Features and Museums
FirearmsTruth is proud to present photo galleries from some of the finest military museums and historic centers from around the world. Please contact us if you’d like to share photos from an museum large or small. While many gun grabbers and opponents to the Second Amendment might not respect firearms, we understand that the small arms of the world make up a very important part of history and should be preserved. Therefore this weekly feature will offer just a sampling of what these museums have to offer.
Prague Military Museum
Athens War Museum
Venice Naval Museum
National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
Egyptian National Military Museum (in Cairo)
Arizona Military Museum
Imperial War Museum
Musée de l’Armée, Les Invalides
Airborne Museum Ossterbeek and Arnhem
Tower of London
Fort Bridger, Wyoming
Castel Sant’Angelo
Past Features
Michigan Antique Arms Collectors Show Photo Recap
The 500 table show offered a variety of firearms from around the world.
SHOT Show Recap 2012
Another year, another great SHOT Show.
SHOT Show Recap: GSG StG44
The GSG (German Sports Guns) GSG StG 44, a modern recreation of the infamous first “assault rifle.”
Firearms from the MAX
Fall means many things, kids go back to school. Football season starts, Christmas is just around the corner, and it means it is time for the MAX (Military Antiques Xtravaganza). Read more
FirearmsTruth at the NRA Show 2011
You know it is an interesting day when you meet former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, shake hands with the NRA’s Cam Edwards and share a flight with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Read more
Guns of SOS (Show of Shows) 2011
The annual military collectibles show features some of the impressive historic military firearms ever seen under one roof. Read more
SHOT Show Recap 2011
Highlights of the 2011 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show). Read more
Gun Collecting: The Dreyse 1907 Pistol
The Dreyse M1907 Pistol is a weapon that saw use during both World Wars. It was first used in war by the German and Austrian Empires, and later by Nazi German Volksstrum and Volksgrenadier units. It was also carried by Vatican City units. While never officially exported to the United States, many G.I.s brought them back as war trophies. Read more
Gun History: Air Cooled Browning .30 Caliber
When the United States entered WWI, the Army needed a heavy machinegun. Browning developed the Model 1917 that was chambered to fire the standard .30-06 cartridge. The M1917 was a water-cooled weapon that was mounted to a heavy tripod. It proved to be a very effective defensive weapon that could lay down a large amount of sustained firepower. Over 68,000 were produced during the war. 580 air-cooled units were produced for use in airplanes. Read more
Gun Collecting: Suiting up to Shoot – Talking With the Zoot Shooters
Gangsters – love ‘em or hate ‘em – they’re part of American culture. The “Roaring 20s” were a period of idealized lawlessness, much like the Old West. It lives on as TV shows such as HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and movies from The Godfather to Public Enemy keep gangsters in the forefront of our imagination.
Now the group Zoot Shooters is hoping to capture the imagination of the 1920s and 1930s with a new form of shooting competition that mixes the music, fashion and of course the guns of those bygone days. One of the group’s founders, Jason “The Hustler” Huss, talked to use about what exactly it means to be a Zoot Shooter. Read more
Gun History: Reising Submachine Guns
The Thompson and the Grease Gun are well known submachine guns used by the Allies during WWII. The Reising Models 50 and 55 aren’t as well known but fulfilled a gap for the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy. It fires the .45 ACP cartridge at a rate if between 450 and 500 rounds a minute. It was designed and patented by Eugene Reising in 1940. During WWII around 100,000 Reisings were produced, although exact numbers aren’t available. Read more
Gun Collecting: Why the Outrage Over Gun Shows and Gun Collecting?
Looking back this year, one topic came up again and again – American guns were fueling the cartel wars in Mexico. Of course that resulted in an all out attack on the American gun shops and gun shows.
