Gun Stories

The first light machine gun manufactured in quantity that saw military use.

The Sub gun that almost replaced the Thompson Sub Machine Gun.

A full auto 180 round 22 caliber machine gun is nothing but fun.

The origins of Sig Sauer from Thuringia, Germany, to Newton, New Hampshire.

Merwin & Hulbert Revolvers, renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship and precision machining during their time.

Joe Mantegna takes a look at one of the rifles that's significant to westward expansion and enjoys a renaissance thanks to Jeremiah Johnson.

Joe Mantegna explores Russia's pre-WWII, larger-than-life answer to Browning's M2.

Joe Mantegna investigates the lesser-known but significantly important .36 caliber revolver from the American Civil War.

Joe Mantegna revisits the futuristic pistol born during the Space Race of the 1950s.

Rock Island Armory is using its new facility in Utah to make their latest firearms including the VRF14 and the RIA 5.0

Joe Mantegna examines the first semiautomatic weapon capable of firing a .44 cartridge.

Joe Mantegna takes a look at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, which features a special M1 Garand recently discovered in Normandy.

Joe Mantegna revisits some of his favorite firearms from previous episodes.

Joe Mantegna investigates the 10mm created by Col. Jeff Cooper and made famous by Sonny Crockett.

Joe Mantegna explores the famed machine gun that fires 3000 rounds per minute.

Joe Mantegna investigates the pistol that Browning designed to compete with his own 1911

Joe Mantegna discusses the Civil War repeater that President Lincoln made famous.

Joe Mantegna continues to revisit classic semiautomatic pistols from the last 100 years.

Joe Mantegna takes a look at some of the most famous semi-automatic pistols ever produced.

Joe Mantena examines the mass-produced sidearm for Nazi German during WWII.

Joe Mantegna examines the U.S. Army's first new subgun in over 70 years.

Joe Mantegna visits Cabot Arms to get a first hand look at their 1911 made out of a meteorite...yes, meteorite.

Joe Mantegna sweeps the trenches to discuss the history of the submachine gun.

Joe Mantegna explores the lineage of the combat shotgun; one of the most effective combat weapons in history.

Sig Sauer hires a new CEO, and the company never looked back. Hosted by Joe Mantegna.

Sig acquired J.P. Sauer and Sohn in 1975, positioning themselves as a leader in firearms capabilities, creating industry standards such as the P220, the SG550 and many others. Hosted by Joe Mantegna.

Host Joe Mantena visits Sig Sauer whose very name immediately brings to mind a set of standards that are unmatched in the firearms world.

Joe Mantegna explores the surge of pistols based on the AR and AK platforms.

Joe Mantegna explores the rag-tag cavalry that stormed San Juan Hill.

Joe Mantegna explores the rag-tag cavalry that stormed San Juan Hill.

Joe Mantegna discusses one of the most famous 9mm handguns ever produced.

Joe Mantegna explores Nazi Germany's historic assault rifle.

Joe Mantegna travels to Krebs, Oklahoma to visit the land his grandfather purchased in 1905 and fire the 1897 Winchester that belonged to his grandfather.

Possibly the greatest submachine gun ever manufactured, the MP5 has become essential to military and law enforcement personnel.

The Swiss have always led the way with precision rifles, owing it to their citizen army. From the Schmidt-Rubin through the current 550 series of weapons, these rifles have demanded quality throughout history.

Artists work in a variety of mediums; canvas, stone, clay and yes, even firearms.

Not only did Mikhail Kalashnikov create what may be the perfect battlefield rifle, his design of the PKM has been in use since 1969 and sets the standard for others to follow.

The Desert Eagle is a handgun that can legitimately lay claim to being a movie star all by itself.

Possibly the greatest submachine gun ever manufactured, the MP5 has become essential to military and law enforcement personnel.

Rick Harrison from Pawn Stars shows us some of his most unique acquisitions as Gun Stories looks at the strangest guns designed throughout history.

The popularity and fame of the Winchester 73 is pretty self-evident. After all, how many firearms have had a major Hollywood movie with their name as the title?

The British Webley revolver occupies the same unique space in the world of guns that the English Bulldog does in the world of canines - squat, ugly to the point of beauty and lots and lots of very sharp teeth.

Sometimes the future arrives slightly ahead of its time, and often, from an unexpected direction. With almost 100 years in production, the lever action Savage Model 99 is unequivocally one of the most successful rifles in the world.

A country that is always at war either becomes an expert at weapons' design or it perishes. Israel is such a country, and their iconic Galil assault rifle is a classic example of a superior battlefield weapon.

