Following a wholesale modernization program in the later interwar period, the French adopted a new handgun just in time for the Second World War.

When the United States finally entered the Great War in 1917 it found itself facing a significant shortage of modern rifles, and turned to a foreign design already in mass production domestically.

The end of a decades-long partnership between German arms manufacturers and China was a small lot of Kar98k Mauser rifles sent to Chiang Kai-Shek’s armies in the late 1930s.

In the lead-up to the Second World War attempts by British government arsenals to make a cheaper alternative to the commercial Webley revolver that would meet with limited success.

Germany’s first smokeless powder design was not without its problems, but still found itself a prolific presence on the battlefields of the Great War.

The standard sniper’s rifle of the Imperial Japanese military in the Second World War was a relatively unimpressive creation, being little more than a standard Type 38 rifle fitted with a scope.

A product of Sino-Soviet cooperation, the Soviet TT33 pistol was one of many designs to see widespread production and use by the People’s Republic of China and other communist states and movements around the world.

Despite attempts to replace the 6.5mm cartridge that had been deemed obsolete after the Great War, the improved short rifle pattern of the Carcano rifle would service as the official standard issue of the Regio Esercito in the Second World War.

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.

The Mauser C96 had been one of the first successful autoloading handguns introduced, and had served around the world before, during and after the Great War. In the interwar period Spanish copies proliferated, including a popular select fire model, prompting a German response.

A major step in the evolution of Paul Mauser’s iconic series of military rifles, the M1893 would be the final arm of Imperial Spain as well the inspiration behind an American icon.

Despite initially looking to replace the entire system after the Boer War, the British Short, Magazine, Lee Enfield really came into its own during the Great War, cementing itself as one of the most iconic weapons of the conflict.

The standard issue sidearm of the Austrian half of the Hapsburg Empire’s forces in the Great War was a solid if eclectic handgun that would prove cable in locals such as the Balkans, Eastern Front and Italian Alps.

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.

Problems with Japan’s first smokeless powder rifle prompted a redesign of the mechanism, leading to one of the strongest and simplest rifles ever produced, which would serve the Empire for almost half a century.

The first smokeless powder handgun adopted by France was an interesting revolver designed with cavalry in mind, but would serve on long after the demise of the horse soldier.

The Gewehr 98 had served the Imperial Army well in the Great War, but was showing its age by the 1930s. This would lead to a program of modernization, and its product would become the standard service weapon of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War.

When the original Three-Line Rifle M1891 Mosin Nagant was adopted, a slightly shorter model followed soon after to fill a unique role in the army of Tsar Nicholas II

When the Kingdom of Italy marched to war in 1915 they carried the black powder Bodeo revolver in their holsters. Over the course of the conflict development of a reliable autoloader would prove problematic until later in the war.

The British Sten Gun was an extremely simple stamped steel submachinegun developed as an inexpensive replacement for the existing Lanchesters in service in the early phases of the Second World War. The Mark II variant would go on to be the most produced and iconic variant of the weapon, and a replica example is shown here.