The FN MAG is one of the top 3 machine guns in the world today, according to Jonathan. In 2010, Barrett began a programme of improving the already excellent design focusing on reducing its 27.6lbs of weight. Remarkably, the designers managed to drop this by almost a quarter. Jonathan explains how...

What’s better than a single-barrelled Lancaster rifle? A four-barrelled one, obviously. Well, at least His Highness Maharana Shree Wakhatsingji must have thought so because that’s exactly what he got with this hefty four-barrelled sporting rifle.

Made by Charles Lancaster’s successor Henry Thor...

One of several attempts by British handgun manufacturers in the 1980s to reignite the British handgun industry was the Victory Arms MC5. Attempting to appeal to the masses with its ambidextrous controls and rapid ability to switch between calibres, it still couldn’t quite break into the market do...

Described by Jonathan as an 18th century Winchester repeater, this Lorenzoni repeater pistol combines intricate craftmanship with an ingenious mechanism for reloading on the fly. Join our Keeper of Firearms and Artillery as he delves into how this remarkable weapon functions, but also who would h...

This remarkably well made weapon was purchased by Henry VIII from Italy to arm his forces 500 years ago. The arquebus is similar to examples found on the Mary Rose and can trace its roots back to a gun making region of Italy with high repute.

To mark the 100th episode of What is this Weapon, the Royal Armouries hosted a special live episode at our flagship museum in Leeds in the UK. Befitting such a prestigious landmark for the series, our 100th weapon is one of Jonathan's all time favourites and has a back story immersed in the stale...

At the end of the Second World War, Britain looked to modernise it's small arms arsenal. With the Vickers MG a reliable but ageing weapon and the Bren limited to its 30-round magazine capacity, a more modern, belt-fed, 'general purpose machine gun' was sought. Despite excellent existing designs s...

Jonathan Ferguson pulls another obscure weapon out of our stores, focusing this week on a Colt AR-15 variant sent to the UK for testing by the British Army. Britain was looking to re-equip its infantry squad with a full package of AR-type rifles, with this example with heavier barrell and bi-pod ...

Join Jonathan Ferguson as he examines the third instalment in our Sterling assault rifle series: the SAR80. Attempting to create a legally different yet ultimately still a copy of the AR18, Sterling made huge strides from its predecessor, the LAR. But, was it enough to achieve commercial success?

Experts at the time called it: 'Clumsy ill-balanced and altogether unpleasant to handle.' Charming.

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

Few weapons, if any have had a greater impact on history in a shorter space of time than the Minié rifle. Introduced in a limited capacity in British service during the Crimean War (1853-56). The Minié with its revolutionary ammunition had a devastating impact against Russian troops during the co...

This is very much an anti-riot gun that's had two lives. That of which it was intended from it's development in the late 70s, and then it's popular culture life as a wholly different weapon altogether. Join Jonathan as he examines both of these stories as well as some incredible promotional foota...

The unreliability and issues with reload associated with new pistols in British service like the Enfield Marks I & II meant many officers preferred the large calibre Lancaster for a sidearm.

When Jonathan first joined the museum 13 years ago, we came across a weapon of unknown design, maker and origin sat on one of the many racks of the Royal Armouries' stores. Having always wanted to know more about it, he believes to finally have some answers.

Soon after Prussia revealed it's ground-breaking, bolt-action Dreyse 'needle rifle', RSAF Enfield were hard at work making their own variant. This super rare weapon was the first official bolt-action rifle used by the British military.

The Sterling Story draws to a close with its final production rifle, the SAR 87. Building on the more commercially successful SAR 80, the later variant came too late to ultimately save the Sterling Armament Company from going out of business.

In 1908, Britain sought to improve its venerable .303 cartridge by making the bullet lighter and faster. That combined with the 1910 trial for a new rifle which led to the Enfield Pattern 1913.

Post-war Britain was looking for a new service pistol and turned to the tried and test German Walther P38 for inspiration. However, this new weapon's designer, Marion Karol Jurek decided to make a few changes. Jonathan Ferguson explains.

The mid-nineteenth century saw an explosion in small arms technologies. At a time when Samuel Colt was selling his now famous revolvers, the Hammond was developed as a higher calibre alternative. The marketing materials of the Hammond Patent made out that this pistol was the best in the world at ...

A true unicorn of a weapon this week as Jonathan attempts to make sense of one of the strangest weapons we've featured on this channel so far. Overcomplicated and fundamentally flawed, the Kretz rifle was almost immediately obsoleted by superior designs.

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

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 replace the somewhat last-ditch Sten gun imn the Belgian Army has a troubled history with extensive by the infamous para-commandos to suppress uprising in the Belgian Congo and were famously used in the assassination of President Patrice Lumumba.