The German World War 2 MG-42 stands as one of the greatest machine guns in history. The story of the American M-60 machine gun, affectionately or not, known as ""The Pig," begins there.

Armscor/Rock Island Armory can trace its roots back to the early 1900s, beginning as Squires Bingham and Company, a clothing and sporting goods store in Republic of the Philippines.

While the bloody arc of John Dillinger's life is well known, less time has been spent on the convergence of two technologies that made Dillinger possible: cars and guns.

They buck and they roar and they twist in your hands like fire-breathing dragon. You can feel the recoil all the way up to your shoulders. Big bore handguns are probably the greatest challenge in all the shooting sports. But today’s generation of handgun hunters have not just tamed those fire-breathing dragon,but brought them to heel.

Imagine an inexpensive and well tested device than can make shooting any gun safer, reduce recoil by as much as a third and eliminate the single the biggest problem in all of shooting, the flinch. Now imagine that you can’t buy this amazing device without the permission of the federal government. In this episode we’re talking, very quietly, about silencers.

When Confederate canons opened fire on Ft. Sumter near Charleston, neither the North nor the South were prepared for war. Indeed, neither side understood the great bloodletting they were entering. The Civil War changed not only America, but warfare itself. And for the largely agricultural South, they started from behind when it came to firearms.

A little more than 150 years ago, the guns of the Union and Confederate forces finally fell silent after five years of what would be described by both sides as hell on earth. The Civil War fundamentally changed America, and the arms of the Civil War fundamentally changed warfare.

One of the most amazing things about the history of warfare is how many of the most fearsome weapons were created by men who felt their inventions would end war. Alfred Nobel and his work with gunpowder and explosives, Hiram Maxim’s machine gun, and before them all, Richard Jordan Gatling and his “terrible marvel,” the gun that bore his name.

Maybe the most famous gun advertisement in the world, “Do Or Die,” has a huge grizzly bearing down on a cowboy armed not with a lever action carbine, but a semiauto rifle; the Remington Model 8 was ushering in a new era in hunting rifle technology.

Maybe it was the movie DR. NO or THE LONGEST DAY, but what first catches your eye about the Bren Gun, the iconic British light machine gun of World War 2, is that it is upside down, with the curved magazine sticking out the top instead of the bottom. But whichever way you looked at it, the Bren is one of the most successful machine guns in the history of warfare. Ask any “Brenner,” as its operators were called.

Sam Colt — genius, huckster, snake oil salesman and one of the inventors of the modern world. His revolving pistols changed firearms and warfare forever, and his percussion revolvers remain with us, ageless beauty matched with relentless killing efficiency.

The date was May 9, 1864, and Union General James Sedgwick had just admonished his troops in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House to stop flinching from Confederate fire almost 1000 yards away. “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance,” he shouted. Within seconds, the Confederate sniper’s bullet hit the General just below his left eye, and the Union troops learned the battlefield-controlling power of the sniper.

If there was ever a gun perfectly suited to its time, it’s the Ruger Standard .22 semiauto pistol, Bill Ruger’s enduring triumph of modern manufacturing, the relentless pursuit of a vision and, and this is important, an uncanny sense of what the American public wanted.

Was there ever a more enthusiastic President than Theodore Roosevelt? Teddy Roosevelt lived life largely, a character perfectly suited to the Gilded Age of American History. Cowboy, soldier, politician and first and foremost, a hunter.

Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle that, when fully assembled, creates one of the most recognizable gun profiles of all time. The C-96 Mauser, as its more commonly known, the Broomhandle Mauser, is not only a machine of warfare, but the finest expression of Victorian Era gun-making, maybe the ultimate “Steampunk” pistol.

Think of it as the Lamborghini of revolvers. The Colt Python in .357 Magnum with its sleek lines and credible finish, superb accuracy and flawless trigger pull , is described as the finest production revolver ever made.

The Bullpup rifle design with the magazine and action behind the pistol grip seems like an excellent solution to the constant military demands of shorter and lighter. But after decades of service, the verdict is still out on the bullpups.

The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army’s standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957.

The Browning Auto-5 was the first mass-produced semi-automatic shotgun. It was designed by John Browning in 1898 and patented in 1900. It was produced continually for almost 100 years by several manufacturers with production ending in 1998. It features a distinctive high rear end, earning it the nickname “Humpback”. The top of the action goes straight back on a level with the barrel before cutting down sharply towards the buttstock. This distinctive feature makes it easy to identify A-5s from a distance. The shotgun was also used in military service worldwide between World War I and the Vietnam War.