The other topic that came up again and again in the mainstream media was how gun shows in states with so-called “lax” gun laws were resulting in illegal guns in states with restrictive gun ownership laws. The argument was made, time and time again that private sales or the infamous “gun show loophole” was at fault. Supposedly it allowed criminals, the mentally unstable and all other sorts of criminals to obtain guns. Read more
Gun History: The M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun
The Browning Automatic Rifle is the iconic American light machine gun from the WWII era. And while the BAR which was first deployed in 1918, was ahead of its time, by WWII the weapon design was showing its age. The Johnson M1941 took the basic principles of the Browning and added features that made it a better battle platform. Read more
Gun Collecting: The SKS (Samozaryadniy Karabin sistemi Simonova)
Few foreign made firearms have made such a big impact on American buyers as the SKS and its variations. The SKS was launched in the U.S. market in the 1980’s and soon became a blockbuster for hunters and casual target shooters alike. The light carbine is cheap, accurate and easy to maintain. When I bought my first SKS in 1992, I could find Chinese and Eastern Bloc ammunition selling retail at 10 cents a round. There were few targets that eluded my aim, even with the open sights. Read more
Gun Collecting: Really Small Arms
Collecting firearms is a fun hobby for those of us who don’t care for superheroes or sports legends. Many collectables have to be locked away behind plastic and so they can’t be held in your hands. This is nothing like cradling a vintage firearm just before firing it at the range. And while full sized rifles and handguns are the norm, some collectables fit in the palm of your hand. Read more
No WWII Small Arms Collection Can Be Complete Without The Mosin Nagent Model 1891 Rifle
For Americans, the M1 Garand is the rifle that represents WWII. It is an iconic Army and Marine weapon that says U.S. firepower, like the B-17 Flying Fortress does for the USAAF. But for those who came from east of the Odor River, the Mosin Nagent and its various models was the standard small arm rifle. By the end of WWII over 34 million men and women served in the Soviet military, many of whom were armed with the Mosin Nagent. Read more
Book Review: THE GUN
The history of the AK-47 has been told countless times, but with each telling the story has seemed to change a bit. Likely much of this is to do with the fact that the gun was designed and developed in a top secret facility deep within the Soviet Union during the brutal regime of Josef Stalin. But much of this is also because the firearm has developed its own cult of personality, it is a weapon that was once an iconic symbol of the Soviet Red Army and today is recognized as much as the de facto gun of extremists, terrorists, insurgents and gang bangers.
In his book THE GUN (Simon & Schuster, $28.00), author C.J. Chivers delves into the story of the AK-47, looking at its origins. Unlike many past writers he acknowledges that the tale begins much earlier. Not just with the StG44/MP-44 – the infamous Sturmgewehr – the German World War II assault rifle to which the AK-47 bares more than a passing resemblance. Chivers takes the story way back actually to the great grandfather of modern fully automatic firearms, namely the Gatling Gun. Read more
Gun Collecting: Smith & Wesson Victory Model
The Smith & Wesson Model 10 has been called the most successful handgun of all time, and the most popular center-fire revolver of the 20th Century. (See: The History of Smith & Wesson Firearms by Dean K. Boorman). The Model 10 is a .38-caliber six-shot pistol that first went into production in 1899, known as the .38 Hand Ejector model. The Model 10 is a rugged design yet easy to mass produce. Over 6 million have been manufactured to date. Read more
Gun Collecting: TT-30 Pistol
In the 1920s, after the end of the Russian Civil War, the Soviet Union’s Red Army looked to replace the aging and obsolete Nagant M1895 revolver. During the mid to late 1920s a number of pistols designs were considered, and the winner of the bunch of the TT-33, or Tula Tokarev, designed by Fedor Tokarev. Read more
Gun Collecting: Japanese Rifles of World War II
Japanese rifles often get a bad rap, at least when compared to the rifles of the other major combatant powers of World War II. Even collectors of militaria view the Japanese rifles as being of a lower quality, but this isn’t quite true. One reason for this misconception is that much of what survived, and is now in collections is actually from the later war years, thus not up to the highest quality. Read more
Gun Collecting: Nagant Model 1895 Revolver
One of the most unique vintage military revolvers is known for its use in Russia, but yet it was in fact a Belgian designed firearm. This was the Model 1895 Nagant revolver, which was in actuality developed in 1894 by Emile and Leon Nagant, two Belgian gun designers, who had previous experience with the Russian arms industry. Their development of the revolver coincided with the Imperial Russian Army’s need for a new sidearm, which the firm of Fabrique d’armes Emile et Leon Nagant designed and brought to production. The Nagant brothers were already well known at the Russian Court as they had previously helped design the now infamous Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 rifle. Read more
Gun Collecting: Johnson M1941 Highly Prized By Collectors
The iconic M1 Garand isn’t the only semi-automatic rifle used by combat troops in WWII. Marine officer Melvin Johnson began work on what came to be known as the Johnson M1941 in 1935. At the time, the army was convinced that the M1 was the rifle of the future and some have speculated that when Johnson’s rifle was tested against the M1, the deck was stacked against him. But the Marine Corp wasn’t convinced by the Army’s praise for the M1. Read more
