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...

The Russian government was the largest purchaser of Smith & Wesson No.3 revolvers, buying more than 300,000 in total. These purchases began with guns bought directly from S&W, also included guns purchased from Ludwig Loewe in Germany, and by the 1880s, the Tula Arsenal in Russia had tooled up to ...

Before modern revolvers, the pepperbox was a popular low-cost defensive firearm. Between the invention and patenting of proper revolvers and their widespread affordable availability, a transitional style of pepperbox grew up, particularly in the UK. These guns used a paperboy style action, with t...

Ross Rudd was born in Toronto in 1915, but his family moved to Springfield Massachusetts in 1917, and he would grow up there. Interested in guns and gun design from an early age, Rudd went to work for Savage in 1940, where he was involved in Lee Enfield production and the simplification of the Th...

The Colt 1902 Military model was a more popular pistol than some folks might expect, and remained in production well after the introduction of the various .45ACP caliber Colts. It was also rather popular in Mexico - shipments to Mexican dealers accounted for about 2400 guns, roughly 13% of total ...

Hopkins & Allen was founded in 1867 based on the factory of the defunct Bacon Manufacturing Company. Its founding partners were pretty savvy businessmen, and would become quite successful in the 1870s and 1880s working as an OEM parts manufacturer for a variety of brands (including Merwin & Hulbe...

In the immediate aftermath of World War One, it appears that the French government purchased 2,000 Mauser C96 pistols for use by occupation forces who were to be stationed in Germany. While the direct link to the French military is missing, a sale of 2,000 C96 pistols through German dealer Albrec...

When the US military held its automatic pistol trials in 1907 (actually beginning in December 1906…), Colt submitted a Model 1905 pistol. Despite what would be considered today to be significant problems, it was judged one of the best guns tested. A few changes were requested (more vertical eject...

Even while the field trials of the Colt 1907 were ongoing, John Browning was improving his pistol. With the Model 1909 he designed the single-link barrel system that would prove to be the core of the final 1911 design. The 1909 model also included an enlarged grip safety, a slide release integrat...

Andrew Burgess is an underappreciated arms designer, and his Model 1878 (aka the Whitney-Burgess-Morse) had the potential to be a very serious competition to Winchester. It was chambered for the .45-70 Government cartridge, and unlike the Winchester 1876 Burgess’ design could handle to power of t...

01:09 - Will Headstamp publish English translations of foreign-language books?
05:34 - What are some things to look for in WWI/WWII gun collecting?
14:18 - Essential burger toppings
14:57 - Good vs poor quality gun books
19:07 - Support weapons in .280 British
23:09 - What would I like the n...

0:00:47 - What happened to the "Worst AK I've Ever Seen"?
0:02:23 - My filming logistics
0:06:47 - PDW vs SMG?
0:08:54 - Do I still do gunsmithing and restoration?
0:10:29 - Did France ever make a 9mm FAMAS?
0:12:09 - What would I do to make a modernized M1 Carbine?
0:14:24 - Did the Britis...

01:15 - 20th Century weapon for medieval battle
02:44 - Viability of a reproduction repeating flintlock like a Lorenzoni or Kalthoff?
05:21 - Hypothetical new gunpowder twice as powderful as today's
08:00 - Early CMMG delayed systems. Guest answer by CMMG!
13:10 - WWSD 2020 content on Forgott...

00:59 - Is there a future in balanced recoil type systems?
02:05 - Does 8mm Kurz have a place today?
03:44 - Was there ever an M1 Carbine in .223?
06:05 - How is Floatplane working out?
08:30 - Is the gunsmithing profession in decline?
12:17 - Reprint of Chassepot to FAMAS
14:10 - Will the ...

Thanks to Jonathan Ferguson for joining me today to answer our second-to-last question!

00:20 - My most unfortunate haircut
00:46 - Why do modern rifle cartridges still have a slight taper?
01:38 - What do I say to critics who say I'm wrong or a jerk?
04:04 - Rimfire .22 rifles that are bot...

0:00:27 - Followup: Restoring the Elbonian military
0:05:48 - How to learn about pricing of collectible firearms
0:09:57 - Why are German small arms so highly desired?
0:13:32 - Pick a gun in a new caliber
0:15:32 - Why not recoil spring above barrel for reduced recoil?
0:17:34 - Why aren't ...

00:35 - Why are reliable magazines so hard?
05:07 - Why didn't Finland buy surplus American Mosin Nagant rifles?
09:15 - Where does the Hollywood ricochet sound come from?
10:17 - Why was sporterizing popular and why isn't it anymore?
12:59 - What has been my most difficult gun to get working...

00:45 - Rifles with 3-dot pistol style sights?
01:56 - Why not more short-barreled machine guns, if barrel length doesn't impact accuracy?
03:53 - Is bolt/carrier mass important in a roller delayed system?
04:45 - How do I maintain my gun collection?
06:01 - Recoil reduction in rifles
07:20 ...

0:00:21 - Do I only drink Scotch?
0:02:03 - Belgian semiauto rifle at Chosin Reservoir?
0:03:54 - Do patent laws improve firearms design?
0:05:49 - Who do I like when I read fiction?
0:06:14 - Would it have been easier to make a reproduction StG45 than StG44?
0:08:33 - FG-42 controllability ...

Today I'm out at the range with three examples of Walther PPK pistols - one in .22 rimfire, one in .32 ACP, and one in .380 ACP. While the .22 is along for the comparison, I am mostly curious about how the .32 and .380 will compare to each other in practical shooting. The .32 will have less recoi...

Today we are taking a look at the history of the monolithic polymer AR-15 lower receiver. By "monolithic" I mean a design which integrates the receiver, grip, and buttstock all into a single unit, rather than the various attempts to simply make a standard AR receiver out of polymer. This is impor...