** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
The bolt-action Spanish FR-8 was a stopgap firearm, thrown into service by the Spanish when they were already moving toward the 7.62x51 mm NATO-chambered Cetme rifle. The FR-8 shares the later rifle's chambering, and actually appears to be a gas gun, though the tube is simply storage for a cleaning rod. For more on this unique piece of history, check out this "I Have This Old Gun" segment from a recent episode of American Rifleman Television.
Among the machine guns used by all the powers involved in World War I, the Austrian Schwarzlose is often forgotten. But this simple, reliable arm saw service for more than 20 years across two world wars.
For the Union Army during the American Civil War, its officers and cavalry troopers relied on one of Colt's most notable firearms: the 1860 Army revolver.