs are the Model GY and GX rifles, which are basically copies of the production model of the M1 Garand. After losing out in the […]

Elgin Cutlass Pistol at RIA

March 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

In an effort to take advantage of Jim Bowie’s popularity, George Elgin patented a huge knife attached to a single shot percussion pistol in 1837. The idea was simply to offer a dual-purpose weapon, and […]