2026 - Forgotten Weapons

Moroccan Unique Rr51 at the Hot Summer BUG Match

September 11, 2026 Ian McCollum 4

It’s pretty hot out here in the southern Arizona summer, so I figured I’d lean into it. For the BUG Match this month, I have an-Moroccan police Unique Rr51. This is a simple blowback .32 […]

1789 Girardoni Air Rifle: A Generation Ahead of Its Time

September 9, 2026 Ian McCollum 29

Designed by Bartolomeo Girardoni the in the 1770s, the Girardoni is an air rifle that can fire 20 rounds as quickly as a modern bolt action rifle. It uses .46 caliber round lead balls, delivering […]

ARAC: Making Submachine Guns from Bolt Actions

September 8, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

In 1954 and 1955, the French company SOFAM (Société de Fabrication d’Armaments) in Paris marketed a system to convert bolt action rifles into submachine guns. The original design is reportedly Spanish, but was marketed through […]

Aimpoint’s 3.5x Scope for French Trials

September 4, 2026 Ian McCollum 16

Aimpoint is known for its red dot optics, but in the early 2000s the company decided to develop a 3.5x fixed magnification traditional scope. It was intended for a French military trial, and Aimpoint used […]

Saco Defense M683: A Super-Simple SMG for the US Army

September 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

During the 1980s, the US ran the Joint Service Small Arms Program to reduce the number of different small arms in US inventory. The most significant outcome of this program was the M9 pistol, but […]

Bronze M1870 Gasser Revolver Made for Polar Exploration

August 31, 2026 Ian McCollum 19

In 1872, two Austro-Hungarian military officers named Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht set out on an expedition to find a northeast passage to reach the Orient by traversing across the Arctic Ocean above Russia. The […]

Drone Chaos & an Epic Pool Party: Finnish Brutality 2026 Day 2

August 29, 2026 Ian McCollum 2

See all my kit here: https://varusteleka.com/en/collections/ian-mccollum-brutality-loadout Use code FIRETOTHEBALLS26 for 15% off your whole order at Varusteleka! Today we have stages 6-10 from Finnish Brutality 2026. I ran the match in pseudo contractor type kit, […]

Sicario Hunting and Mölkky: Finnish Brutality 2026 Day 1

August 28, 2026 Ian McCollum 0

See all my kit here: https://varusteleka.com/en/collections/ian-mccollum-brutality-loadout Use code FIRETOTHEBALLS26 for 15% off your whole order at Varusteleka! Today we have stages 1-5 from Finnish Brutality 2026. I ran the match in pseudo contractor type kit, […]

MAS SE 1935 SMG: Emblematic of French Interwar Gun Development

August 26, 2026 Ian McCollum 24

Submachine guns made their entrance into military thinking during World War One. The French military saw this and decided to adopt one in the years after the war, although they saw it in a bit […]

Lt Gen Lê Nguyên Kháng’s Custom Tiger Stripe M65 Field Jacket

August 25, 2026 Ian McCollum 2

Reserve your copy of “Tiger Stripe: The Vietnam Camouflage Story” on Kickstarter today: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/tiger-stripe?ref=76pah5 Lt Gen Lê Nguyên Kháng was the commander of the South Vietnamese Marines (RVMC), and much respected by both his own […]