Colt Model 1929 Prototype .276 Rifle
On October 1, 1928, the US War Department published a request for semiautomatic rifle designs. The Colt company submitted this .276 caliber rifle to the ensuing trials in 1929. It was designed by...
View ArticleEd Browning’s Winchester G30 Prototypes (Video)
After Jonathan Edward “Ed” Browning had his 1929 rifle dropped form US military testing, he took the design back to his shop in Utah and kept working on it. By 1938 he had made enough improvements...
View ArticleWinchester G30M (Video)
With the death of Jonathan “Ed” Browning in 1939, development of the Winchester G30 rifle was passed into the hands of a new employee at Winchester by the name of David Marshall Williams. Williams...
View ArticleWinchester M2 Rifle (Video)
In the previous video, we looked at the Winchester G30M rifle as it was submitted to Marine Corps trials in 1940. When the trial result came back with the G30M in last place, Winchester immediately...
View ArticleW.A.R. – the Winchester Automatic Rifle
With the failure of the G30M and G30R to lead to any military orders (American or otherwise), the Winchester company took the advice of the Ordnance Department to scale the design up to an automatic...
View ArticleWinchester-Williams WWII .50 BMG Antitank Rifle (Video)
David Marshall Williams was hired by the Winchester company in 1939, and would have a hand in a number of major projects during his 10-year stint with the company, although best known for the M1...
View ArticleRIA: Japanese ZH-29 Copy by Tokyo Gas & Electric
The Japanese military experimented with self-loading rifle designs through the 1930s, and had 4 major rifles in testing during that period. One was a new design by Kijiro Nambu, one was a Pedersen...
View ArticleRIA: Prototype Gustloff 206 Rifle
German arms development during World War II was quite the chaotic mess, in many ways. While it is not uncommon for different service branches to have independent procurement systems, in fascist-era...
View ArticleRIA: Colt 1907 Trials Pistol
The Colt 1907 was one of the significant developmental iterations of the design that would eventually be adopted as the Model 1911 by the US military. This pistol began as John Browning’s Model 1900...
View ArticleGX vs GY: What Are the Differences in Pedersen’s Garands?
In a last hopeful attempt to get a rifle adopted and produced for the US military, John Pedersen designed his own copy of the M1 Garand rifle in the late 1930s (approximately 1939). His toggle-locked...
View ArticleRIA: Prototype W+F Bern AK44 Copy of the SVT
The Swiss factories of SIG and W+F Bern both produced a remarkable number and variety of experimental self-loading rifles in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. Nothing would be adopted by the Swiss...
View ArticleRIA: Ethiopian ZH29 and Czech Experimental Z37
The ZH-29 was an influential early semiautomatic military rifle, although not one that saw any significant adoption. As best I can tell, only two countries purchased them in any quantity: China and...
View ArticleRIA: Prototype Mauser HSv Pistols (Video)
When the German military finally could no longer tolerate the expense of the P.08 Luger in the late 1930s, they held a trial of possible replacements. The three main entrants were BSW with a...
View ArticleRIA: M1944E1/M1945 Johnson Light Machine Gun
After getting his Model 1941 machine gun purchased in small numbers by the US military, Melvin Johnson continued to press for more sales and a general adoption. Following testing results and...
View ArticleRIA: Prototype CZ-38 Trials Rifle (Video)
Like most other nations with modern military forces. Czechoslovakia was interested in developing a semiautomatic infantry rifle in the 1920s and 1930s. The most successful such rifle to come out of...
View ArticleRIA: Müller 1895 Curved Recoil Pistol (Video)
The model 1895 Müller automatic pistol is an interesting and unusual design, despite being a simple blowback action. Where most pistols have a bolt or slide that moved directly rearward, the Müller...
View ArticleRIA: Experimental Semiauto Springfield 1903 Primer-Actuated Rifle (Video)
During the 1920s, a lot of experimental rifle development work was being done in the US. The military was interested in finding a semiautomatic rifle, and plenty of inventors were eager to get that...
View ArticleRIA: Odd Iver Johnson Prototype .32s (Video)
These unique and unmarked prototype .32 ACP pistols are apparently Iver Johnson prototypes – and I can’t find any information on them beyond that description from their consignor. One is a simpler...
View ArticleBenke-Thiemann Folding Luger Holster
While most major pistols made before the 1930s had some type of shoulder stock available as an option, the Luger had much more variety of stocks than most others. In addition to the several types of...
View ArticleHagen Prototype Semiauto Rifle (Video)
The Hagen (more information here) is an early semiauto rifle designed by a Norwegian, manufactured in the UK, and tested by several different militaries – but adopted by none. It uses a long stroke...
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