Competition
NAA .22 Magnum Mini-Revolver at the BUG Match
I’ve been taking a lot of big pistols to the (alleged) BackUp Gun Match, and I figured it was time to try out something that actually would quality as a back-up gun. So, I got […]
Revolver
Revolver
Deliberately Obsolete: Ottoman S&W New Model No.3 in .44 Henry Rimfire
The S&W No.3 revolver was originally designed for the .44 Henry Rimfire cartridge, but initial US military testing caused it to be changed to a centerfire cartridge, and all serial production would use centerfire ammunition. […]
Antiques
Why The Most Expensive US Martial Pistol Exploded A Lot
The Colt Model 1847 Walker is one of the most valuable of all US military handguns in the collecting community, with examples sometimes breaking seven figures. However, the Walker was in many ways a remarkable […]
Crude Copies
Spanish Patent Quirks: Anitua Y Charola’s Copy of the Merwin & Hulbert
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. […]
Revolver
New Beretta-Imported MR73 at the Range
The Manurhin MR73 has always been one of the very best combat revolvers made, but they have been hard to find here in the US. That has now changed, as the Beretta group purchased Chapuis, […]
Antiques
Japan’s First Military Revolver: the S&W No.3
When Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1853, he began a serious upheaval of Japanese life. Among other things, the insular Japanese society had been virtually the only nation to ever successfully implement gun […]
Competition
Back-Up Gun Match Teaser with an MR-73
It came out recently that the Beretta Group has purchased Chapuis, the French manufacturer of the legendary MR73 revolvers. A bunch of people have asked me if I’m getting one of the Beretta-imported guns, and […]
Revolver
Portugal’s Model 1886 Trooper’s Model Abadie Revolver
Isaac Abadie’s gate-loading system was a significant improvement in revolver technology in the 19th century, and Portugal was one of the first to adopt it. The initial Portuguese model was adopted in 1878 specifically for […]
Antiques
Savage & North “Figure 8” Revolver
Designed and patented in 1856 by Henry North (the grandson of company founder Simeon North), approximately 450 of these revolvers were made between 1856 and 1859. A first prototype was sent to the Washington Arsenal […]
Antiques
Salvatore Mazza Gold-Inlaid Percussion Collier Revolver
Before Samuel Colt popularized the mechanical connection between the revolver hammer and cylinder, the revolvers being made were manually operated. This example is a copy of a third type Collier (that is to say, a […]