January, 2019 - Forgotten Weapons

How Does it Work: Blowback Action

January 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 36

The simplest for of firearms action is blowback, also called simple blowback. It is basically just an application of Newton’s 3rd Law; that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. As the […]

Semiauto M2 Hyde Reproduction: The Interim US WW2 Subgun

January 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 37

George Hyde designed the gun that would eventually be adopted as the M2 submachine gun in the late 1930s, and it was first tested at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in October of 1939. At that time, […]

Ammo Evaluation: Romanian 8mm Mauser

January 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

Towards the end of the Cold War, Romania was a major exporter of arms and ammunition on the world market. Today we are looking at Romanian pattern 1971 8mm Mauser ammunition, made between 1972 and […]

H&K P8A1: The Bundeswehr’s USP

January 7, 2019 Ian McCollum 57

Thanks to my friends at Bear Arms in Scottsdale, we have an H&K P8A1 to take a look at today – the current Bundeswehr issue version of the USP. Chambered for 9x19mm and adopted in […]

Book Review: AK47 – The Grim Reaper (Second Edition)

January 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 16

The expanded second edition of Frank Iannamico’s “AK47: The Grim Reaper” is a hefty 1100-page tome which tackles the ambition goal of being a single reference for all things Kalashnikov. Ot begins with a section […]

Evolution of the Dutch-Made AR10

January 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

The AR-10 rifle was developed in the United States (Hollywood California, specifically) by Eugene Stoner, but the Armalite company did not have a suitable large scale manufacturing facility to produce the number of guns they […]

FN CAL: Short-Lived Predecessor to the FNC

January 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

The CAL (Carabine Automatique Leger; Light Automatic Carbine) was FN’s first attempt to produce a 5.56mm rifle as a counterpart to the 7.62mm FAL. While light and handy, the CAL was a relatively complex and […]

How Does it Work: Open Bolt vs Closed Bolt Firearms

January 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 37

This is the first of a series I am doing on specific different types of firearm action and operation principles and systems. I want to keep them short and to the point, to create an […]

Vektor H5: Pump Action Adaptation of the South African Galil

January 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

The H5 is a pump-action conversion of the South African R4/R5 Galil rifles, developed by Vektor in the early 1990s. It was fairly difficult at that time to get a permit for a semiautomatic rifle […]

State of the Channel 2019

January 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

We’ve got a pretty cool year planned for 2019…