Our Christmas special this year sees Jonathan delve into a weapon with a fascinatingly extensive service life. Copied from a Finnish design from the Winter War, this Russian/Soviet Maxim variant saw extensive service in both world wars and continues to crop up in the illegal Russian invasion of U...

The introduction of bolt action, magazine rifles saw Britain's vast arsenal of relatively new Martini-Henry's quickly obsoleted. An ex-army officer, Charles Greville Harston took it upon himself to come up with a cheap, simple solution. The solution was expensive, complicated and quickly surpasse...

The mid-nineteenth century saw huge strides in the development of repeater pistol mechanisms, with the introduction of the Colt Paterson revolver in 1836. Other excellent designs would follow in the ensuing decades. But, as we'll discover with the Jones, weapons designers continued to deviate fro...

This Bavarian breech-loading rifle features what looks like a bizarre backwards facing trigger.

The Khyber region of Pakistan and Afghanistan is famed for its production of a variety of small arms ranging from the recognisable to the outright odd. This machine pistol was brought to the UK for analysis by the Pattern Room as it incorporates a number of interesting features that at first glan...

Our collection often treads a thin line between being a deadly weapon or piece of art. These 19th century self-defence pistols play on this very notion, attempting to disguise their deadly purpose in the shape of a typical jewellery case of the period. What practical use would something so seemin...

Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857-58, Britain was intent on preventing a repeat of its own Indian Sepoy troops rising up and fighting against British forces. One solution to this was to effectively 'nerf' the weapons they were issued. This India Pattern Musket is the product of the distrust ...

Our new series returns with a familiar face, Jonathan Ferguson. He's brought along an object that's always fascinated him, the Georgian version of the RPG-7. But just who made this weapon and what was it's purpose?

The Colt 1911 is one of the most recognisable weapons firearms, featuring in two World Wars as well as being a regular on the big screen and across the biggest video game titles. What you may not have known about this famous pistol is that the British army seriously considered adopting the 1911's...

In the 1920s, the British Army examined a number of options to replace the bolt-action Lee Enfield rifle. Several self-loading rifle systems were examined at a time when the US Army was looking at adopting the M1 Garand. One such weapon proposed in the trials was the 'Bang' rifle as covered in a ...

In the late 1940s Britain were searching for an Automatic Rifle to match the German Sturmgewehr. This design did not pass the trials. Watch Jonathan describe why.

It was clear to British weapon procurement in the mid-thirties that war in Europe was fast approaching. Britain, in its haste to adopt an aircooled machine gun for its tanks and AFVs turned to the Czech ZB-53. However, with the time constraints of a rapidly approaching conflict, this .303 variant...

A compact take on the highly recognisable FAL this week. Join Jonathan Ferguson as he takes a look at a DIY shortened version of the Belgian-made battle rifle.

In an attempt to minimise barrel wear, Britain looked at the possibility of a reversible Bren barrel. Jonathan examines whether this was feasible and why you haven't heard more about this novel concept?

The streets of Victorian Britain could be mean and dangerous and there was a real fear of being garotted from behind by criminal gangs. Jonathan investigates an ingenious solution.

While at first appearing as a standard Greener Shotgun, this weapon features some major differences. It features an SMLE-style bayonet lug, and is chambered in the much smaller .476 calibre. Jonathan suspects it could be a nerfed version for Indian Police, highlighting the distrust between the Br...

This week Jonathan's joined by the dinky little brother of the Webley Mark IV family, the 'pocket model. Designed for ease of concealment and personal defence, this compact design is seeing a new lease of life as the Webley brand is reborn in the 21st century.

The early 20s saw a dramatic reduction in spending from from the European powers who believed the Treaty of Versailles had put pay to any future conflict on the scale of the First World War. This slashing of military expenditure explains this weeks hand-cranked rattle attachment for the British L...

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.

This week Jonathan examines a beautifully crafted carbine with an early example of an adjustable butt plate. Set up for use on horseback, this weapon also has a unique family story behind it.

Masterminded by Swedish admiral, Erik Carlsson Sjöblad, this fascinating early 18th-century combination naval weapon meets firepower with brutal blunt force.

The C96 'Broomhandle' Mauser already had the capability of using it's holster as a stock for improved accuracy, so why did German service personnel need a version with a permanently longer butt and barrel? The answer, as is often the case with this series was to solve issues brought on by the rap...

This week's mystery weapon was sent to Jonathan Ferguson by a fan who had screenshotted an image from the Channel 4 TV show, Utopia. The weapon appeared to be a version of the recognisable Browning Hi-Power. However, Jonathan noticed some subtle differences that led to the rediscovery of a little...

A novelty or tool for crowd control? Jonathan examines a pistol likely used for it's ability to deter rather than actually hit anything or anyone.