Curtiss SB2C Helldiver — The Big-Tailed Beast

In 1937, the Curtiss SBC Helldiver entered service, but even at that point, the carrier-based two-seat scout/dive bomber was on the verge of being obsolete. Interestingly, it was also the second aircraft produced by Curtiss-Wright to earn the designation “Helldiver” after the United States Ma...

By Peter Suciu

POTD: Sheridan Knockabout – Simple .22 Single Shot From the 1950s

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Sheridan Knockabout single shot pistol manufactured 1953 to 1960, chambered in .22 S/L/LR. Sheridan is mostly remembered for air guns and that’s fair, but they made this thing too. The Knockabout was about as simple as a pistol gets. S...

By Sam.S

POTD: Tennessee Women’s Correctional Colt – Institutional Markings

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Colt Official Police revolver marked “TWC 327” on the butt, issued to the Tennessee Women’s Correctional Institution. Correctional facilities ran numbered weapons inventories for exactly the reason you’d expect. Every...

By Sam.S

Wheelgun Wednesday: Would You Like Some Diamonds With Your S&W?

The high-end auction houses always have some sort of interesting firearm up for auction - sometimes it’s a rare piece of history, sometimes the gun belonged to a notable figure from the past, and sometimes, it’s a set of diamond-encrusted, gold-plastered Smith & Wesson No. 1 revol...

By Zac K

POTD: Williamson Patent Derringer – Rimfire and Percussion in One Gun

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Williamson Patent Derringer manufactured 1866 to 1870, chambered in .41 rimfire, and including a percussion adapter for converting between cartridge and cap operation. The 1860s were a transitional period where percussion and metallic cartri...

By Sam.S

POTD: Colt 1849 Wells Fargo Pair – Serial Numbers 99999 and 100000

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a cased consecutively serialized pair of Colt 1849 Wells Fargo Pocket revolvers, serial numbers 99999 and 100000, likely produced December 31, 1854 and January 1, 1855 respectively. That detail alone is enough. Two guns, one number apart, stra...

By Sam.S

Review: Springfield M1A Tanker

The Springfield Armory M1A Tanker represents the synergistic combination of a compact, full-power rifle with a timelessly attractive aesthetic. Pushing a full-sized 7.62x51mm/.308 Win. round in a chassis that lends itself to maneuverability and easy portage, the M1A Tanker also captures...

By Will Dabbs, MD

Battle of Britain: Myth vs. Reality

The idealized concept immediately took root and blossomed: the Royal Air Force saved Britain from invasion in 1940. The conventional wisdom holds that Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s legendary “few” handed Nazi Germany its first defeat in World War II and paved the road to eventual victo...

By Barrett Tillman

POTD: General Harding’s USMC 1911 – A General’s Sidearm

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a 1913-frame Colt Model 1911 in the USMC serial range, documented as owned by U.S. Army Major General Edwin Forrest Harding. He gifted it to a family friend named Robert James when James came home to Franklin, Ohio after the Korean War. Hardin...

By Sam.S
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