Historical Firearm Features

Q. Recently, at auction, I bought a “Savage Navy Revolver,” something I have wanted for a long time. It’s in good order and is a solid brute of a thing, but apart from the “Savage R.F.A. Co. Middleton, CT” stamp on the barrel...

Webley Metropolitan Police revolvers were manufactured from 1883 to 1911 and issued at the discretion of division officers to be used by policemen who desired them and had exhibited an aptitude in their use.

It was in 1919 when José de Lopez Arnaiz cleverly devised a unique single-action pistol with a moveable lever (palanca) of which enabled shooters to single-handedly chamber and cock the gun using only the index and middle fingers.

Perusing an expired paper-edition Gun List several years ago, I came across an ad for this old 1880-1881 Colt Single Action Army. Can’t remember what I paid, but at that time, it was too cheap to believe it was still for sale.

Started as a partnership between two young men in 1949, the firm now simply known as Ruger has achieved amazing success in the American firearm market. Today, three-quarters of a century later and counting, it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

From World War II to the present day, the U.S. military has issued pistols to officers, presenting men of high rank with some of the best-known handguns of all time—and conferring on them no small measure of prestige.

Henry Deringer, maker of the famous Philadelphia Deringer single-shot pistol, has a particular distinction: He is the only gunmaker to have an entire genre of pistols named after him.

It was one of the most iconic Western films of all time, starring one of the most successful actor/directors of all time—and it immortalized one of the most historic handguns ever made. Today, they all live on in the wildly popular exhibit “Hollywood Guns.”

At the beginning of the Great War in 1914, France’s primary handgun was the cunning 8 mm double-action Modèle 1892 revolver, also known as the “Lebel” or “St. Étienne.”