July, 2015 - Forgotten Weapons

Furrer M1919 Double-Barrel SMG

July 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

We have looked at one of Adolf Furrer’s M1919 submachine guns before, but this one is a much different implementation. The model 1919 Furrer designed was basically a chassis for converting a Luger pistol […]

Slow Motion: Luger Snail Drum

July 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

The 32-round snail drum (or as it was properly known, the trommelmagazin 08) was developed in 1916 to give increased firepower to units armed with the LangePistole 08, or artillery Luger. These pistols were also […]

2-Gun Action Challenge Match: SMLE vs Kar 98AZ (Video)

July 29, 2015 Ian McCollum 45

In this month’s 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, we decided to both run World War I rifles – Karl with a 1914/1920 Kar 98AZ and I had a 1918 no1 MkIII* SMLE. In the previous enfield/Mauser matchup the […]

Slow Motion Video from the Pattern Room

July 28, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

As someone who is very interested in the practical handling of old firearms, the idea of gun museums leaves me a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I am absolutely in favor of guns being […]

Swiss Prototype Pistols: P44/8 and W+F Bern P43 (Video)

July 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

Switzerland was an early adopter of the Luger pistol as a standard military sidearm, but by WWII that design was becoming obsolete and the Swiss began looking for a newer sidearm. Several lines of development […]

Irish troops unpacking a new Boys Anti-Tank Rifle

Vintage Saturday: Big Boys Toy

July 25, 2015 Ian McCollum 37

The Republic of Ireland opted to copy the German WWI Stahlhelm design rather than use British Brodie-style helmets. Until 1940, anyway, and I think it’s pretty clear why they changed. The rifle here, of course, […]

British trials Bang Rifle, caliber .303 (photo courtesy National Firearms Centre, Leeds, UK)

Danish Bang Rifle for British Trials

July 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 26

One of the first semiautomatic rifles tested by the US military was a design by a Dane named Søren Hansen Bang, which was first presented to the government in 1911. The rifles used a […]

Slow Motion: Scotti Model X

July 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 47

The Scotti Model X (the X standing for the 10th year of the Italian Fascist era, or 1932) was one of a bunch of semiauto rifles tested by the Italian military during the late 1920s […]

ARES Research Note: Durability of Self-Loading Rifles

July 21, 2015 Ian McCollum 12

I occasionally do work for Armament Research Service, and they recently published one of my pieces as Research Note #8, on the subject of self-loading rifle durability. Rifles, in general, are pretty durable items, with […]

Remington 870 Competition – Hidden Features!

July 20, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

So a friend of mine handed my this Remington 870 Competition, and asked me if I would like to do a video on it…and my immediate thought was, why would I? The 870 is one […]