2023 - Forgotten Weapons

Last Gasp of the German Maxim: the Air-Cooled MG 08/18

June 7, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

The MG 08/18 was developed at the very end of World War One as a lighter alternative to the MG 08/15. It used an air-cooled barrel, and between not needing water and having lighter parts […]

Chang Feng CS/LS 06 – China’s Take on the Helical-Mag SMG

June 5, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

The Chang Feng is named for the company that developed it, the Chongqing Chang Feng Company Ltd in (you guessed it) Chongqing. It was designed by one Qing Shangsheng, who had ample prior firearms design […]

M28/76: A Finnish Competition & Sniper Mosin

June 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

The Finns developed several difference scopes rifles in the 1930s, but none were made in large quantities, and they were not really much used during the Winter War or Continuation War. The first post-war consideration […]

Star Model S: A Compact .380 for the Spanish Air Force

June 2, 2023 Ian McCollum 6

Star introduced their first compact tilting-barrel pistol (the Model D) in 1922. The Spanish military was interested in something along these lines, but the Model D was intended to be a civilian pocket-carry gun, and […]

Project Lantan: Poland Designs a Modular AK in 7x41mm

May 31, 2023 Ian McCollum 30

In the early 1970s, Poland wanted to replace their 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov rifles. The Soviet Union was developing the 5.45mm AK-74, but the Poles wanted to make a more ambitious advance in small arms systems. They […]

Finland Salvages a “Tragic Boating Accident”: Grafton Vetterli Rifles

May 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government helped smuggle arms to potential revolutionaries in Russia, in hopes of provoking a domestic crisis that would divert Russia military force form the war. This included a plot […]

Slovenia’s Specialized Bullpup: the F2000S

May 27, 2023 Ian McCollum 17

When the Slovenian Army decided to adopt a new infantry rifle in the mid-2000s, the Arex Defense company decided to submit the F-2000 into the trials. The H&K G36 was widely expected to be the […]

Optics on Sturmgewehrs: Was This Really A Thing?

May 26, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

We regularly see the MP43/44/StG44 portrayed with an optical sight (a ZF-4). But was this really something that the German Army actually issued? Well, in a word…no. The first iteration of the Sturmgewehr, the MKb-42(H), […]

Ask Ian: Donating Gun Collections to Museums

May 24, 2023 Ian McCollum 26

Lots of people put together significant gun collections over a lifetime, and want to see those collections preserved after they pass. This often manifests as looking for a museum that will keep a collection intact […]

Llama M82: Gabilondo Copies the Beretta (But More Complicated)

May 22, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

The Llama M82 was adopted as the new Spanish Army service pistol to replace aging Star Model B pistols. The design of the side is mechanically almost identical to a Beretta 92, while the frame […]