I Have This Old Gun

The old saw “never bring a knife to a gun fight” is somewhat moot when one is armed with a Rodgers knife pistol—a clever percussion-fired defensive arm composed of both blades and barrel. To be sure, by the mid-19th century when this particular piece made its appearance, combination arms were nothing new.

The Uzi submachine gun is one of the most iconic and recognizable firearms of the 20th century. As a highly successful design with more than 10 million produced to date, it has spawned numerous copies, licensed and otherwise, and has been manufactured everywhere from Belgium to southeast Asia.

One of the more unique firearm mechanisms seen in history is the wheellock, which used a spinning, serrated wheel to create sparks from a piece of iron pyrite.

The Montenegrin Gasser shown here is a classic 1870/74 style and is the real article, actually produced by Gasser in Vienna. It has typical Montenegrin aftermarket silver stocks embellished with turquoise, coral and pearls.

Colt's "New Lightning Magazine Rifle," so called to distinguish it from the company's previous double-action revolver of the same name, was the first slide-action rifle to be sold in the United States.

In between the famous British Baker rifle and the Pattern 1853 Enfield, there was a little-known design that's rarely seen today. This is the story of the British Brunswick rifle.

The Tabatière is one of several breechloading conversions of existing military muskets, but unlike many others, this one continued to see use in the civilian world.

One of the most important military arms ever invented is the Model 1886 Lebel rifle, the first military rifle designed to use smokeless powder ammunition.

Though Switzerland broke the ice by choosing the semi-automatic German Parabellum as its official sidearm as early as 1900, the accolade for the first major military power to adopt a self-loading handgun goes to Austria-Hungary and the Roth-Steyr Model 1907.