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 […]
United States
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 […]
Semiauto pistol
RIA: Norwegian M1914 Kongsberg Colt (Video)
After a series of pistol trials, Norway adopted a copy of the Colt 1911 in .45 ACP as its standard service pistol in 1914. A license was purchased from FN (while under German occupation, interestingly) […]
Uncategorized
Stopping Tanks with Rifles?
Picture the year 1939 – lots of light tanks are out there in various armies, but there isn’t much practical experience on how to stop them in combat. The heavy anti-tank rifles pioneered at the […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Combined Arms
I have seen this image described as being from both Burma and Okinawa – not sure myself which (if either) is correct. The array of armament present is interesting, though – a 1903A3, a 1903A4 […]
Single Shot Rifles
French Remington Rolling Block in 8mm Lebel (Video)
The Remington Rolling Block, introduced in 1866, was one of the most prolific single shot military rifles in the world. The combination of aggressive marketing, low cost, and an excellent design led to Remington selling […]
Reproduction
A Note from Rick Smith of SMG Guns
Just wanted to pass along a cool photo and note I got from Rick Smith (the guy making reproduction FG-42 rifles) this morning: Hi All, Can’t say how this came about past it was almost […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Average Joe
Interestingly, Joe here appears to be armed with a sporting version of the Gewehr 88 – which means those cartridges in his belt will do little good without some en bloc clips. Good thing he’s also […]
Prototype
Grant Hammond .45ACP Trials Pistol
The Grant Hammond .45 pistol is a gun which was too late to take part in the major 1907 US military pistol trials, and which was instead presented proactively to the military in hopes of […]
Single Shot Rifles
How to Get More Rifles Fast: France, WWI
One of the universal misconceptions about World War One on the parts of its combatants was how long it was expected to last. When war broke out, the prevailing assumption on all sides was that […]