August, 2026 - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

A WW2 German Mystery: Knorr Bremse FG42 Prototype?

August 24, 2026 Ian McCollum 77

This is really a mystery rifle, or half of a mystery rifle. It is part of the collection at Springfield Armory National Historic Site, but its exact provenance from World War Two is not recorded. […]

The Very First FAL Prototype (in 8mm Kurz)

August 22, 2026 Ian McCollum 21

Dieudonne Saive at Fabrique Nationale began developing the FAL to submit for the British post-war program to adopt new small arms. He built the first example in the German 8x33mm Kurz cartridge, as this was […]

MG51: When the Swiss Make an MG42

August 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 21

When Switzerland decided to adopt a modern universal machine gun toe replace both the MG11 Maxim and the LMG25, both SIG and Waffenfabrik Bern used the German MG42 as a starting point. W+F Bern was […]

Authentic Custom Tiger Stripe From Vietnam: Short-Shorts to Tuxedos

August 18, 2026 Ian McCollum 0

Reserve your copy of “Tiger Stripe: The Vietnam Camouflage Story” on Kickstarter today: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/tiger-stripe?ref=6oc7ul Today I am talking to Owen Thornton about the huge variety of custom tiger stripe garments made in Vietnam. Local tailor […]

Colt’s Vietnam Prototype AK/M16 Hybrid: the Model 703

August 17, 2026 Ian McCollum 16

“From Hartford to Vietnam” is available here for preorder: Or you can find it bundled with “Tiger Stripe: The Vietnam Camouflage Story” on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/tiger-stripe?ref=3b3v8y The Model 703 was an experimental project at Colt which […]