Known for his notorious litigiousness, Samuel Colt would have likely hit the roof, had he seen this copy of the famous Colt Navy revolver. We don't know if we ever did, but what we do know is that this beautifully crafted weapon was heavily influenced by one of history's most recognisable designs.

The Royal Armouries has a rich history of commissioning weapons from the finest fabricators in the world. Historically, we would have procured and protected the arms of the ruling monarchy. This tradition continued into the 21st century when we commissioned 'The Millennium Gun', a big-game rifle ...

Homemade weapons are often the result of forces of insurrection or rebellion who don't have a ready access to firearms. These ones in particular would not have been particularly accurate or effective on the battlefield but there wide usage hints at a greater value than mere ballistics alone, as J...

The M16 and AR-15 naming debate is one that thrives on the internet, so much so that our Keeper of Firearms and Artillery has decided to weigh in.

The Sturmgewehr is no stranger to WITW, providing Jonathan with a fair amount of 'emotional support' over the years. This week, Jonathan gets to grips with an extremely rare example with a radically different gas system that only made the STG-44's already excellent design a little bit worse.

Made in secrecy in the Enfield's Royal Small Arms Factory, this multi-purpose firearm has a intriguing history and design, making it a suitable addition to What is this Weapon.

Imagine Jonathan's surprise when, fresh after seeing Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga, he spots that the revolver used in the film is not only a LeMat but has some very familiar serial markings...

Sporting both a revolver and shotgun barrel, this multi-use revolver saw action in the American Civil War ...

As world war raged in Europe, Britain’s boffins looked to their existing arsenal of small arms for special service weapons to be used by its Commandos and the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Developing a suppressed sub machine gun was high on the priorities list and this ultra rare Thompson w...

Following on from our Knight's Armament KS-1 video last month, Jonathan takes a look at another firearm from the Project Hunter trials: the Heckler & Koch HK416 A5.

Project Hunter was launched by the UK to select a new Alternative Individual Weapon for select branches of the British Army, such a...

Inspired by our friends at C&Rsenal, Jonathan has rooted through our expansive collection to find different patterns of the Webley Improved Government Revolver, including it's very first iteration.

The SA80 is, no surprise, not a stranger to this series but this week we get to showcase the latest & greatest iteration of it's hotly-debated legacy: the L85A3.

Jonathan will reveal all in this week's episode of #WhatisthisWeapon

Most modern revolvers can trace their lineage all the way back to Colt's designs of the 1840's, but not these...

In this episode of Up In Arms, Curatorial Assistant Christian Wellard is looking at a beautiful set of early percussion revolvers belonging to King Ferdinand II of Sicily.

Along with examples like the wooden G11, wooden fencing AK and PhotoSniper, we're adding to our prestigious group of weapons in this series that are probably not *technically* weapons.

However, it's small but recognisable role in pop-culture makes it a worthy inclusion.

And it looks cool too.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France which took place on 6th June 1944. From landing on the beaches of Normandy, the Allies would push the Nazi war machine and breach Hitler's Atlantic Wall.

To commemorate this, we're collaborating with IWM to release a sp...

This year marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France which took place on 6th June 1944. From landing on the beaches of Normandy, the Allies would push the Nazi war machine and breach Hitler's Atlantic Wall.

To commemorate this, we're collaborating with Imperial War Museum...

From Green Meanie, to ‘three men in a shed’, to gamers running wild with the ‘AWP’ –Accuracy International and their L96A1 created the modern template for sniper rifles to this day.

Less well-known, as Jonathan shows in this week’s episode, is the integrally suppressed variant.

Books mentioned...

A few weeks ago, Jonathan as he often does was perusing the web and saw a White Star Line Webley revolver in the collection of a fellow museum.

"That's a very cool thing," he thought to himself. "I wonder if we have one of those?"

As it turns out we do. We know what you're all wondering: Which ...

50.cal is a calibre that often packs a punch, especially when it belongs to a precision rifle.

This week Jonathan breaks down the latest offerings of a modern high-powered firearm for long range applications.

It's a rare sight on this series to see Jonathan left scratching his head.

But that's exactly what happened when our Keeper of Firearms examined the curious curvature of the grips of these flintlock pistols.

The world of early 20th-century firearms dawned a new era as revolvers began to be swept away by higher magazine capacity and faster reloading pistols.

The C96 exploded in popularity with shooters worldwide, sparking a frenzy of variants – some favoured, others... well, let's just say ‘less so’...

Designed to provide US aircrews with enough punch to defend themselves in a pinch and potentially survive behind enemy lines, the CAR-15 had all the hallmarks of a successful design.

But the project was shelved and this example is 1 of only 10 to survive, entering the museum collection under so...

What do you get when you combine a Micro Uzi magazine, an Australian fixed rifle stock (in this instance) and a well recognised American firearm? A British M10.

Watch this week as Jonathan delves into the history of this firearm which includes a tangle with the James Bond film 'Casino Royale'.

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Six firearms go head-to-head in this week's episode, as Forgotten Weapon's Ian McCollum and our very own Keeper of Firearms & Artillery Jonathan Ferguson battle it out to prove they can find the slightly weirder firearms in our collection.

If you had free rein in the National Firearms Centre, w...