2026 - Forgotten Weapons

Viking Brutality 2026 Day 2: Trench, Medical, and More Berserker!

October 24, 2026 Ian McCollum 1

I am in Ockelbo Sweden for this year’s Viking Brutality match, presented by Semper Paratus Consulting. This is the second year that Viking Brutality has been run, but my first time attending. In the tradition […]

Viking Brutality 2026 Day 1: Armored Berserker Challenge

October 23, 2026 Ian McCollum 1

I am in Ockelbo Sweden for this year’s Viking Brutality match, presented by Semper Paratus Consulting. This is the second year that Viking Brutality has been run, but my first time attending. In the tradition […]

Too Good for Elbonia: ARS Custom HK 630 for Viking Brutality

October 21, 2026 Ian McCollum 5

Chassepot to FAMAS at Headstamp Publishing Light wool check shirt at Varusteleka Anton Wallin at Action Reaction Sports built this very remarkable rifle from an HK 630 for use in competitions. He has taken it […]

US Army 1871 Rolling Block Pistol – Obsolete When New

October 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 24

In the wake of the Civil War, the US Army recognized that many of its small arms were obsolete, and needed replacement. For handguns, the main user was the cavalry, for whom a handgun was […]

Does the End of SBR Regulation Mean a Stocked Pistol Renaissance?

October 17, 2026 Ian McCollum 38

With the ATF appearing to essentially throw out regulation of short-barreled rifles, should we expect a renaissance in stocked pistols? Personally, I think not. They are very specialized tools that have been around for as […]

Precursor to the High Power: FN’s 1923 Prototype Model Stocked Pistol

October 16, 2026 Ian McCollum 33

The FN High Power pistol began with a request for a new French Army pistol. The initial design was done by John Browning, with later iterations and improvements from his protege Dieudonne Saive at FN. […]

US Navy MkVI Lewis Gun in .30-06 for the Marines

October 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 13

During World War One, the US Army basically got in a personality spat with Isaac Newton Lewis, and refused to adopt the Lewis gun. The British and Belgians happily made use of it though, and […]

M1E4: Origins of the M14 Gas Expansion/Cutoff System

October 12, 2026 Ian McCollum 19

The E-series Garands were a series of prototypes made at Springfield Armory to test all sorts of different changes to the basic rifle design, from flash hiders to folding stocks. The M1E4 is a design […]

ZKP-541: A Competition Pistol So Complex it was Never Produced

October 9, 2026 Ian McCollum 9

https://youtu.be/uTrQiArjn_I Designed by Augustin Nečas in 1954, the ZKP-541 is a .22 rimfire target pistol, also called the Universal Super Rapid. It is designed to use .22 short, and long rifle, with different bolt assemblies […]

The First EOTech: Series 400 aka Bushnell Holosight

October 7, 2026 Ian McCollum 1

EOTech as a company was formed in 1995 as a spinoff of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor’s Environmental Research Lab, specifically to commercialize holographic weapon sights. Their first product was the Model 400, released […]