Some of History’s Most Interesting Forgotten Handguns
The history of small arms is replete with examples of handguns that,
right or wrong, never found a home. Many were manufactured for military
contracts that never materialized, others were made for a civilian
market that had no interest in them. Some of them were decent but
impractical, others were not decent or practical, and some just had bad
luck.
The following inclusions are chiefly handguns that feature unique, often ingenious, feats of engineering that at least deserve to be remembered for their daring, innovation, or, in some cases, a possible lack of common sense. Whether any of these handguns deserved a better fate and wider distribution or are appropriately consigned to the scrapheap of history is a conclusion you will have to draw on your own.
Cochran Turret Revolver
Instead of the standard cylindrical…cylinder that rotates around an axis, all of the tubes facing forward, the Cochran Turret Revolver pistol featured a sort of ball-and-powder wafer which rotated with each shot. There was one pretty significant problem with that design: Open, loaded wafer-holes pointed in pretty much every direction, including back at the shooter. Being open meant that a spark from the shot could (and often did) set off the other chambers. It’s probably the only pistol that always has a round aimed at its owner.
Webley Auto Revolver .455
The .455 Webley Auto Revolver is likely the least “forgotten” of the handguns on this list. With its bigger bullets, iconic zig-zag cylinder design, and one of history’s only automatic revolvers, its steampunk aesthetic is well-known to gun enthusiasts. The mechanism cleverly enables the top half of the gun, hammer, cylinder, and barrel to shift back, re-cocking the hammer with each shot. However, the .455 caliber never enjoyed the popularity of 9mm ammo or the .45 ACP, they were expensive, and the concept just never really took off.
Sunngård Automatic Pistol
Norwegian inventor Harald Sunngård saw two problems with early 20th century handguns that he wanted to fix: low-capacity and stressed soldiers under fire fumbling reloads. To address these issues, he introduced the Sunngård Automatic Pistol, which featured two .25 caliber magazines side-by-side in the grip. When one ran dry, the shooter dropped it and pushed the other into place. Despite the impressive 50-round capacity of one handgun, the military considered the pistol unwieldy and under powered.
M1942 Sosso Pistol
The M1942 was an experimental, high-capacity pistol designed by the Italian military during WWII. Its addition to the engineering of small arms was the (almost certainly still) entirely unique magazine design. Instead of the standard spring-feed-and-follow, it is a belt-fed handgun. The magazine was a loop of chain that held 21 9mm cartridges. For the time, that was nearly twice the capacity of its closest competitor. It was an expensive design that never saw mass production, much to the disappointment of purveyors of bulk 9mm ammo.
Gyrojet Pistol
It’s not even clear if the Gyrojet should be called a pistol. It would more accurately be described as a handheld rocket launcher. It was a smooth-bore “pistol” that fired small rockets. The cartridges, rockets, were angled to give the projectile spin, making rifling in the handgun unnecessary. Unlike inert bullets, the Gyrojet projectiles actually gained velocity after leaving the barrel, reaching a peak velocity of 1250 FPS (twice that of a .45 ACP) at around 60 feet. Unfortunately for fans of handheld rocket launchers, its accuracy wasn’t great and they were a little expensive to shoot, at about $100 per round.
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Ammunition Depot is simply the best source for ammunition online. If you have a firearm and are looking to load it, chances are they have you covered. From .50 BMG and .22 LR to .223 Remington and 9mm ammo for sale, they’ve got it. Ammunition Depot is passionate about firearms, the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and giving back. As such, they’re proud to give to charities for law enforcement and the troops, to support shooting sports, and to promote job growth in their home state of Florida, with an emphasis on hiring vets.
Enjoy quick shipping on everything you need to protect your home, hunt for dinner, or just have fun on the range, at Ammunitiondepot.com
The following inclusions are chiefly handguns that feature unique, often ingenious, feats of engineering that at least deserve to be remembered for their daring, innovation, or, in some cases, a possible lack of common sense. Whether any of these handguns deserved a better fate and wider distribution or are appropriately consigned to the scrapheap of history is a conclusion you will have to draw on your own.
Cochran Turret Revolver
Instead of the standard cylindrical…cylinder that rotates around an axis, all of the tubes facing forward, the Cochran Turret Revolver pistol featured a sort of ball-and-powder wafer which rotated with each shot. There was one pretty significant problem with that design: Open, loaded wafer-holes pointed in pretty much every direction, including back at the shooter. Being open meant that a spark from the shot could (and often did) set off the other chambers. It’s probably the only pistol that always has a round aimed at its owner.
Webley Auto Revolver .455
The .455 Webley Auto Revolver is likely the least “forgotten” of the handguns on this list. With its bigger bullets, iconic zig-zag cylinder design, and one of history’s only automatic revolvers, its steampunk aesthetic is well-known to gun enthusiasts. The mechanism cleverly enables the top half of the gun, hammer, cylinder, and barrel to shift back, re-cocking the hammer with each shot. However, the .455 caliber never enjoyed the popularity of 9mm ammo or the .45 ACP, they were expensive, and the concept just never really took off.
Sunngård Automatic Pistol
Norwegian inventor Harald Sunngård saw two problems with early 20th century handguns that he wanted to fix: low-capacity and stressed soldiers under fire fumbling reloads. To address these issues, he introduced the Sunngård Automatic Pistol, which featured two .25 caliber magazines side-by-side in the grip. When one ran dry, the shooter dropped it and pushed the other into place. Despite the impressive 50-round capacity of one handgun, the military considered the pistol unwieldy and under powered.
M1942 Sosso Pistol
The M1942 was an experimental, high-capacity pistol designed by the Italian military during WWII. Its addition to the engineering of small arms was the (almost certainly still) entirely unique magazine design. Instead of the standard spring-feed-and-follow, it is a belt-fed handgun. The magazine was a loop of chain that held 21 9mm cartridges. For the time, that was nearly twice the capacity of its closest competitor. It was an expensive design that never saw mass production, much to the disappointment of purveyors of bulk 9mm ammo.
Gyrojet Pistol
It’s not even clear if the Gyrojet should be called a pistol. It would more accurately be described as a handheld rocket launcher. It was a smooth-bore “pistol” that fired small rockets. The cartridges, rockets, were angled to give the projectile spin, making rifling in the handgun unnecessary. Unlike inert bullets, the Gyrojet projectiles actually gained velocity after leaving the barrel, reaching a peak velocity of 1250 FPS (twice that of a .45 ACP) at around 60 feet. Unfortunately for fans of handheld rocket launchers, its accuracy wasn’t great and they were a little expensive to shoot, at about $100 per round.
About Ammunition Depot
Ammunition Depot is simply the best source for ammunition online. If you have a firearm and are looking to load it, chances are they have you covered. From .50 BMG and .22 LR to .223 Remington and 9mm ammo for sale, they’ve got it. Ammunition Depot is passionate about firearms, the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and giving back. As such, they’re proud to give to charities for law enforcement and the troops, to support shooting sports, and to promote job growth in their home state of Florida, with an emphasis on hiring vets.
Enjoy quick shipping on everything you need to protect your home, hunt for dinner, or just have fun on the range, at Ammunitiondepot.com
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