Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

How to Become a Professional Gun Designer

February 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 24

The introductory clip was from my interview with Tony Neophytou, a talented and successful South African firearms designer (his work includes the Neostead 2000, Inkunzi PAW, and NTW-20 rifle). He doesn’t mince words; it’s a […]

Evolution of the Military Mauser HSc Pistol

February 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 28

Mauser had been at the forefront of military self-loading pistol design with its C96 pistol, but by the 1930s it had lost major market share to Sauer and Walther in police and commercial guns. The […]

MAS 49-56 in a 2-Gun Match

February 1, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

A while back, I ran a 2-Gun match on my own with my MAS 49-56 (and a plain Glock 19), including the original APX L806 optic. It was not a particularly complex match, but it […]

Royal NW Mounted Police Ross MkI Carbine & MkII Rifle

January 31, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

One of the very early clients of the Ross Rifle Company was the Royal North West Mounted Police (later merged with the Dominion Police to form the RCMP). The Mounties purchased 500 Ross MkI carbines, […]

Interview: Uli Wiegand of InterOrdnance on Importing Guns from Africa

January 30, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

Uli Wiegand is the President of InterOrdnance, and recently invited me to his facility to take a look at the first shipment from a huge batch of collectible firearms he spent 8 years working to […]

Beretta 57: Italy Makes a .30 Carbine SMG for Morocco

January 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 29

The Model 57 is a select-fire carbine made by Beretta around the .30 Carbine cartridge. It uses a newly designed magazine much more durable that the American M1/M2 Carbine magazines, and has a tilting bolt […]

The Truth Behind the Great G36 Controversy

January 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 70

Is the G36 a great rifle unfairly maligned? Or is it mealy and inaccurate? Let’s look at the question, and find out what was really going on with the Great G36 Controversy.

Water-Themed Art Deco FN/Browning B25 Shotgun

January 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

The B25 was introduced by FN in 1925; the last of John Browning’s designs and the first successful over/under sporting shotgun. The one we are looking at today was created as a presentation piece for […]

French Resistance 2-Gun: FG-42 & Mle 1935A (Prep for Desert Brutality)

January 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 29

Next week is Desert Brutality 2020, the big annual 2-Gun “nationals”. I’ll be shooting it in the Classic division (guns from 1946 and earlier) this year, with an SMG semiauto FG-42 rifle and a French […]

Swedish K: The Carl Gustav m/45B and the Port Said

January 24, 2020 Ian McCollum 42

During the 1930s, Sweden acquired an assortment of different submachine guns, including Bergmanns, Thompsons, and Suomis. As World War Two progressed, they decided that they really needed to standardize on a single caliber and model […]