Knoble .22 Rimfire Prototype Pistol at James D Julia
W.E. Knoble of Tacoma, Washington is not a well-known gun designer, and was in fact not a successful gun designer. But he did enter a .45 caliber pistol in the 1907 US pistol trials, and in so doing...
View ArticleThe Very Steampunk M1915 Howell Automatic Rifle at James D Julia
The M1915 Howell Automatic Rifle is a conversion of a standard No1 MkIII Lee Enfield rifle into a semiautomatic, through the addition of a gas piston onto the right side of the barrel. Despite its...
View ArticleUS Test Trials White-Merrill .45 Caliber Pistol at James D Julia
One of the domestic US made pistols entered in the US military pistol trials of 1907 was this White-Merrill design. It is particularly interesting because White and Merrill submitted a manual along...
View ArticleThe Short-Lived No1 Mk6 SMLE at James D Julia
The SMLE No1 Mk3 was the iconic British infantry rifle of World War 1, but not the final evolution of the Lee Enfield design. By World War 2 it had been replaced by the new No4 Mk1 Lee Enfield, and...
View ArticleJoseph White Experimental .38 Caliber Automatic Pistols at James D Julia
Joseph White’s experiments in handgun design did not begin with the White-Merrill 1907 submitted to US handgun trials. In 1905 he submitted a patent (US #888560) for features in these two .38 caliber...
View ArticleThe Very First Troop Trials SMLE Rifles at James D Julia
One of the British lessons form the Boer War was that the distinction between infantry rifles and cavalry carbines was becoming obsolete. In 1902, they would initiate troop trials on a new short rifle...
View ArticleHigh Standard T3 Prototype: An American Blowback at James D Julia
In 1947, the US Army Air Corps (it had not yet become the Air Force) was assessing its pilot survival equipment, and decided that it wanted a smaller and lighter handgun than the Colt 1911. It put...
View ArticleWhite-Merrill Experimental Model 1911 Pistol at James D Julia
In the aftermath of their rejection in the US 1907 pistol trials, Joseph White and Samuel Merrill continued working on handgun designs. In 1911, Merrill wrote to the Ordnance Department to inquire...
View ArticleBern Prototype Carbine: Intermediate Cartridges in the 1920s
Designed by Adolf Furrer, this carbine represents a very early experiment with intermediate power ammunition. It is a long recoil semiautomatic carbine with an under barrel tube magazine – quite the...
View ArticleSA80 History: The First Mockups (Sterling and Stoner)
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View ArticleDreyse 1910: An Attempted Military 9mm Pistol
Designed by Louis Schmeisser, the Dreyse Model 1910 was an attempt to build a blowback pistol in 9x19mm for German military or police service, expanding on the existing market for the popular smaller...
View ArticleSA80 History: XL60 Series in 4.85mm
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View ArticleSA80 History: XL70 Series Final Prototypes (Individual Weapon and LSW)
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View Article1891 Salvatore-Dormus: The First Automatic Pistol
The Salvatore-Dormus has the distinction of being the world’s first semiauto pistol, being patented in 1891. It is chambered for the 8mm Dormus cartridge, and holds 5 rounds in a Mannlicher type clip....
View ArticleSA80 Series: The Pre-Production XL85 and XL86
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View ArticleLaumann 1891 and Schonberger-Laumann 1894 Semiauto Pistols
Josef Laumann was an Austrian designer of early ring-trigger manually repeating pistols, and was one of the first to develop that type of handgun into a semiautomatic. He took an 1891 pattern ring...
View ArticleSA80 History: L22A2 and Experimental L85 Carbines
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View ArticleThe Korsac EM1 – a British/Polish Bullpup FG-42
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View ArticleLewis Short Recoil .45ACP Prototype Pistol
Isaac Newton Lewis is best known for the Lewis light machine gun, but that was not his only foray into firearms design. He also patented two different types of handguns – one gas operated and this...
View ArticleThorpe EM-1: A Bullpup Take on the Roller Locked Gerat 06
Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions...
View Article
