In the aftermath of the bloody Civil War the newly reunified United States found itself needing to adopt a modern breechloading cartridge arm, and began to explore a solution using the surplus of rifled muskets left over from the conflict.

Faced with a rapidly expanding military and a need to conserve primary small arms for the front lines, the US would turn to a simple but effective bolt action trainer in .22 Long Rifle.

Despite victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898, it was clear that the Krag rifles in American service were inferior to the Mausers used by their enemies. This prompt would lead to the development of a new universal short rifle that would serve in two world wars and beyond.

With the onset of the Second World War the British found themselves short of handguns, and just as they had in the Great War they looked across the Atlantic for a solution. They found the popular Smith & Wesson Military and Police Model, and promptly placed an order for a large number in their .38/200 cartridge.

Arguably the most iconic handgun in history, the M1911 .45 would serve the US Armed Forces for over a century, and is an established American icon.

The iconic standard issue rifle of the United States during the Second World War, famously deemed by no less a figure than General George Patton as “The Greatest Implement of Battle Ever Devised”.