2019 - Forgotten Weapons

Shooting the Chatellerault FM 24/29 Light Machine Gun

May 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 39

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! The Chatellerault FM 24/29 is an oft-forgotten light machine gun despite its relatively early design (predating the ZB/Bren […]

MAS 44: The French Adopt a Semiauto Rifle

May 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Pre-sales for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866 – 2016 are now live on Kickstarter – check it out! The French Army had been planning a semiauto infantry rifle since 1921, but […]

A Mild Rant: Stupid Marketing Names

May 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

One of my pet peeves is when people buy collectible guns because they have been stuck with clickbait sorts of gimmicky names. In particular, the “Grey Ghost” P38 and the “Black Widow” Luger – especially […]

Swiss 1929 Simplified Luger (Yes, Swiss and Simplified)

May 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Switzerland was the First Nation to adopt the Luger as a service pistol, and they purchased them DWM in Germany from 1900 until 1914. World War One stopped deliveries, of course, and after the war […]

RIA May 2019 Final Prices

May 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 1

Preorders now open for my book, “Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016“! Get your copy now, and get the Kickstarter discount! Today we are looking at the results from the Rock Island May 2019 […]

1884 Kropatschek: Groundwork for the Lebel

May 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! After the adoption of the single-shot Gras rifle in 1874, attitudes towards repeating rifles began to shift in […]

Book Review: Basque-Made Rolling Blocks of the 3rd Carlist War

May 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

This new book from Mowbray is an English translation of a work originally written in Spanish by Fernando de Aguinaga and Jose Luis de Aguinaga, which clearly involved a tremendous amount of original research. The […]

Knight’s Assault Machine Guns at the Range

May 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 66

Knights Armament introduced their “Assault Machine Gun” a couple years ago, and I had a chance to take both versions (5.56mm and 7.62mm) out to the range recently. The gun is the spiritual descendant of […]

French 1878 Marine Kropatschek

May 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! The French Navy chose not to adopt the Gras rifle, and continued to use the paper-cartridge, needlefire Chassepot […]

Developmental History of the AK with Max Popenker

May 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 61

I am very happy to be joined today via Skype by Russian small arms researcher Max Popenker. You may know Max from his nearly 20 years publishing Modern Firearms, one of the original small arms […]