Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Walther’s Forgotten SMG: The MPK (and MPL)

December 3, 2025 Ian McCollum 27

https://youtu.be/3qElfsloKH8 Walther began developing a modern stamped sheet metal SMG in the late 1950s, and it entered production in 1963. It was an open-bolt, simple blowback gun available in a short (MPK; 6.75” barrel) and […]

The First M60 Prototype: FG42 + MG42 = T44

December 1, 2025 Ian McCollum 48

The FG-42 caught the attention of a lot of countries at the end of World War Two. The British and Swiss both used it as the starting point for some developments. The US went one […]

Semiauto SAR-80 “Sterling Assault Rifle” at the Range

November 29, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

The SAR-80 was a design by Frank Waters at Sterling in the UK, but was not actually put into production by Sterling. Instead, it was licensed to Chartered Industries of Singapore in 1977, who eventually […]

Pretty Cool Finnish Gun Posters: Suomi, AK, & Mosin

November 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 2

We made some pretty awesome posters of the best Finnish small arms to go along with Forged in Snow – Suomi SMGs, Finnish military AKs, and Finnish Mosins. Check them out at the Forged in […]

Origins of the Legendary CZ-75: Short Rail and Pre-B Models

November 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Find something cool for Black Friday at Headstamp Publishing! https://www.headstamppublishing.com The CZ-75 began development in the late 1960s as a commercial project. It was not intended for Czechoslovak military use, but instead for export sales […]

Preproduction wz89 Onyx: the Polish Krinkov

November 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 8

After developing the 5.45mm Tantal rifle (adopted in 1988), the Radom factory moved on to designing a compact “SMG” version. This would be designated the wz.89 “Onyx”, but never made it into mass production thanks […]

TKIV-85: Finland’s Ultimate Mosin Nagant Sniper Rifle

November 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

Join the Kickstarter for “Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025” here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=desl1o Finland’s final iteration of Mosin Nagant sniper was adopted in the 1980s to replace a mix-and-match assortment of m/39-43, m/27-66, and m/28-76 […]

Q&A November 2025: The 6.8×51 is Still a Bad Idea

November 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 80

Use code “FORGOTTENRYE10” for 10% off Kyrö Distillery spirits at their web store: https://kyrodistillery.com/ 00:00:20 – Aimpoint offering multi-reticle options? 00:01:55 – Blood lead levels from shooting 00:05:59 – Combining scuba with history and guns […]

Pienoiskivääri m/91 Finnish .22 Mosin Trainer

November 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 1

This and all the other Finnish Mosins are detailed in my new book “Forged in Snow”: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=b8ft1r In the 1920s the Finnish Defense Forces wanted a reduced-power training rifle to allow low-cost marksmanship practice and […]

Aly & Kaufman AKB-23: Better Than the SA80 / L85

November 19, 2025 Ian McCollum 47

Penguin Brutality t-shirt available from Varusteleka: https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-penguin-brutality-t-shirt The Aly & Kaufman AKB-23 is a set of parts that allows one to use a Brownells BRN-180 upper to create an SA80 / L85 lookalike. It’s a […]