2021 - Forgotten Weapons

“Jungle Carbine” – the Lee Enfield No5 MkI Rifle

August 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 7

Today I am concluding our series on the standard-issue Lee Enfield system with the No5 MkI – the “jungle carbine”. Developed in 1943 as a shorter and handier pattenr of rifle than the No4, the […]

Ian’s Customs: The Terrible Krinkov

August 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 39

Since you all seemed to enjoy the first installment in the series, today we have another of Ian’s Customs… This is my “Krinkov” – not a proper name for a short-barreled factory AK (the AKS-74U, […]

Spanish Patent Quirks: Anitua Y Charola’s Copy of the Merwin & Hulbert

August 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

The firm of Anitua Y Charola in Eibar, Spain (later renamed Charola Y Anitua) was founded in 1880 or 1881, and their first substantial product was a copy of the American Merwin & Hulbert revolver. […]

Combloc SAW: Chinese RPD at the Range

July 31, 2021 Ian McCollum 45

I am excited to take an RPD out to the range today – I’ve wanted to try one for quite a while. The RPD is a very light and compact weapon for a squad automatic, […]

RPD: The LMG Adapts to Modern Combat

July 30, 2021 Ian McCollum 35

Today we are looking at a Chinese Type 56 RPD, but we will be focusing on the basic design and why it was adopted in the Soviet Union rather than the details of its use […]

How to Swap FAMAS Ejection Left to Right

July 29, 2021 Ian McCollum 12

One of the very nice features of the FAMAS is that it can be swapped between left-hand and right-hand ejection in just a few moments without needing any tools or spare parts. I had this […]

Vickers Gun Meticulously Repaired as a Pilot Training Aid

July 28, 2021 Ian McCollum 17

This is a really interesting artifact of the First World War that I found in a collection and wanted to share (since the owner, understandably, wouldn’t part with it!). All the major powers in the […]

Mini-Beryl: The Carbine Version of the Polish wz.96

July 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

Yesterday we looked at the standard Polish service rifle, the wz.96 Beryl. Today we have the carbine version, the Mini-Beryl. Specifically, we have an early example, predating several of the mid-life improvements that were made […]

wz.96 Beryl: Poland’s 5.56mm Military AK

July 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 23

With Poland’s entry into NATO in the 1990s, a new service rifles was needed, chambered for the 5.56mm NATO cartridge. Initial development work had been done in 1990/91 to adapt the wz.88 Tantal to 5.56mm, […]

New Beretta-Imported MR73 at the Range

July 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 38

The Manurhin MR73 has always been one of the very best combat revolvers made, but they have been hard to find here in the US. That has now changed, as the Beretta group purchased Chapuis, […]