In the years prior to World War I, the US Army Ordnance Department was already investigating the possibility of adopting a self-loading service rifle, even as the 1903 Springfield rifle was being adopted. In 1904 […]
The Vahan is a rifle designed by Armenian inventor Vahan Minasyan. It uses a lever-delayed blowback mechanism similar to the San Cristobal or FAMAS, and is designed for the 5.45x39mm cartridge using standard AK74 magazines […]
Okay, to be precise I should say that it is W.B. McCarty’s idea for a peculiar revolver. We know nothing about Mr. McCarty beyond the fact that in 1909 he was granted a patent for […]
With the failure of the No.4 Bergmann 1896 to attract military interest (which couldn’t have been too difficult to predict), Bergmann and Schmeisser realized that the straight blowback mechanism of the 1896 model pistol would […]
As Theodore Bergmann and Louis Schmeisser embarked on the process of perfecting and improving their production pistols, they used a numbering system to identify the different models that were made. There are also model years […]
Today we are starting the story of the Bergmann automatic pistol – one of the early successful self-loading handguns, and one which led to a less prominent firearms dynasty than some other big names of […]
We all know of Hiram Maxim for his groundbreaking work in machine gun development – but not many people are familiar with his automatic pistol designs. In fact, this is at least partly because the […]
In 1897, John M. Browning was awarded four consecutive patents, which covered a big swath of possible automatic pistol designs. The one we’re looking at today (pointed out to me by Rufus at SHOT – […]
The Sjorgen rifle and shotgun designs definitely fit the description of Forgotten Weapons. Developed in Sweden, the Sjogren system used a fixed barrel and recoil-operated action in both a 12 gauge shotgun and .30 caliber […]
The Mondragon rifle, designed by Mexican Manuel Mondragon, was the first semiauto rifle adopted by a national military. It was not particularly successful beyond passing that bar, but it did show the way of things […]
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