“It was scary, you know? The damnedest thing…” The old Marine flicked at a bright yellow tie he was wearing. “We were ordered to take Atabrine to prevent malaria. Most of us did that but it tended to turn our eyes and skin a bright yellow. And then a rumor started that the stuff would Rea...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Parker in the gauge everybody wants and almost nobody ordered. This is a DH grade 28 gauge, built in 1910 on the small 0 frame with 28 inch barrels. Parker built something like 242,000 guns over the life of the company. Well under 2,000 [&...
For more than a century, infantry units have fought under an unforgiving reality: When you’re humping a ruck through non-cooperative terrain and you run face-first into an entrenched bunker, fortified machine-gun nest or enemy light armor, your options for immediate heavy fire support are painf...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Japanese pocket pistol that exists because of an import ban. This is a Hamada Type One in 7.65mm, developed in 1940. Japanese officers bought their own handguns. The service issued Nambus, but an officer was expected to arm himself, and wh...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have the first Luger sold to Americans, wearing an accessory that solved a problem Luger had not solved yet. This is a DWM Model 1900 American Eagle in 7.65mm Luger with an Ideal combination shoulder stock holster. The Model 1900 is the earliest ...
Most weeks that I show up on Wheelgun Wednesday, I am hauling something actually old off the shelf and telling you about it. Today is a little different. The revolver on my bench got built recently; it is just wearing 1875's clothes. Uberti sent me their "Frank" out of the Outlaws ...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a rifle that lost its trials and still set the course for every US service rifle since. This is an early Artillerie-Inrichtingen AR-10 in 7.62 NATO, built in the Netherlands in the Portuguese contract pattern. Eugene Stoner had the AR-10 in ...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a 1903 Springfield chambered for a British cartridge. This is a Remington built 1903 prototype from around 1941, an M1903 reworked for 303 British on a Springfield receiver made in 1911. Britain needed rifles badly in 1940 and 1941 and went ...
On April 24, 1933, a legend was born when Grumman test pilot Paul Hovgard flew the prototype Grumman J2F “Duck,” designated XJF-1, on its first flight, taking off from the factory’s grass strip at Farmingdale, New York. The flight marked the debut of one of the most versatile amphibious...