A follow up post on a man I have talked about in the past a bit. The most significant man at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in 1941, was General Julian Hatcher. Hatcher was one of the most prominent members of the nation’s shooting fraternity. He was also the Commanding General of the Ordnance Training Center. PerhapsContinue reading “History: Bill Brophy”
Category Archives: Historical
Colt Law Enforcement Pistol
For Missed Opportunity Monday, we have yet another abandoned Colt design: the .40 caliber Law Enforcement Pistol. It also served as the platform for their Smart Gun tech. Here are some of the Smart Gun patents, which show bits of the pistol’s design as well. While the exterior profile looks a bit like the “AllContinue reading “Colt Law Enforcement Pistol”
A Short History of Peter Paul Mauser and His Rifles
From the long gone rifleman’s journal Like the uncounted numbers before and the uncounted numbers who would follow, the twenty-one year army conscript stood rigidly at attention. The rough wool collar of his newly issued tunic chaffed his neck raw and his feet were clamped in heavy high boots. His hands tightly gripped the woodContinue reading “A Short History of Peter Paul Mauser and His Rifles”
M60: A Vietnam War Stalwart
By Kurt Allemeier at the RIA Blog Alongside the M16 rifle, the M60 machine gun became one of the most recognizable weapons to come out of the Vietnam War. Lot 1496 is a M60 General Purpose Machine Gun from Rock Island Armory. That is understandable since the gun, nicknamed the “pig,” was everywhere in theContinue reading “M60: A Vietnam War Stalwart”
Ross Seyfried’s Swenson Combat Commander
In 1981, Ross Seyfried was the last man to win the IPSC World Shoot using a non-compensated pistol in open competition. While that feat was accomplished with a Pachmayr Combat Special built on a full-sized Colt Government Model, Seyfried cut his teeth in IPSC shooting with today’s featured pistol. This is the pistol he usedContinue reading “Ross Seyfried’s Swenson Combat Commander”
Silent Weapon System – Alpha
Here’s a data dump on the Silent Weapon System – Alpha and related captive piston cartridges. Sadly there is more known about the ammunition than the actual firearms designed to use them. First, we have the patent for the Alpha cartridge’s predecessor, the Cal. .30 XM76. The XM76 was intended for legacy .30-06 firearms. However,Continue reading “Silent Weapon System – Alpha”
The Long Road to the M9 Pistol
It took roughly forty years, dozens of competitors, a variety of tests, and a ton of bureaucratic wrangling to replace the M1911A1 after WW2.
M16A1 Still In The Jungle Fighting
I ran across these photos of a Hmong fighter in Laos. Still with the M16A1 the US gave him. Still killing commies after all these years. With considerable less finish than it left the factory with. Funny how only the much overrated AK47/Type56 is supposedly the only rifle that could hold up under tropical jungleContinue reading “M16A1 Still In The Jungle Fighting”
Transition model Pre 64 Model 70 Target Rifles
these rare configuration model 70s. A 1948 transition model, a 1956 Type-III rifle, and this very clean and all original 1952 gun.
Colt R0633DC upper receiver
In this image is a Colt R0633DC upper receiver conversion kit from around late 1998 (based on analysis of packing materials). The Colt model R0933 was a 9mm submachine gun (SMG) design that was provided to the Department Of Energy for security use. The model R0633 is more commonly referred to as the “DOE SMG”Continue reading “Colt R0633DC upper receiver”
Scattered Shots 