“Tag: Garry James”

Beginning in 1867, the Swedish military started fielding versions of the single-shot Remington Rolling Block rifle and carbine. In 1887, rifles—originally chambered in 12.7x42 mm R—were converted to the more modern, smallbore 8x58 mm R cartridge. The carbines, however, remained in 12 mm.

The RSC Modele 1917 developed by France in World War I represented a huge technological leap for battle rifles and saw heavy use on the Western Front.

Armed with its Model 1866 Chassepot, one of the earliest bolt-action designs, the French military under Napoleon III was reckoned to be unbeatable.

Before the Walther PP and PPK became iconic handguns, there was another highly regarded pistol from Walther: the Model 4.

This innovative 8 mm bolt-action repeater, which performed extraordinary service during World War I, was also one of the most important military arms in history.

The Model 1858 Starr Army revolver is one of a surprising number of foreign-made revolvers that made an appearance in the American Civil War.

When did we invent the speedloader? To answer that question, we have to go back to the 19th century.

In the 1860s, at the dawn of the self-contained metallic cartridge era, the military armsmakers of Great Britain and other major powers decided to alter existing muzzleloading rifle-muskets into breechloaders. Reasons included saving production costs and buying time to permit experimentation.

The Hall Carbine is one of the most innovative firearm designs of its time, and John Hall's design goes even farther back in time.