Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Chambers Flintlock Machine Gun from the 1700s

November 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

Joseph Chambers invented a repeating flintlock weapon in the 1790s, and I think it is appropriate to consider it a “machine gun”. The design used a series of superposed charges in one or more barrels, […]

Q&A 35: Books, Black Powder, and Why the DP12 is So Annoying

November 7, 2019 Ian McCollum 35

0:00:36 – Why so few .380 ACP military pistols? 0:02:09 – Thoughts on the NGSW program guns 0:03:24 – Exciting new things in the firearms industry today 0:04:21 – Why did the USSR not use […]

Cooey: The Unassuming Canadian Workhorse

November 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 24

Cooey is a brand name that will be immediately recognized by Canadians, but pretty much unknown everywhere else. Founded in 1903 by Herbert Cooey, the company would produce a series of simple and practical firearms […]

Morphy’s Final Prices Fall 2019: Simply Sumptuous Subguns

November 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

With the Morphy’s fall 2019 auction now complete, it’s time to take a look at what the market says guns are worth. This time, it’s mostly submachine guns – with an interesting mix of transferrable […]

Pistols Taken From the Walther Factory in April 1945

November 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

Courtesy of Legacy Collectibles, we have a variety of pistols to look at today which were taken as souvenirs by American GIs when the Walther factory was captured in April of 1945. Walther was making […]

Shanghai Municipal Police Colt 1908 in Competition

November 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Today I am shooting a Colt 1908 originally issued to the Shanghai Municipal Police in 1925. The gun was chosen for issue by William Fairbairn, who is best known for training OSS and SOE operatives […]

Book Review: FN49 – The Last Elegant Old World Military Rifle

November 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

I have been impatiently awaiting the expanded second edition of Wayne Johnson’s “The FN-49: The Last Elegant Old-World Military Rifle” ever since I heard a rumor that it was in the works. The first edition […]

The Ross in the Great War: The Mk III (and MkIIIB)

November 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

While the MkII (1905) iteration of the Ross rifle had resolved most of the major mechanical problems form the MkI, it retained a number of characteristics that the Canadian (and British) military was not fond […]

An American .30-06 MG-42, and GPMGs after WWII

October 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 60

The perk for $100 Patrons is choosing a gun they would like me to find and film, and one such Patron (Mark) expressed a curiosity about US testing and lack of adoption of an MG-42 […]

Ross MkII: Sorry, We’ll Get it Right This Time

October 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 21

The many significant problems with the Model 1903 / MkI Ross rifle had quickly led to the development of the improved MkII design. This strengthened many parts, including the sights, nosecap, bolt latch, and more. […]