April, 2018 - Forgotten Weapons

HK XM-8: What Was it and Why? (With Larry Vickers)

April 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 37

Larry Vickers has the closest thing most any of us will ever have to a true XM-8 rifle, and has more than a little trigger time on the original XM-8 rifles. So, I asked him […]

Walther Toggle-Locked Semiauto Shotgun (ouch!)

April 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

Between the world wars, the Walther company designed and marketed a short recoil, toggle-locked 12 gauge shotgun for sporting use. It was patented by the Walther brothers, but actually manufactured by the Deutsche-Werke consortium, which […]

Final Prices: James D Julia Spring 2018 Auction

April 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 4

As usual, I have a recap today of the final prices of the guns I filmed from the most recent Julia auction (spring of 2018). Once again, I focussed on machine guns, as well as […]

Turkish “Enfauser” – Mauser/Enfield Hybrid Rifle

April 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

In the mid 1930s, Turkey updated and overhauled the bolt action rifles in its inventory, to bring them all up to that same standard for sights, ammunition, sling configuration, etc. Most of the rifles overhauled […]

Book Review: The Kalashnikov Encyclopaedia by Drs. Cor Roodhorst

April 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 4

All three volumes available worldwide from: http://www.kalashnikov-encyclopaedia.com While there are several books available which showcase a decent number of different Kalashnikov variants (like Tokoi’s work), and there are good reference works on the history and […]

LugerMan Reproduction of the 1907 .45 Test Trials Luger

April 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

Eugene Golubtsov, aka LugerMan, is manufacturing reproduction .45ACP caliber Luger pistols, based on the original blueprints of the 1907 pattern US Army trials guns. When he offered to send me one to try out, how […]

Pritchard’s 19th Century Precharged Air Gun

April 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

William Pritchard was a Birmingham gunsmith in the mid 1800s who offered both firearms and air guns, and this particular ball-reservoir air gun is a fine example of the latter. Air guns have existed in […]

SIG’s World War Two Semiauto Rifle: The Model U

April 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

The SIG company of Neuhausen Switzerland spent the 1920s, 30s, and 40s working on developmental semiauto rifles to sell both to the Swiss military and abroad. One of the experimental models in the succession of […]

The Original Retro AR-10: Armalite’s AR10B

April 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

In 1994, a man named Mark Westrom, owner of Eagle Arms, purchased the husk of the Armalite corporation, and acquired its trademarks. Westrom wanted to create a new commercial .308 AR pattern rifle, and did […]

Colt Tries To Make a Service Pistol: The Model 1971

April 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 22

In the early 1970s, Colt wanted to develop a new military pistol so that it could offer a modern replacement for the venerable 1911. Colt Engineer Robert Roy designed the new gun in 1971, and […]