February, 2019 - Forgotten Weapons

BXP: Blowback eXperimental Parabellum

February 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

Andries Piek was a farmer in South Africa in the late 1970s when he mail ordered an LDP 9mm carbine from Rhodesia. The gun was impounded by South African customs, and Piek wound up designing […]

Book Review: FN Browning Pistols by Anthony Vanderlinden

February 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

Anthony Vanderlinden is a noted FN collector and author of a book on FN Mauser rifle as well as this volume on FN’s Browning pistols. Both are excellent reference works, with a remarkable amount of […]

L96A1: The Green Meanie – the First Modern Sniper Rifle

February 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 24

The Accuracy International Precision Marksman rifle was the winner of the British MoD’s competition to replace the L42A1 as the standard British sniper rifle, and was accordingly adopted as the L96A1. It was the vanguard […]

Project Lightening Episode 01: Introduction

February 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

I am excited to introduce Project Lightening! This is a collaborative 8-part series with Othais and Mae of C&Rsenal in which we test all seven light machine guns and automatic rifles of World War One […]

Bobbie Ford’s Romantic Derringer (NSFW – Happy Valentine’s Day!)

February 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

This surprising derringer was commissioned in the 1970s by Walther Buhl Ford III for his wife Bobbie Ford, and hand crafted by Alvin White, Colt’s renowned master engraver. Bobbie Ford was a collector of Western […]

AMP 69: Hungary’s Grenade-Launching AK

February 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

The Hungarian AMP-69 is, I think, the undisputed ugliest military AK variant ever fielded. It is truly an example of function over form, designed specifically for the role of dedicated rifle grenade launcher. To this […]

Boberg XR9S & XR45S: The Bullpup Pistols

February 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 123

Rock Island is selling these two Boberg pistols as part of a Lot 1089 in their upcoming Regional auction on February 14th, 2019. Arne Boberg founded Boberg Arms in 2009 and released his first pistol […]

Bernardon-Martin: France’s First Commercial Semiautomatic Pistol

February 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

The Bernardon-Martin was the first commercially viable semiautomatic pistol manufactured in France; a .32ACP (7.65mm Browning) striker-fired pocket pistol competing with the FN Browning 1899/1900. The first model was introduced in 1907 with a fixed […]

How Does It Work: Patents and Blueprints

February 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

What is the difference between patents and copyrights? If someone wants to reproduce an old firearm design, how do they get the rights to? Why can’t you reproduce a gun design from patent drawings? What […]

Chinese CS/LS2: A Modern Bullpup SMG with no Redeeming Qualities

February 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 35

This the fairly modern Chinese CS/LS2 – the 9mm Parabellum export model of the 5.8x21mm QCW-05 submachine gun. It takes most of its design cues form the QBZ-95 rifle, as you can see form the […]