Jonathan gets hands on with one of the wackier combination weapons seen in this series. The object is one of a number of patented combination weapons by Parisian gunmaker, Dumonthier & Chartron, that exist in the museum's collection.

Parisian gunmaker, Nicholas Bouillet is the designer behind this ornate weapon, featuring two steel box covers to literally 'keep your powder dry' and avoid misfired in wet conditions.

At the end of the 19th century, cycling was booming in Europe. Unfortunately for enthusiasts of two-wheeled conveyance, so was rabies in dogs. A solution to this problem was found in the 'Velo-dog', a French/Belgian self defence revolver that gives us a fascinating peek into the perils of pedalli...

Revolutionary France faced a problem: How could it mass produce cheap firearms with a shortage of heavy machinery and skilled gunsmiths? The answer: this thing.

This week's obscure firearm stems from the French city of Marseille in the mid-19th century. Made by the Viallon family, these weapons catch the eye as a result of their modern looking grip. Jonathan Ferguson explains why they look so different compared to other percussion pistols at the time.

While French military planners debated which pattern of rifling they wanted to adopt in the mid-19th century, they released the 1853/67 Tabatière as a smooth bore, percussion cap weapon with the intention of adding in the rifling at a later date.

Designed to keep you safe from Victorian pick-pockets, Jacques Edmond Turbiaux's 'Le Protector' offered portability while still packing a punch.

This crazy looking pistol produced by Parisian gunmakers Lefaucheux in 1925 has 2 barrels and could fire a remarkable 30-shots.

Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/capandball The second part is about the history and comparison of the French 1777 and the Austrian 1798 M musket. If you would like to support our work, please buy something from our handcrafetd products: http://kapszli.hu/en/termek-kategoria/capandba...

Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/capandball Dear All, this is the 1st of a 3 part series about skirmish fire in the Napoleonic wars. This first part is dealing with the basics, the second part will be about the history of the French 1777 musket and the Austrian 1798 musket, and the 3...

Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/capandball Shooting the French 1777 flintlock cavalry pistol was something that was on my bucket list for a long time. This martial pistol plays an important part in firearms history being one of the very first models to have a separate frame. This fi...

Damaged present on this incredible object might have actually saved a soldier's life. Jonathan examines how a French poilu, out of ammunition was likely saved by his RSC Fusil Automatique M1917 taking a bullet.

The Guycot chain pistol was the development of two Frenchmen, Henri Guenot and Paulin Gay in 1879. It is chambered for a unique 6.5mm caseless rocket ball type cartridge in which the base of the projectile is hollowed out and contains the propellant powder and a primer. Upon firing, the entirely ...

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 literally millions of Rolling Block rifles to a huge number of military force...

Devisme of Paris was one of the early manufacturers of a true centerfire cartridge revolver, with production of this model beginning in 1858 or 1859. This is a bottom-break 11mm, 6-shot revolver, made to a very high standard of quality. Devisme also made a variety of other guns, including indoor ...

We often hear the phrase "hand-fitted" in regards to either really finely made guns, or ones made before the the advent of truly interchangeable parts. Well, I recently had a firsthand experience with hand-fitted parts, and thought it would make an interesting video. i suspect a lot of people tod...

Patented in 1896, this is one of several models of unique pocket pistols designed by Paul Brun-Latrige. He was a manager of the Manufrance company located in St. Etienne France, a large mail-order catalog company that produced a wide variety of products. Early versions of this pistol used a ring ...

The most popular shotgun made by the French Darne company was their 1897 sliding breech side-by-side, which saw sales and use worldwide. Before that, however, Darne invented a rotating breechblock system - first a series of external hammer varieties in the 1880s and then this hammerless Model 189...

The Le Français was a staple of Manufrance production, being first designed in 1912 and produced until the late 1960s. This example is in .32ACP caliber, which was only made for the commercial market in the 1950s and 60s (after the cartridge was out of service with the French military and thus ci...

France began working on developing military self-loading rifles virtually as soon as the 1886 Lebel was adopted, and they would pursue a pretty elaborate series of trials right up to World War I. One series was developed by Etienne Meunier at the Artillery Technical Section using gas operated mec...

The Le Français pistol was designed by Etienne Mimard in 1912, and listed in the Manufrance catalog in 1914. It was a .25ACP (6.35mm Browning) civilian defensive pistol for pocket carry, and designed with elements specifically for that purpose. It had a long double action trigger instead of a man...

The French FAMAS was one of the first bullpup rifles to be adopted and built in large numbers by a military power. It was adopted by France in 1978 at right about the same time as the Steyr AUG was being adopted by the Austrian military. Bullpup rifles offered a short overall length without sacri...

The Bernardon-Martin was the first commercially viable semiautomatic pistol manufactured in France; a .32ACP (7.65mm Browning) striker-fired pocket pistol competing with the FN Browning 1899/1900. The first model was introduced in 1907 with a fixed magazine, which rather quickly was changed to a ...