During the Second World War, Britain’s volunteer militia, the Home Guard, were extensively issued with American .30 calibre Browning M1917 machine guns. These water-cool medium machine guns contributed significant firepower to the Home Guard fighting units. They [Read More…]
Shortly after my previous Wheelgun Wednesday article went live, I received an email from Michael about his interesting conversion of an M1917 revolver. The famous .45 ACP revolver is getting plenty of attention right out of the gate with TFB’s Wheelgun [Read More…]
Welcome to another edition of our weekly Wheelgun Wednesdays! Since Pete’s announcement about adding Wheelgun Wednesdays, I was eager to find something unique. The subject of this Wednesday’s Wheelgunnery is unique, not earth-shattering, but something you [Read More…]
Welcome everyone to the eighth edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’, one of our many series here on TFB. If you missed any one of our other articles, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question – is [Read More…]
The Gevær M/53-17 is a rifle that you and I would likely not recognize if we saw the name in print or heard someone talking about it in the gun shop. What you don’t know is that the Gevær M/53-17 is nothing more than a slightly modified M1917 Enfield, often [Read More…]
The classic American M1917 revolver was a much needed answer to a very evident problem: not enough standard issue .45acp 1911 pistols to go around. Smith & Wesson and Colt both produced these revolvers at the request of the US Government, and they served in at least some capacity until Vietnam. [Read More…]
The gear of the US infantryman during World War I was some of the best in the period, from the ammunition pouches, to the uniform, and the rifles. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons has taken a reproduction uniform and an original M1917 rifle and M1911 handgun out to the [Read More…]
By popular request, in the episode of TFBTV we rounded up an M1917 rifle made by Winchester and took it to the run and gun course. These are Mauser derived rifles with wonderful sights that cock on close and are a true joy to shoot. But, how will it perform? Transcript … – [Voiceover] [Read More…]
I know a lot of you are thinking “No such thing” but it’s true. There is a carbine form of the U.S. Rifle Model 1917. For those of you unfamiliar with this dog-leg, Mauser-derived, cock-on-close bolt action of British design and American [Read More…]
Moon clips have been around for over 100 years and reinventing them is a big claim, but Arizona-based Original Precision is doing just that with their CCW HD Moon Clips for J Frame revolvers. Original Precision is offering a CNC machined cylinder conversion to allow .38 [Read More…]
Thanks for joining us on another Wheelgun Wednesday on TFB, where we try to cover all things revolvers. This week, we’ll take a quick look at the two revolvers I scored from a local gun auction, a Harrington & Richardson Auto Ejecting .32 S&W, and a Smith [Read More…]
The Mistakes and Mis-Steps of Revolvers in Aviation Nothing quite conveys the power of close air support as much as the low growl of the A-10 Warthog’s GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon, or the buzz of the GAU2/A. Certainly, there are some revolving cannons that have a [Read More…]
Welcome to TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday, where we explore all sorts of revolvery goodness. This week we’ll take a look at the Lend-Lease Victory model from Smith & Wesson that I acquired from The Mosin Crate. The batch he was able to source came from Israel, which [Read More…]
There is perhaps no more well-known American domestic battle than the battle of Athens, TN. War-weary veterans returning from the various theatres of WWII came home only to face a machine steeped in corruption and faced yet another battle for liberty – the Battle [Read More…]
Revolver moon clips have been in use for over 100 years now, so it’s certainly not a new concept, but they’ve become more common in recent years. While moon clips were originally designed to hold rimless pistol cartridges, namely .45ACP, they’ve been produced [Read More…]
Welcome everyone to the 50th edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’! HGFC is one of our many series here on TFB and today is our 50th instalment. What a wild ride it has been. If, somehow, you’re new to the series, you’ve missed out! This is where we [Read More…]
My family and I were recently in Des Moines, Iowa and we wanted to check out the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge since it had been on my radar for some time. I expected to see a few old guns and perhaps some warbirds, but I was completely taken aback by [Read More…]
Surviving for Generations Jeff from TAOFLEDERMAUS frequently explores some more exotic and less well-known loadings and cartridges. Recently he’s dug up a relic of the depression-era – some Sears and Roebuck Co .22 Long ammunition dating back to 1932. In an [Read More…]
Marketing to Law Enforcement in the 1970s – Apparently this is how it looked like in at least one instance, from The Law Enforcement Ordnance Company. Below you can get a closer look at the items marketed: As you can we have some very interesting firearms listed, [Read More…]
The Custom Revolver likely is not a new title to most of TFB readers, as it is a classic published almost 20 years ago. In its hardcover form, it quickly went out of stock and its qualities and rarity made it a collectible. It may seem an odd choice to review such a [Read More…]
Welcome to the Military Surplus Arms installment of the First Firearm series. For those not familiar with the series, we cover a different aspect of firearms and give you things to consider if it’s to be your very first firearm ever or the first of the type of firearm [Read More…]
This is a neat old photo of World War I era soldiers relaxing in a library at a YMCA. It’s clearly a staged photo, but still cool nonetheless. All the natural goings-on in a library are shown via the soldiers: one reading a book, one reading a magazine, one [Read More…]
Welcome everyone to the ninth edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’, one of our many series here on TFB. If you missed any one of our other articles, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question – is [Read More…]
Taken on May 16, 1919, this US Signal Corps photo shows a new potential mode of transportation in the immediate WWI era. What is believed to be a Columbia brand bicycle has been outfitted with a metal scabbard of sorts – complete with ‘US’ embossing [Read More…]
The Civilian Marksmanship Program has been selling surplus arms to the American public for years. In that time, they’ve sold M1903 and M1917 bolt-action rifles, as well as M1 Garand and M1 Carbine long guns. Except for the Garands, they’ve all been sold out for [Read More…]
What usually happens to numerically significant firearms is that they get put in a museum and carefully guarded. Not the first Springfield M1903, Serial Number One though! Crazy enough, this particular rifle actually rolled right off the production line and into Army service when it was produced [Read More…]
Initial production runs of small arms are always objects of great interest and fascination. They represent the tangible beginning, the first of many, a historical landmark. Especially if they are of designs that go on to influence small arms history. Usually when they [Read More…]
Getting ready to crack their 100 million views milestone, TFBTV has come a long way in just under three years. The channel has added new hosts, debuted exclusive review guns, educated us with historical and scientific episodes, and entertained us with fan-supplied [Read More…]
Episode 65 of C&Rsenal’s landmark rundown of the weapons of the Great War covers something very, very special – the Pedersen Device. John Pedersen’s ‘device’ has an almost mythical reputation as a World War One wonder weapon that could [Read More…]
It’s not every day that you see a gun that knocks your socks off in terms of history, engineering, rarity, and insanity – but today is that day. At the Institute of Military Technology these are the qualities we look for in firearms – we revel in them [Read More…]
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