Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Estonian Home Guard Browning High Power

November 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Estonia purchased several batches of early FN High Power pistols in the 1930s. First in 1936 120 were ordered for the police, and then much larger orders followed in 1937. The military bought 5,338 and […]

Beautiful Webley WS Target in 22 Rimfire

November 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 7

Webley introduced the WS model revolver in 1902, combining the square grip of the earlier WG model with the mechanical system of the Mark IV government revolver. The new WS pattern was available in both […]

The Mandalorian Carries an 1894 Bergmann No.1

November 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 32

The new Star Wars TV series “The Mandalorian” does, in fact, feature a sidearm based on the Bergmann No1 / 1894 semiauto pistol. These are extremely rare today (probably only 5 or 6 still exist), […]

Holloway HAC-7L: A Specifically Left-Handed Battle Rifle

November 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Bob Holloway designed the HAC-7 rifle to be the ultimate combat infantry rifle in 1984, drawing on his experiences in Vietnam and Rhodesia. It is a very interesting hybrid of AK, FAL, and other design […]

AR-18 and AR-180: Can Lightning Strike Twice for Armalite?

November 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 45

The AR-18 has its genesis in the AR-10. I n an effort to develop a less expensive version of that rifle, Armalite created the AR-12, an experimental rifle which used a stamped or bent sheet […]

Dardick Model 1500: The Very Unusual Magazine-fed Revolver

November 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 34

The Dardick 1500 was a magazine-fed revolver designed by David Dardick in the 1950s. His patent was granted in 1958, and somewhere between 40 and 100 of the guns were made in 1959, before the […]

Persian Model 1314 Luger and Artillery Luger

November 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 17

In 1934 (just year before officially requesting that the Western world call his country “Iran” rather than “Persia”), the Shah of Iran ordered 4,000 Luger pistols form the Mauser company. These were to be divided […]

Powell’s Cartridge Counter Luger: The First Military 9mm

November 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 3

The US first tested the Luger in 1901, and it seemed potentially good enough that the government spent $15,000 to buy 1,000 of the pistols (in 7.65mm Luger; the only cartridge available at the time) […]

Book Review: Vickers Guide to the Kalashnikov, Volume II

November 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 3

Fair disclaimer: I may be biased, as I am a co-author of this work… Vickers Guide is back with the second volume on the AK, specifically on 5.45mm and 5.56mm Kalashnikovs. If you like […]

Updates: New Merchandise, New Headstamp Book, and RecoilTV!

November 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Forgotten Weapons Merchandise While we await final printing, preorders for my book are still open. No preordering for Max’s book yet, but check out his announcement! And here’s RecoilTV…