Yesterday a team of historians worked together to produce this excellent discussion of small arms in the World War One era. It's a great introduction to the subject filled with links to more in-depth resources and further reading. I'd recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in what kind of weapons pop up during classic-era Mythos adventures.
As a bonus, you won't have to wait for Gawker, Buzzfeed, or the Huffington Post to recycle it into some inane "You Won't Believe These Ten Insane Weapons of World War One" click-bait.
Surplus firearms were very common in the 1920s. Many quite old guns, some going back decades and very obsolete were still used. The civilian market also had a plethora of guns both domestic and foreign made, especially handguns. Many old catalogues from the 20s and 30s are available as reprints and are a goldmine of period information.
ReplyDeleteConsider getting a reprint copy of the 1928 Bannerman’s catalog to see what was commonly available to everybody during the 20s as well as a period price guide and an image of the item. It’s an education as to what was around and in use in the 1920s. Along that line a 20s copies of the Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogues are available as reprints as well. All of these are important sources for CoC and other period RPGs.