Semiauto Rifles
RIA: Soviet SVT-38 Self-Loading Rifle
A lot of people think that the US was the only country in World War II to mass-issue a semiautomatic infantry rifle, but that isn’t true. While the US was the only country to issue […]
Rifles
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA: Predecessor to the Mosin – the Russian Berdan II
Before adopting the M1891 Mosin-Nagant, the Russian Empire (like most major militaries) used a large-bore single-shot rifle as its standard infantry rifle. In this case, a .42-caliber rifle designed by American General Hiram Berdan (yes, […]
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA: Gewehr 29/40 Mauser
Over the next couple weeks we will be looking at several Polish firearms, and the first one is today: the G29/40. When German forces overran the arms factory in Radom, Poland, they captured in nearly […]
Percussion
RIA: Porter Turret Rifle
The Porter was one of the few turret rifles ever put into serial production. Turret rifles are similar in principle to revolvers, but they is a cylinder with radial chambers (like the spokes of a […]
Lever Action Rifles
RIA: An Introduction to Early Lever-Action Rifles
We’ve all seen lever action rifles galore in movies about the old west, and most of us have handled and shot a bunch of them as well. But do you know where they came from? […]
Conversion
Smoothbore Spencer: Tracing a Mystery Gun
Today’s firearm is not a normal gun; it is a conversion of a Spencer into a shotgun. My question is, what path did this weapon travel? What did it begin as, and how did it […]
Lever Action Rifles
RIA: Russian Winchester 1895 in 7.62x54R
The Winchester 1895 was the last of Winchester’s lever-action rifles, and has an interesting place in a couple different parts of world history. On the one hand, the 1895 in .405 Winchester caliber is known […]
Single Shot Rifles
RIA: Imperial Gewehr 71 (Video)
The Gewehr 1871 was the first rifle adopted by the newly-formed German state after its unification at the end of the Franco-Prussian War. It replaced the decades-old Dreyse needle rifles, and fired an 11x60mm black […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Prototype Italian MBT 1925 Straight-Pull Rifle (Video)
Note: This video was filmed over a year ago, but I have been holding it in anticipation of the rifle going to auction. That doesn’t seem to be happening, so I’m posting the video now. […]
Prototype
SIG KE-9 & M29A Prototype Rifles (Video)
The SIG KE-9 and M29A were several in a series of developmental rifles made by SIG in Switzerland and designed by Pal Kiraly. These ultimately found no commercial or military sales, although the related KE-7 […]