2022 - Forgotten Weapons

The CZ-2000 as a 9mm SMG Prototype

September 10, 2022 Ian McCollum 14

There have been several examples of the AK being used as the basis for a pistol-caliber SMG or PDW. The Russians made the Vityaz, the Hungarians made the KGPF-9…and the Czechs actually made a version […]

Lahti’s Last Machine Gun: The L33/39 Antiaircraft Gun

September 9, 2022 Ian McCollum 12

In response to a Finnish military need for a machine gun better than the old Maxim for aerial and anti-aircraft use, Aimo Lahti developed the L33 machine gun from the basis of the Lahti-Saloranta design. […]

Ask Ian: My Most Unsafe Range Experience (Incoming Rounds!)

September 8, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

From Brian on Patreon: “What’s the dumbest or most unsafe thing you’ve ever witnessed while out shooting in the desert or at a range / match?” That would definitely be when a pair of totally […]

Croatia’s Prototype Bullpup AK Conversion

September 7, 2022 Ian McCollum 21

The HS Produkt company, best known for making the XD pistols sold in the US by Springfield, was originally called IM Metal, and was a general fabrication company in Croatia. When the Croatian Homeland War […]

New Book Review: “Third Reich Lugers” by Tom Whiteman

September 6, 2022 Ian McCollum 3

Tom Whiteman (of Legacy Collectibles) has just recently published “Third Reich Lugers: An Illustrated Collector’s Guide to German Military Lugers from World War II”. The full title pretty much says it all here; this is […]

FNAB 43: From WW2 Italy to Algerian Independence

September 5, 2022 Ian McCollum 16

Designed and manufactured by Fabbrica Nazionale d’Armi di Brescia (National Arms Factory of Brescia) in northern Italy, for use by the RSI and German military forces (as well as some partisan units). They were produced […]

Origins of the vz.82: A Western Pistol for Communist Czechoslovakia

September 2, 2022 Ian McCollum 19

The vz.82 and its cousin the CZ 83 are pistols that originated when the Czech state export company during the Cold War began looking for arms it could export to bring in hard currency. The […]

East Meets West at the BUG Match: CZ’s vz.82

September 2, 2022 Ian McCollum 9

Yesterday we looked at the history and development of the vz.82 pistol; today I am taking it out to the BackUp Gun Match. this should be a pretty competitive pistol in this environment, and it […]

Ask Ian: Are Man-Portable Chain Guns Coming?

September 1, 2022 Ian McCollum 38

From Nikolas on Patreon: “Have there been any attempts to make miniaturized man-portable chain guns? Do you think there’s a future for such a machine gun given modern advances in energy storage?” Chain guns are […]

Arex AKB-15: A Lost AK Modernization Project

August 31, 2022 Ian McCollum 27

The AKB-15 was a project developed by Arex Defense in Slovenia in 2015. The company received a request from a small country (they decline to reveal exactly who) to modernize a stock of AKM rifles […]