Some times fame comes calling from the oddest directions. For the Walther PPK, fame arrived in the form of a letter to the author Iain Fleming. Host Joe Mantegna and numerous experts explore the history of James Bond’s famous firearm.

The shotgun may be man’s oldest firearm, but that doesn’t make it any less lethal for modern military applications. In fact, today’s battlefields has spawned a state of the art fighting shotgun from one of the industry’s most revered names….. Benelli and the M4. Hosted by Joe Mantegna.

Americans who faced its fury in WWII, called it the Schmeisser, nicknamed after a man who had nothing to do with its design. But the machines pistol designated MP38 and MP40, perfectly matched Germany’s philosophy of all out-war. They soon proved themselves on battlefields across Europe, a terrifying weapon in the hands of an apparently unstoppable military machine.

Some times the ugly duckling wins. Who would have thought that the homely Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle would rise from its imperial roots in Russia and to become one of the successful firearms in history. It also captured the hearts of American gun buyers used to the best in everything. Indeed, the Mosin-Nagant story is unique.

The year was 1825 and the man who made his name with fine dueling pistols and superb sporting rifles, was getting ready to see his name become a household word. Philadelphia gun maker Henry Deringer looked at the huge flintlock pistol of the day and had an idea of a different sort of gun – small, lightweight and concealable. He called his new gun The Derringer Pistol.

Perhaps not surprisingly, few firearms have been designed by murderers serving prison sentences. Of those few, fewer still are adopted by the U.S. Military as a major war fighting tool. David M. Williams, a convicted murderer and former moonshiner redesigned a prototype from Winchester which became the M1 Carbine.

The Vickers machine gun was based on the successful Maxim gun of the late 19th century. After purchasing the Maxim company in 1896, Vickers took the design of the Maxim gun and improved it. It changed the world, some times in terrifying and horrific ways.

A Winchester 1873 rifle was ubiquitous during America’s westward expansion. Whether in the hands of Buffalo Bill Cody,The Texas Rangers or Billy the Kid, it left an indelible mark on the Western Frontier.

In America, some times bigger really is better. At least it seems that way when dealing with handguns. And they don’t come any bigger than the Ruger Redhawk and its Super Redhawk brother, both that have come to define the phrase “big bore”. Hosted by Joe Mantegna. See below for more information and reference links to this episode.

His friends called him Uzi, but Major Uziel Gal never wanted that name attached to the firearm he designed. The Israelis simply ignored his request and the Uzi submachine gun, one of the most iconic firearm in history came into being. Hosted by Joe Mantegna.

Gunsite Academy’s Cory Trapp and Michael Bane talk about the Modern 1911 featured in episode #10 of Gun Stories season 2 on Outdoor Channel.

If ever a firearms could be said to have a inferiority complex, it would be the Remington Rolling Block rifle. Perhaps the most common rifle used by pioneers in America’s westward expansion, it lost out first to the Sharps and later the Winchesters and the critical arena of publicity. But the Rolling Block wrote its name in large letters across our western frontier.

It’s been said that the history of weapons is indeed the history of the world. Maybe a bit of an overstatement, but certainly true in the case of the Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947, the AK-47. I’s a rifle that has quite literary reshaped the world.

When we think of those things that are quintessential American, certainly apple pie comes to mind. Not far behind that delicious vision is a different image – one of long summer afternoons spent plinking with a beloved .22 rifle. And the rifle that embodies that image is the Ruger 10/22, a gun that has earned the name America’s Rifle.

As World War I began, the American dough boys needed a new machine gun. John Browning responded with his water cooled model 1917. When the war ended, Browning made a few changes to his signature design. What emerged was the air cooled Model 1919.

The Pistole Parabellum 1908 or more simply the Luger, is as emblematic of the German empire as the slab sided 1911 is of America. Although it was not the first semi automatic pistol, the Luger’s early successes proved that as the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the semi auto pistol was a wave of the future.

Once in a blue moon, a machine becomes more than the sum of its parts. It is even more rare when that machine is a tool of war. in 1919, John Taliaferro Thompson, a career army officer, created the firearm that would make his name immortal.

What was the gun that won the west? Was it the Winchester 73, the Colt Single Action Army or the Springfield Trapdoor? No, it was the one gun that any person could hunt with and use for self defense. It was the Double Barrel Shotgun.

