Select-fire Rifles
MAS 62 Testing Results
Thanks to reader Thibaud, we have a translation of some of the testing results from the French military trial of the FN FAL and MAS Model 62. Thanks, Thibaud! The documents tell us that the […]
France
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Fusil d’Assaut
A Chasseur à pied of the 19e Battalion on the road between Breteuil and Flers, Somme. 10th of April 1918. This Battalion had been on foot after heavy fighting in order to occupy the village […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Chassepot Needle Rifle at RIA (Video)
The Chassepot was the French answer to the Dreyse needle rifle, and also the only other needlefire rifle to see major military service. It was adopted in 1866 and served as a primary French infantry […]
Manual machine guns
Reffye Mitrailleuse (Video)
The mitrailleuse was one of the early types of mechanical machine gun, along with the Gatling, Gardner, Nordenfelt, and others. “Mitrailleuse” is actually a general name for a volley gun – one with many barrels […]
Anti-Tank Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Antitank Rifle
German soldier in France with a captured Polish Maroszek wz.35 anti-tank rifle.
Percussion
Pinfire LeMat Grapeshot Revolver at RIA
Colonel Jean Alexandre LeMat was a native Frenchman who emigrated to the United States and in 1856 secured a patent for a “grapeshot revolver”, which had both a 9-shot .42 caliber cylinder and a 20-gauge […]
Book review
Book Review: Unique Pistols by Robert Adair
I recently became aware of a new book published by Robert L. Adair Jr. on the subject of the “Unique” brand pistols, made by Manufacturer d’Armes des Pyrénées Françaises. Today, the most commonly recognized Unique […]
Revolver
Apache Knuckleduster Revolver at RIA (Video)
The “Apache” was a combination knife, brass knuckles, and revolver made by several companies in Belgium and France, which became associated with a group of street thugs in Paris around the turn of the century. […]
Semiauto Rifles
Mud testing: M1A, MAS 49/56, AR
I’m at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas today (and the rest of the week), and when you read this I will probably be desperately trying to wade through the sea of AR15s in search […]
Select-fire Rifles
French Police Mini-14
Current events are not typically something that Forgotten Weapons is going to comment on, but the recent unpleasantness in France has brought to light a firearm that folks may find interesting – the Mousqueton AMD. […]