2025 - Forgotten Weapons

Beretta M1918: Italy’s 9mm Semiauto 9mm Carbine from WWI

December 31, 2025 Ian McCollum 11

Italy adopted the Villar Perosa in 1915, a gun that is sometimes considered the first submachine gun. Despite being fully automatic and chambered for pistol ammo (9mm Glisenti/Parabellum), it was actually not a submachine gun […]

LMG-25: The Swiss Toggle-Locked Light Machine Gun

December 29, 2025 Ian McCollum 35

The LMG-25 was designed by Adolph Furrer at Waffenfabrik Bern in the 1920s. Furrer was a devoted fan of the toggle locking system, and also designed a toggle-locked submachine gun that Switzerland (unwisely) adopted in […]

Print Gun Magazines are Dead (or are they?)

December 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 34

Print gun magazines used to be the standard way to stay tuned to the new scholarship in the world of collectible firearms. Then we got the internet. Today, researchers paid to write articles for print […]

Indonesian M95/51 Mannlicher Carbine & Short Rifle Converted to .303 British

December 27, 2025 Ian McCollum 11

When Indonesia won its independence in 1949, its military had a real mess of different equipment. The SMLE was adopted as the first standard rifle, ut these were in short supply and a lot of […]

SAP M10: RPB Makes a Semiauto MAC-10

December 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

When Wayne Daniels took over control of RPB in 1978, he introduced a semiautomatic pistol version of the iconic MAC submachine gun. Called the “SAP” (Semi Automatic Pistol), there were three versions; .380, 9mm, and […]

Q&A December 2025: How I Write Books (and Much More)

December 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 30

Thanks to Kyrö for sponsoring this Q&A! Use the code HOLIDAYSPIRIT10 for 10% off their spirits at: https://kyrodistillery.com 0:03:34 – Gun design standing on the shoulders of others 0:08:08 – Swiss adoption of the SIG […]

Ian Must Face the Cursed Chauchats

December 23, 2025 Ian McCollum 34

Just for reference, here’s the Belgian M1927 Chauchat:

AR-16: Armalite’s Lost Battle Rifle

December 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 25

The AR-16 was developed in the late 1950s as a less manufacturing intensive option to the AR-10. It began with the AR-12, which was a prototype intended to use a stamped receiver with the Stoner […]

Tanki Maraka: the US Radar Base 50 Miles from Venezuela

December 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

Just as today, the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao had oil refining infrastructure back in World Wa rTwo. After some German naval action in the Caribbean early in the war, the Dutch […]

Between SMG and PDW: Sweden’s CBJ-MS

December 20, 2025 Ian McCollum 10

The CBJ-MS is a submachine gun designed by Swedish arms developed Carl Bertil Johansson, perhaps better known for his remarkable armor-piercing 6.5x25mm CBJ cartridge. He developed the gun at about the same time as the […]