Gun Collecting: Replicas To Fill the Void in a Collection
To some the mere idea of a copy or replica is something less than real. The truth however is that it isn’t always possible to have a completely “real” item. Consider that many museums have replicas, and even real tanks and aircraft have been heavily repaired, restored and otherwise modified. When it comes to collecting some firearms, replicas and copies, as well as dummy guns fill a void, and much more. Gary V. Caprio, senior technical advisor for Keystone Arsenal Replicas talks about what his company offers. Read more
Gun Collecting: Understanding the Basics of Buying a Machinegun
Separating the truth from the fiction can be difficult at times. When it comes to buying certain types of guns you certainly don’t want to cross into any gray area. This is especially true when it comes to machineguns. Despite numerous misconceptions, buying a fully functional machine gun involves a lot more than merely going to a gun show. It can be a long and often times tedious process, one that includes no small amount of paperwork, and when all that is done, be prepared to do some waiting. Read more
Gun Collecting: IMA Offers an Alternative for Machinegun Collectors
Owning a piece of history is something special. Owning a piece of history that is actually a machinegun requires a lot of special paperwork and hassle. The alternative is to get a historic item that doesn’t actually fire. While that might seem like half the fun is missing, think of half the fun you get for having a fantastic display item – one that is generally legal to own and still looks quite impressive. Read more
Gun Collecting: What the Ban on the Importation of M1 Rifles From South Korea Means to Collectors
The history of the M1 rifle is well documented, so there is no need to retell the gun’s famous history. The truth is that it has become a highly sought after collectible. Over the past decade the prices of the M1 has increased at a pace greater than almost any other military firearm. Read more
Gun Collecting: Some WWII Collectors Prefer Rebuilt M1917 .45 Revolvers
The United States was the only major combatant of WWI and WWII that widely issued handguns to non-commissioned officers. Most nations treated handguns as a symbol status to be handed out to officers, not as a frontline battle weapon. The U.S. considered side arms an important supplement to the trench fighting of the First World War. The average combatant of the Great War carried a bolt-action rifle and the use of a quick-firing pistol is easy to understand when it comes to defending or assaulting trenches. Read more
Gun Collecting: Model 1915 CSRG Automatic Rifle
We have all heard the stories about how bad the Chauchat automatic rifle was. That it was discarded by American and French troops alike. That it was the worst machine gun ever. That it was designed by committee and made by many different contractors, requiring hand fitting of non-interchangeable parts. How much of this is true, and how much is myth? Read more
Gun Collecting: The Martini-Henry, Rifle of the British Empire
Many shots have been heard around the world. And each time it was fired from a different rifle. During the Victorian era that rifle was the Martini-Henry. At the end of the 1964 film Zulu, which chronicled the events of the almost infamous frontier outpost of Rorke’s Drift along Zululand where approximately 100 British soldiers fended off an attack by some four thousand Zulu warriors, Stanley Baker replies that the victory wasn’t merely a miracle, but rather, “a short chamber Boxer Henry .45-caliber miracle.” Read more
Gun Collecting: Semi-Automatic Versions of Vintage Machines Could be the Next Best Thing
Certain collectible guns bring out that “wow” factor. This is especially true of the vintage firearms from the Soviet Union that helped turn back the Nazi invaders and were carried by soldiers of the Red Army during the so-called Great Patriotic War. Of course actually trying to obtain a live firing version of the infamous PPSh-41 submachine gun, or DP-28 light machinegun can be no small challenge. Read more
Gun Collecting: Straight Facts on Dragunov Style Rifles
During the Cold War it was the sniper weapon of choice throughout the Warsaw Pact, and was later licensed by China and Iran. Similar variants are used throughout the world, and while not quite as iconic as the AK-47, the Dragunov rifle has become quite popular with collectors today. The long gun fires the versatile 7.62×54mmR, which was used for the Mosin-Nagent bolt action rifle developed at the end of the 19th century, and later with the SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle that was developed during World War II. Read more
Gun Collecting: Machine Guns That Don’t Fire
It might seem like a strange thing to buy; a machine gun that doesn’t actually shoot. But for collectors this really isn’t such an odd thing. Consider that military airplanes in museums don’t exactly fly, and those tanks you’ll see outside National Guard posts aren’t going to be doing any fighting any time soon. So while it may seem like heresy to the faithful gun collector, one alternative when it comes to machine guns is actually getting one that is “non-gun” or “dummy gun.” But there is a lot more to it. Read more
Gun Collecting: Machine Guns Vs. Assault Weapons
As we’ve reported on since launching this site more than a year ago, the fact is simple: the mainstream media does a terrible job in reporting on guns, and much of it is misunderstood even when the reporting is close to accurate. The media would have you believe that “assault weapons” are in fact “machine guns,” but that’s not really the case. Here is why. Read more