General George S. Patton declared the M1 Garand the greatest battle implement ever devised. Canadian inventor John Garand’s semi auto rifle with its 8 round end block clip provided the firepower superiority that helped turn the tide for American soldiers in World War II.

Gunsite Academy’s Cory Trapp is the armorer on Gun Stories and you have seen him in all the high speed videography scenes in season 1. Cory is back for season 2 and this time, you can also watch him weekly in our online exclusive where he and Michael Bane talk about the featured guns in each episode. This week, the topic is the S&W Model 29.

There are many images that come to mind when you mention the Cold War. Nuclear arms race, The Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall… East and West, divided. For many, it is the image of the AK 47. Thousands of Soviet troops, marching in-step with a rifle that literally defined communism on the battlefield. But, if the AK defined communism, then the FN FAL was the definitive symbol of Western freedom, and the soldiers who guarded it. So much so that it was called, and is still remembered as “The right arm of the free world.”

In the early 1980s, Gaston Glock, who knew nothing about firearms but was an expert in advanced synthetic polymers, assembled a huge group of experts to help him create the ideal military handgun. The result of that meeting was ultimately the Glock 17, which virtually overnight became the single best-selling pistol in history…

It is arguably the most recognized firearm in the world, and the longest serving US infantry rifle ever fielded. It has been copied by numerous countries, and its civilian counterpart is produced by virtually every firearms manufacturer out there. Yet, when it was first introduced, many people immediately began writing its obituary because of the problems it encountered. Some claimed it was adopted more through political pressure rather than performance. And the design was a polar opposite of what a United States military rifle’s virtues were supposed to be. But many of its early problems were brought about by factors that its designer had never intended the rifle to operate with.

How did the perfect revolver for its time end up in second place? We look at the Smith & Wesson Top Break, a classic American revolver used by Frank and Jesse James, Annie Oakley, Bill Tilghman and Buffalo Bill . Gun experts you’ll meet in this episode: Larry Potterfield, Jim Supica, Jason Schubert, Dr. Jack Atwater, Dick Williams, Bill Laughridge, Lance Olson and Stephen Hunter.

Faced with trench warfare, WWI troops needed a portable weapon with enough firepower to change to course of a battle. John Browning stepped up and came up with what was then the perfect answer – the Browning Automatic Rifle. Gun experts you’ll meet in this episode: Stephen Hunter, Lance Olson, Alex Rose, Gene “Evil Roy” Pearcey, Bill Laughridge, Philip Shreier, Dr. Jack Atwater, Larry Potterfield, Gary Paul Johnston, Frank James, Jason Schubert and Ted Nugent.

The Winchester Model 94 are written in large letters across American history. This rifle redefines the meaning of success. Gun experts you’ll meet in this episode: Alex Rose, Gene “Evil Roy” Pearcey, Dick Williams, Buz Mills, George Harris, Ken Hackathorn, Bill Laughridge, Philip Shreier, Dr. Jack Atwater, Larry Potterfield, Gary Paul Johnston, Frank James, Jason Schubert and Ted Nugent.

Samuel Colt and his invention of the revolver changed the world. The ability to fire five or six rounds without reloading made a huge difference in the history of firearms. Sam Colt set a standard, but his 1873 Single Action Army was a model he wasn’t even around to see. Gun experts you’ll meet in this episode: Alex Rose, Gene “Evil Roy” Pearcey, Dick Williams, George Harris, Ken Hackathorn, Bill Laughridge, Jim Supica, Philip Shreier, Dr. Jack Atwater, Larry Potterfield, Gary Paul Johnston, Stephen Hunter, Jason Schubert, Ross Seyfried and Ted Nugent.

When smokeless powder were introduced in the late 19th century, we experienced a new era in the manufacturing of firearms. Paul Mauser’s bolt action design has been copied ever since and are still used in modern rifles. Gun experts you’ll meet in this episode: Philip Shreier, Dr. Jack Atwater, Larry Potterfield, Gary Paul Johnston, Lance Olson, Stephen Hunter, Jason Schubert, Ross Seyfried and Ted Nugent.

We’re taking a look back at the rich history of John Browning’s model 1911. We have a big line up of gun experts for Gun Stories. In this episode, we are featuring Alex Rose, Ken Hackathorn, Stephen Hunter, Gary Paul Johnston, Dr. Jack Atwater, Frank James, Philip Schreier, Ted Nugent, Bill Laughridge, Jim Supica, Buz Mills, Gene “Evil Roy” Pearcey, Larry Potterfield, Dwight Van Brunt, Lance Olson, Ross Seyfried, Dick Williams and Roger Smith.