During the Colonial period of the British Empire of the late 19th century, the royal army was on a mission to replace its Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader rifle converted to the cartridge system, which was the standard rifle for its army at the time. A new design emerged called the Martini-Henry. ... Read more
Ruger, one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market. Among their premium big game hunting rifles is the Ruger No 1. Complete with a strong, simple, compact falling-block breech mechanism with artillery-style breechblock and under-lever is ideally suited for today’s powerful cartridges. The ... Read more
ArmaLite produced a variety of cutting-edge firearms during the late 1950s and early 60s. Many are still in use to this day, including the military M-16, its M4 sibling currently fielded by American troops and the commercial AR-15.
However, in some ways, ArmaLite’s lesser-known AR-18/180 was ahead of its time. The ... Read more
The Gewehr 98, a German bolt-action rifle firing the powerful 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge replaced the earlier Gewehr 1888 rifle as the standard German service rifle and was the main German infantry weapon of World War I. The Gewehr 98 was issued to the military by the Ottoman Empire and by ... Read more
Thanks to its loyal following among target shooters, the AR-15 is a pillar of the gun industry, on of the most popular rifles for consumers and lodged into American culture. The AR-15 was developed in the late 1950s as a civilian weapon by Eugene Stoner. Revolutionary for its lightweight, easy ... Read more
The Springfield Model 1873 was the first standard-issue, breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States Army. The gun, in both full-length and carbine versions, was the primary rifle of the United States Army from 1873 to 1892. According to the National Museum of the United States Army, The 10th Cavalry, ... Read more
The Gewehr 43, commonly known as Hitler’s Garand, was developed by the Nazi regime during World War II. Chambered in 7.92×57mm (8mm Mauser), the design went into production in 1943 and were the most common self loading rifle utilized by Nazi forces. The design was based on the earlier Walther ... Read more
On June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord, commonly known as D-Day, 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The Allies target was under the control of Nazi Germany and was one of the largest amphibious ... Read more
This rifle is unique in the sense that very little were made and shipped to be used on the French war front in Europe even though there was a significant contract from Remington to tool up and fulfill the contract for the French Army. Unfortunately, for Remington, fulfilling the order ... Read more
With an over-saturation of AR-15 type rifles, it can be more difficult to distinguish what is great AR rifle with so many available, especially for those who are not experts in firearms. For those who are not familiar, HK produces some of the most sought after guns in the market ... Read more
The Spencer rifle was the world’s first military metallic-cartridge repeating rifle, and more than 200,000 examples were manufactured in the United States by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Co. and Burnside Rifle Co. between 1860 and 1869. The Spencer repeating rifle was adopted by the Union Army during the American Civil ... Read more
The Fusil Automatique Léger or commonly known as the FAL, produced initially by manufacturer FN, is a battle rifle that many NATO countries adopted during the Cold War. The FAL has been described as the “Right Arm of the Free World,” and has been adopted by more than 90 nations ... Read more
The Tokarev Model SVT-40 saw widespread service during World War II. The rifle reflects the Soviet’s desire to have a semi-automatic, magazine-fed rifle chambered in a punchy round similar to the American M1 Garand.
The initial reaction of Soviet troops to this rifle was negative. Among the mounting issues were that ... Read more
The Winchester model 1873, world renowned as one of the guns that “won the west” were popular among pioneers, Native American warriors, cattle rustlers, outlaws, and lawmen during the Old West and westward expansion of the United States. Introduced in 1873, Winchester unveiled its new steel-framed Model 1873 chambering the ... Read more
A truly iconic rifle and undisputed World War II champion, the M1 Garand asserted its dominance on the battlefields in both the Pacific theater and Europe. Heralded by General George S. Patton as the “greatest battle implement ever devised,” the M-1 Garand was the world’s first successfully fielded semi-automatic ... Read more
By James Martineau,
SAKO, manufacturers of fine bolt-action rifles, has made a fine reputation of designing high quality rifles through the last hundred years. Designed to adapt to the harsh conditions found in Finland, Sako rifles are renowned for their accuracy and reliability. Sakos rifles have been proven as an effective firearm ... Read more
By James Martineau,
In the 1950s the debate over the caliber that should be used in NATO was settled with the selection of the 7.62x51mm round. Italy, eager to catch up with other NATO nations, developed the BM59, a worthy battle rifle of the Cold War era. This rifle began production ... Read more
Mathew Quigley, the main character from the movie “Quigley Down Under,” is an American frontiersmen who travels down to Australia to apply his skills as a sharpshooter to accept a job from a wealthy rancher. Quigley’s rifle of choice was the Shiloh Sharps Model 1874, firing 45 caliber 110 grain ... Read more
By James Martinreau,
With the introduction of the Type 4 AKM receiver, the Soviet Union required its satellite states to produce their own variants of the AKM. In response, Cugir Arms Factory of Romania designed the PM model 63/65. This rifle continues to serve in the Romanian military after decades of ... Read more
By James Martinreau,
The experiences of the Vietnam War had a profound effect on the transition of the standard rifle cartridge in NATO from 7.62x51mm to 5.56x45mm. It was found that the M14 was too cumbersome and had unmanageable recoil when fired in the full auto mode. This combined ... Read more
H. Koon’s Omega III Omega III
The culmination of high-quality craftsmanship and firearm design, the Omega III rifle is an extremely rare firearm produced in the 1970’s with only 1000 manufactured. This specific and highly coveted model was designed and manufactured at the original Omega Arms company before Hi-Shear Corp. bought the ... Read more
