2017 - Forgotten Weapons

Finland Shooting Montage: Maxims and Mosins and Suomis, Oh My!

July 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

A montage of a bunch of shooting from my trip to Finland in June 2017! Including: m/31 Suomi KP-44 KvKK-62 LS-26 DP-28 (Emma) M91/24, M27, and M28/30 Mosins M32/33 Maxim Rk-95 Sako TRG in 7.62mm […]

Model 1907/15 Berthier: The WW1 Standard Infantry Rifle

July 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

When World War One broke out in 1914, France mobilized millions of men into military service – and it became abundantly clear that a lot of new rifles would need to be manufactured. The 1886 […]

Literature Review: English-Language Books on French Firearms

July 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

Since we are in the middle of a series on French rifles, I figured it would be an appropriate time to take a look at what printed reference books are out there in English on […]

W+F Bern P43: A Swiss Take on the Browning High Power

July 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

In 1940, Switzerland began a series of trials to replace their Luger service pistols with something equally high quality, but more economical. They had squeezed as much simplification out of the Luger as they could […]

Colonial Berthiers: 1902 Indochina and 1907 Senegalese

July 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 13

The sharpshooters of the French colonial forces in Indochina (the Tirailleurs Indochinois) had never been issued Lebel rifles, and were still using single shot Gras rifles at the turn of the century. The Indochinese soldiers […]

Light Machine Gun Comparison: Finnish LS26 vs Russian DP28

July 20, 2017 Ian McCollum 27

Before the Winter War, the standard light machine gun adopted by the Finnish military was the Lahti-Saloranta LS-26. This was a complex and finely built weapon, using a short recoil action and tilting bolt, chambered […]

Modele 1892 Berthier Artillery Musketoon

July 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 22

The original 1890 Berthier carbine was designed for cavalry, but a slightly modified version was produced (in small numbers) with a bayonet lug, for use by the Gendarmerie. In 1892, the French military would adopt […]

B&T VP9 Silenced Pistol: A Modern Welrod

July 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions field. For detailed photos of the guns in […]

Modele 1890 Berthier Cuirassier Carbine

July 17, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

When the Modele 1890 Berthier carbine was adopted for the French cavalry, the decision was made to produce a special version for the Cuirassier troops. These were the elite heavy cavalry, equipped with steel breastplates […]

Book Review: Ott-Helmuth von Lossnitzer, Technical Director of the Mauser Company 1933-1945

July 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 14

Ott-Helmuth (Otto, after he emigrated to the US) von Lossnitzer was a remarkable firearms engineer. He served through World War One as a machine gunner, gaining extensive experience with a variety of different machine guns […]