#Ria

Firearms manufacturer Rock Island Armory has announced the introduction of the RIA 5.0E, a new addition to the RIA-USA series. Upgrades include, new optics cut and plates, an updated barrel with improved materials and geometry, aggressive slide serrations for easier manipulation, and an Armor Series finish with a diamond-like carbon coating.

Welcome back to The Rimfire Report, our weekly article series where we discuss everything rimfire – history, news, guns, ammunition, equipment, gear, sports and more. For today’s edition, we have three rare rimfire rifles found in the catalog of the upcoming August 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. While there are many amazing rimfire rifles consigned to this auction, in this author’s opinion, these are the top three in terms of rarity. Without further ado, let’s take a look at these unique specimens of the rimfire firearms world.

A couple of Wheelgun Wednesdays ago, we took a look at a  Smith & Wesson Model No. 3  revolver from the catalog of the upcoming  December 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearm Auction that belonged to one of the most famous figures of American history, Theodore Roosevelt.   What we have today is another variation of the Model No. 3 revolver from the same auction’s catalog, a Smith & Wesson First Model Schofield revolver that is attributed to one of the most infamous figures of American history, Jesse James.

USPSA and IPSC are both very fun and engaging shooting sports that have a long laundry list of rules, regulations, and approved equipment. Part of this approved equipment also includes very strict criteria for each division that separates competitors to provide a more even playing field. Rock Island Armory’s first offering in the polymer-framed striker-fired pistol market -the  STK100 – has just received approval for the Production and Carry Optics divisions for both the IPSC and USPSA shooting organizations giving competitors access to yet another firearm. The Rock Island Armory STK100 was announced last year in June and is the first of its kind from RIA USA.

Like any other Rock Island premier firearms auction, the upcoming August 2022 auction is also full of unique firearms of virtually every category. However, what caught my attention when I was browsing its catalog, was the amazingly large collection of various rare flintlock guns consigned to this auction, and in this article, we’ll take a look at the ten most interesting ones. While flintlocks may not be the most exciting type of firearms for many of you, trust me, what we are going to see today is absolutely mindblowing. Today we’ll see unicorns of this firearm breed, some of which are unbelievably advanced and innovative for the time they were made. I am talking about revolving and lever action flintlocks, a waterproof one, a punt gun and grenade launcher, combination weapons and multi-barrel ones. Doesn’t it sound intriguing? If yes, then without further ado, let’s take a look at our list of 10 obscure flintlock guns found in the catalog of the  August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction.

In one of the previous installments of our Wheelgun Wednesday weekly article series, we took a look at a  Colt 1851 Navy revolver attributed to Wild Bill Hickok that was consigned to May 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. Although everything indicated that the revolver belonged to Wild Bill, it was not 100% proven, but apparently, that was enough for the buyer who parted with $616,875 to purchase the revolver, a price that way exceeded the auction house’s estimated high price of $225,000. What we have in today’s edition of Wheelgun Wednesday is another Wild Bill Hickok revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army, which is consigned to the upcoming August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. According to Rock Island Auction Company, this revolver is solidly documented as owned and carried by Wild Bill Hickok.

When most Americans think of the Philippines in relation to revolvers, they may well think of the mythological ineffectiveness of the .38 Long Colt chambered M1894 and M1901 revolvers during the Moro Rebellion.  However, revolvers have been manufactured in the Philippines themselves for quite some time, beginning with the Squires Bingham/Armscor M100D and Thunderchief revolvers as well as the Shooters Arms “Protector”.  This past week, TFBTV’s James Reeves took a detailed look at RIA/Armscor’s M206 revolver.

Welcome back to another installment of TFB’s  Wheelgun Wednesday. Today we’ll take a look at a legendary custom Colt Single Action Army target revolver – Elmer Keith’s No. 5. Although Elmer Keith owned a number of revolvers, this particular one is the most well-known Keith wheelgun and is considered by many the best custom SAA to exist. This revolver was featured in Guns & Ammo and The American Rifleman articles as well as in the “Sixguns” book written by Keith. Currently, this wheelgun is consigned to Rock Island Auction Company and will be sold during their  September 2021 Premier Firearms Auction.

There is nearly an endless amount of semi-auto shotguns available on the market today to choose from. However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like the VRF14 before. The new VRF14 from Rock Island Armory is the company’s newest offering that takes the concept of a Mossberg Shockwave or Remington TAC-14 and melds it with the gas-operated shotgun concept. The new Firearm has just been announced and as such, no information on pricing or availability has been made yet.

When you hear “lever-action rifle”, you probably think about Winchester, Marlin or Henry …maybe also Volcanic or even Colt, but I bet never Smith & Wesson. However, there is such thing as a Smith & Wesson lever-action rifle and one of three such guns known to exist will be auctioned in the upcoming Rock Island Premier Gun Auction.

The catalog of upcoming Rock Island Premier Gun Auction is now published on the company’s website and as always, it is full of incredibly interesting, historical and rare firearms. In this article, we’ll take a look at two consecutive lots (#417 and #418) each containing a Colt pistol that despite being regular guns have high values because they are attributed to some of the most feared gangsters of American history – Al Capone and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Rock Island Armory have introduced their new semi-automatic shotgun – the VR80. Developed by Rock Island Armory’s Philippine parent company Armscor, the new AR-style 12 gauge, magazine fed shotgun will hit shelves in 2019. Rock Island Armory are called the VR80 ‘a lean, mean customizable machine.’

Rock Island Auction Company have uploaded a great little video taking a look at the surprisingly impressive range of cutaway training models they have available in their next regional auction.

Continuing our series of articles telling about the most expensive firearms sold in the major US auction houses, today we’ll take a look at the ten most expensive firearms sold in December 2017 Rock Island Premiere Auction. This time there are also two world records set.

Rock Island Auction Company’s May 2017 Premiere Auction started on May 5 and ended on May 7. Among the main and iconic lots of this auction were Elvis Presley’s revolvers. The King’s guns were sold at world record prices both for the Colt Python and S&W Model 19-2 revolvers.