Historical Guns

The Hi Power has the dubious distinction of being the only production firearm to see general issue among both Allied and Axis forces during World War II. It’s still in service throughout the world today.

It may have been ugly, almost impossible to cock, and “rubbish, really,” but the PIAT gun was also a fierce weapon against Nazi tanks.

Lieutenant Blowers carried nothing more than his six-shot Webley revolver as a personal defense weapon. Crawling through fetid German trenches stacked deep with corpses both fresh and otherwise, Blowers and his crew picked their way across the most dangerous terrain on earth.

During WWII, a man from Nepal held off more than thirty Japanese troops, while armed with just a knife and Lee Enfield rifle. This is the story of Lachhiman Gurung and his rifle.

The British Sten gun was effective at close range, cheap, and easy to make, but nearly botched the assassination of one of Hitler’s henchmen.

The M3 submachine gun was built for WWII. The stamped steel gun was nicknamed the “Grease Gun,” but it cost Uncle Sam only $18 to make.

The M1 was a flawed, bulky design. It also brought state-of-the-art firepower to the hands of infantrymen across multiple wars.

The 1911 pistol is as much a part of the fabric of America as is baseball, fast cars, and pretty girls. Literally, countless young men headed off into harm’s way with one of Mr. Browning’s hand cannons tucked into their belts.

The M1 carbine was designed as a Personal Defense Weapon of sorts. It combined the portability of a handgun with the magazine capacity of an autoloading rifle.