2021 - Forgotten Weapons

Prototype Ross “H5” from 1909

February 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

The Ross MkII (aka Ross 1905) was a reasonably successful rifle design, but it lacked a few elements that the Canadian military would have preferred. Most significantly, it was not compatible with the charger clip […]

Duckbill Done Right? Testing the A&W Diverter Shotgun Barrel (w/ Matt Haught)

February 20, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

The A&W Diverter was designed by Clifford Ashbrook and Wilson Wing to change a shotgun’s circular pattern into a horizontal linear one. They applied for a patent in 1967, and it was granted in 1970 […]

Winchester Mystery Prototype: Melvin Johnson does Project SALVO?

February 19, 2021 Ian McCollum 29

This rifle is a Winchester semiauto prototype that has no documentation I could find in any source. So, today we will take a look at what we can possibly extrapolate from its various features. It […]

Q&A 48: Magnetic Guns, Electronic Guns, and Fake Guns

February 18, 2021 Ian McCollum 28

00:35 – Automatic rifles in .250 Savage in WW1? 04:21 – Why did stripper clips stay around so long? 07:24 – Modern military responses to body armor 09:17 – M1 Carbine in 5.7×28? 11:08 – […]

Prototype Jungle Carbine: A No1 MkV Becomes a No5 MkI

February 17, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

When the British began developing a shortened version of the No4 Lee Enfield in 1943 (which would become the No5 MkI “Jungle Carbine”), the development process included work with some rather older rifles. What we […]

Max Popenker on Russian Pistols and Ammunition: 7N21, 9x21mm, 9x18mm, and more

February 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 32

Today I am again joined by Max Popenker, Russian small arms historian and researcher. Max is explaining the basic history of Russian handguns and ammunition, starting with the adoption of the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge to […]

Britain’s Experimental Viper No.3 SMG/PDW

February 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 27

A series of very compact submachine guns – possibly better described as personal defense weapons – was made in Britain at the end of World War Two under the name Viper (as an interesting aside, […]

2-Gun with SMG’s 1st Pattern Semiauto FG-42

February 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 62

Today I am taking the SMG first pattern semiauto FG-42 out to a 2-gun match to give it a try on the clock. This particular match has two rifle-only stage and one pistol-only stage, so […]

Fallschirmjäger Style: SMG’s Semiauto 1st Pattern FG-42

February 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 51

The early pattern (Type E, specifically) FG-42 is one of the most eye-catching military rifles ever made. Designed to be a universal paratrooper’s rifle capable of acting as sniper’s rifle, light machine gun, hand-to-hand weapon, […]

Interested in Gun Law Issues? Check out FuddBusters

February 11, 2021 Ian McCollum 0

I don’t cover politics here, but I know many of you folks are interested or invested in gun law current events. I recently found the FuddBusters channel, and it was a real breath of fresh […]