2019 - Forgotten Weapons

Virtual Tour: Newly Renovated Cody Firearms Museum

July 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

The Cody Firearms Museum has spent many months undergoing a complete renovation and rebuilding, and is not back fully open to the public. The new layout has not just improved visibility and put the guns […]

From Bolt Action Lee to LMG: The Charlton Automatic Rifle

July 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

The Charlton automatic rifle is one of very, very few examples of a conversion from bolt action to self-loading rifle actually working reasonably well. Typically this sort of project founders in expense and unreliability. Charlton, […]

Q&A 31: Russian and Soviet Arms w/ Max Popenker

July 25, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

We are joined today by Max Popenker to answer your questions about Soviet and Russian firearms: 00:32 – Russian-contract Colt 1911 pistols 01:33 – Clarification on SVD accuracy standards 02:57 – Is the PSO-1 BDC […]

SIG Chylewski: One-Handed Vest Pocket Automatic

July 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Designed by Witold Chylewski, this was only the second pistol manufactured by SIG (the first being the 6.5mm blow-forward 1894 MAnnlicher design). It was patented prior to WW1, but only after the war was Chylewski […]

Researcher Profile: Miles Vining and Silah Report

July 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Today I am chatting with Miles Vining, co-creator of Silah Report, a blog and intelligence network researching firearms in MENA – the Middle East and North Africa. Miles and his colleagues have created an organization […]

Abercrombie & Fitch Luger

July 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Back before World War One, when Abercrombie & Fitch was still a true sporting goods company catering to the likes of Joseph Steinbeck and Theodore Roosevelt, they decided to offer Luger pistols for sale. This […]

Book Review: Arming the West

July 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

Published in 2008, “Arming the West” is, as it self-describes, “a fresh new look at the guns that were actually carried on the frontier.” Herbert Houze used the sales records of the Shuyler, Hartley, and Graham […]

Tirmax: A Pre-WW1 .32ACP Light Carbine

July 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

The Tirmax is a handy little carbine made between 1909 and 1914 in Liege by a German company. It is a semiauto action using a 5-round detachable magazine. The guns are quite scarce today because […]

FAL in the North: The Canadian C1A1

July 19, 2019 Ian McCollum 53

Canada was the first country to adopt the FAL rifle, purchasing trials rifles from FN within weeks of the formal standardization of the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. Canada acquired production rights to the rifle along with […]

Forgotten History: Musée de Plans-Reliefs (Paris)

July 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Hidden away up on the 4th floor of the Paris Army Museum (in Les Invalides) is the rather unexcitingly-named Musée de Plans-Reliefs. Up here in the dark is a collection of strategic dioramas dating back […]