One thing I have not really thought about before is how best to carry extra cartridges for a Volcanic repeater. They are self-contained, but still rather fragile compared to today’s ammunition (and they were originally packaged in metal boxes). Well, at least one person clearly did put some thoug...

At the suggestion of Colonel J.C. Kelton (Assistant Adjutant-General, Military Division of the Pacific and Department of California), the US Army adopted a 20ga shotgun version of the Trapdoor Springfield in 1881. Built at a truly minimal cost using 1873 actions and condemned .58 caliber barrels ...

After the failure of the SIG 530 rifle (a gas operated, roller locked design), SIG looked for a much simpler rifle design, in both operation and manufacture. What they came up with was fundamentally AK-like, with a two-lug rotating bolt in a very AK-like carrier and a long stroke gas piston. The ...

Rollin White was the inventor who patented the bored-through cylinder in the US, and sold an exclusive right to this patent to Smith & Wesson. They would use it as the basis for their own work with self-contained cartridges (White’s patent was originally intended as a way to load paper cartridges...

The Model 1899 was the last pattern of the Remington Lee Military Rifle, following the models of 1879, 1882, and 1885. In this final guise, it was redesigned to handle new smokeless powder ammunition, with a new detachable bolt head that included two additional locking lugs. Only a few thousand w...

On May 20, 1826 the United States Congress formally presented Model 1819 Hall rifles with personalized silver plaques to the 20 members of Aikin’s Volunteers, for their “Gallantry at the Siege of Plattsburg”. The Volunteers were a group of 20 boys, aged 14-17, from the Plattsburg Academy who join...

The first semiauto commercial AK rifles to enter the US were Finnish Valmets. These established a US collector interested but while excellent in quality, they did not quite fit the visual pattern of the classic Sino-Soviet military Kalashnikov. The first of those to find its way into the US was t...

In 1949, North Korea began production of a domestic copy of the Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun. Designated the M49, it used a blend of Russian and Chinese characteristics, but was mechanically identical to the standard model, distinguishable only by its markings and its slightly oval-shaped stock ...

Made by one Francis Lebeda, this is an Elgin classic pocket watch with the internal mechanism removed and replaced with a single-shot pistol mechanism. It fires a 4.5mm BB using just a No.11 percussion cap, which allows it to avoid NFA regulation as an “Any Other Weapon”, as it does not use fixed...

The Korriphila HSP-701 is a boutique luxury pistols designed by Edgar Budischowsky in the late 1970s, which entered production in 1984. It uses a fixed barrel and roller-delayed blowback action with a single roller below the line of the bore. Available in a variety of calibers per customer order ...

Samuel Colt disliked the idea of a double action revolver, considering the idea to be wasteful of ammunition and likely to be fragile. However, he passed away in 1862, and by 1873 double action Webley (and other British make) pocket revolvers were starting to become popular in the United States. ...

The Double Eagle was Colt’s foray into the DA/SA pistol market in the 1990s. It was effectively just a standard 1911 with a Seecamp-type double action trigger mechanism and a modernized (for the time) trigger guard profile. Available in .45ACP, 10mm, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .38 Super, it never did sell...

The most-produced Colt percussion revolver was not one of the big sexy Army models, but rather the humble 1849 Pocket. It was first introduced as the Model 1848 Baby Dragoon, in .31 caliber. By 1850, the design had changed to what became known as the Model 1849 Pocket, with a round-backed trigger...

Spain adopted the CETME Modelo B rifle for service in 1958. These early rifles were chambered for the reduced-pressure 7.62mm CETME cartridge, and had a few other unique features. Some of these were made with a metal handguard with a folding bipod, and some were also made with a top-folding stock...

In 1863, the Bilharz, Hall, & Co firm of Pittsylvania Court House, Virginia (now Chatham VA) received a contract to make 1,000 examples of a simple percussion cavalry carbine modeled after the US Model 1855 carbine. They would work until the end of 1864, but only make a total of 750-800 of them. ...

In 1880, the South Australian Police service was introduced to the Smith & Wesson No3 New Model revolver at the Melbourne Exhibition. They took a liking to the design, and promptly ordered 250 of them, nickel plated with 7” barrels and detachable shoulder stocks (as well as 30 more with 6.5” barr...

Alchemy Arms was a company formed in 1991 making parts and accessories for both the Glock and 1911 platforms. Its founder, William McMoore, got the idea to combine elements of both pistols to make the perfect hybrid. It was essentially a Glock slide and striker-fired system attached to a 1911 sty...

This palm-squeezer type pistol was designed by Catello Tribuzio (sometimes spelled Trabuzio) of Turin around 1890. It is a very simple design, including a clever dual purpose ejector that also acts as the sear for firing. This example has a 7.65mm bore, although sometimes these are described as 8...

Good inventors are always trying out new solutions to problems. Those solutions may or may not work (hence Thomas Edison’s 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb), but the attempts can often give us interesting insight into the designer’s intentions. In this case, we have a toolroom S&W No3 revolve...

Today, for your consideration and appreciation, a pair of late 16th century Saxon wheel lock pistols.

Henry Peabody was one of the less-recognized American firearms designers. A machinist from the age of 17, he worked at the Watertown Arsenal and eventually took a job as foreman for the Spencer rifle company in 1862. That same year he patented a dropping-block rifle action, and began working on d...

When the US adopted the Krag rifle in 1892, a remarkably efficient and simple decision was made regarding its bayonet. The old spike socket bayonet was clearly obsolete; all the modern European armies were adopting knife bayonets; the Swiss knife bayonet was a really good example; so the US would...

John Hall designed the first breechloading rifle to be used by the United States military, and the first breechloader issued in substantial numbers by any military worldwide. His carbines would later be the first percussion arms adopted by any military force. Hall developed a breechloading flintl...

The Venditti pistols are copies of the Volcanic made in southern Italy in the mid to late 1870s - well after the rocket ball style of ammunition had become obsolete. Pietro Venditti’s first patent was in 1872 for a two-barreled rocket-ball-firing pistol. He followed that with an 1875 patent for a...