Photos from OldPicture.com.

[ Many thanks to Mik for emailing me the link. ]

New Jovian Thunderbolt discusses the mythical Stoner 63 carbine/rifle/machine gun that never took off.

Navy SEAL in Vietnam with a Stoner 63 in a LMG configuration.

The action in this rifle is an inverted Enfield M1917 (or maybe Enfield P14). It was done so that a lefty could use it!

[ Hat Tip goes to Max Popenker for finding this bizarre creation. ]

Prof. Osvaldo Gatto is a Argentinian gun maker who has quite a following around the world. He makes reproductions of a variety of weapons ranging from swords to blackpowder cannons and everything in between.

I love the clean lines on the reproduction of a German wheel lock pistol from the 1630s. It sells for $1700 (USD)

His Enfield Pistol reproduction sells for $600.

Lots more photos of the guns he makes over at his website.

[ Many thanks to Mehul for emailing me the link. ]

This US Navy training video at GENE SLOVERS US NAVY PAGES website shows how the 1950s mechanical fire control computers worked. It is explained simply enough for a layman to understand. I found it fascinating to watch. It is crazy to think that the ballistic software on my $199 iPod Touch can do nearly everything that this huge mechanical device did.

UPDATE: Part 2 can be watched online here. Thanks to Steve for the link.

These advertisements appeared in issues of Guns Magazine in 1959.

At that price I would haven taken 'em all.

The Blue Book of Gun Values has increase in price as much as the guns inside it.

The following advertisement for Norma ammunition surprised me because it is so modern looking in contrast the above ads. Compare it with the cover of Hornady's Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (below).

Cover of Hornady's Handbook of Cartridge Reloading (7th Edition)

[ Many thanks to Tarkan for emailing me the pics. ]

The last gun Garand worked on before retirement was the T-31 Bullpup. From the Springfield Armory website ...

U.S. RIFLE GARAND T31 "BULLPUP" .30 (T65E1) SN# 2 Manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Ma. - Limited prototype experimental select-fire weapon shoulder weapon; never went into production. Lightweight, selective full and semiautomatic rifle with an in-line stock in an attempt to reduce recoil. Cyclic rate of fire 600 rpm. Weapon weighs approximately 8.7 lbs. without accessories. Handguard cooled by circulating fresh air. German FG42 rear sight. Rubber stock and handguard. This was the last model worked on by John Garand.

What is especially interesting about this gun is the recoil system. The tube that surrounds the barrel is not a handguard but gas tube (I use the term lightly). A small around of gas deflected by the muzzle brake would enter the tube causing a shockwave to ripple down the tube towards the receiver end where it would actuate a piston. The system did not work very well because the tube would accumulate 3 grains of dirt for every shot fired!

Garand retired before the second version of the rifle was complete and so the project was terminated. The legacy of this rifle can be seen in the magazine design which was adopted for the M14 rifle.

[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]

A reader emailed me these photos of a revolver which belonged to his Grandfather during WWI. It looks to me like a fancy Webley. Does anyone know what model gun it is and who made it?

The Kriegsmarine apparently issued mini-RPG rounds for their double-barreled flare gun. Crazy.

The T48 was the designation of the FN FAL entered into the competition to replace the M1 Garand. The T44 (later called the M14) won the competition but the Marines appear to have kept their quote of T48 rifles. These have been meticulously photographed by an Australian who visited Quantico in 2008.

[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]

This article was published in the June 1934 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine (via. Modern Mechanix) ...

Weighing 150 pounds and resembling a cannon more than a firearm, a huge, brass-barreled, portable field piece has been recovered from the sea, where a pirate lost it, and added to a collection of ancient guns in Pasadena, Calif. The gun was one of those used by the pirate, Hippolyte de Bouchard, when he and 400 followers sacked Monterey in 1818. In returning to their ship, the men lost this gun when a small boat overturned. In later years it was recovered by fishermen who saw it on the ocean floor at low tide. Another firearm almost as remarkable is a gun with a very long barrel used by Spanish settlers in hunting. They believed that the longer the barrel, the further the ball would carry, and so used long-barreled guns to kill game at long range. The long gun has an over-all length of about ten feet.

That pirate gun is almost certainty a Punt Gun. While nifty, they are not uncommon.

What is more interesting, at least to me, is the very long Spanish "sniper" rifle. That barrel would probably have decreased velocity, not helped it, but the long length and weight would have it easier to hit a moving target, much like how shotgunners use longer barrels today.

[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]

Unbeknown to me, Ruger has had a Youtube channel since May of this year.

Last week they started a series on the history of firearms. The first episode, about early hand cannons, "aired" last week and is worth watching.

Also online are Part 2 and Part 3.

CombatDriver writes at HighRoad.us ...

I discovered this light machine gun last month at a SF team house here in Afghanistan. Its an old post WWI French Mdle 1922 light machine gun in 7.92mm Mauser. There were two models one that fed from a box magazine on top and this one that used stripper fed clips (15,24 &30 rd cap). The French made them is several calibers, including 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer (Greek), 7x57 Mauser (Spain), 7.7x56R (.303, UK) and 7.92x57 Mauser (Czechosolvakia). This one is missing the charging hande, bipod and muzzle brake.

Cleaning rod has been jammed into the bolt carrier and used as improvised charging handle.

After writing the The quest for high-capactity firearms post, readers told me about other interesting attempts at high capacity guns.

Porter Revolving Turret Rifle

9-shot; .48 caliber. In excellent overall condition. Bore is excellent plus; 28" barrel. Metal is smooth and well marked. Showing little or no use. Manufactured in 1851. Mechanically excellent. Wood is excellent, with one tiny area of wood loss. Only 1250 Porter Turret Rifles made, in three types, of which approximately 375 were type II. Lacks rear sight, cover screw broken, otherwise complete and excellent. A very advanced weapon for its time, and a competitor to the Colt Revolving Rifle, many were used during the Westward Migration. Seldom available on today's market, this example is in far above average condition. $11400

If you are interested, this rifle can be purchased at 19thcenturyweapons.com.

Isaiah Jennings 12 shot repeating flintlock rifle

According to the press release [PDF warning], when this gun was auctioned off, it achieved a record sales price in Louisiana.

An 1820 Prototype Isaiah Jennings 12 Shot Repeating Rifle, engraved with the serial number “No. 1,” generated a great deal of interest on the telephone, through eBay and from within the room. Bidding finally stopped (and the applause began) when a local purchased this exceptionally rare rifle for $34,000.00, making it a Louisiana record price for a firearm sold at auction.

Does anybody know how this type of gun works?

Ingrham's Underhammer Harmonica Rifle

The Underhammer Society Blog has a post about a modern reproduction of this 175 year old rifle design. Be sure to watch the video.

The Puckle gun

This gun dates back to the early 1700s! It fired 32mm caliber projectiles at a rate of just under 10 rounds per minute. I think make almost makes it an Auto-Cannon

Photo from Wikipedia.

Many thanks to Mehual, Clodboy and El Duderino for the links.