Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

How Does it Work: Stoner’s AR System

June 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 91

Eugene Stoner’s AR-10 and AR-15 use an operating mechanism that is often called “gas impingement,” but which is actually a cleverly structured gas piston located within the bolt carrier. Gas is tapped form the barrel […]

Armaguerra Last-Ditch M35 Pistol

June 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 24

When Italy signed an armistice with the Allied powers in 1944, the German military took over control of several Italian arms factories still in their geographic control. These included Beretta and Armaguerra, in Cremona. The […]

Book Review: German Military Rifles and Machine Pistols 1871-1945

June 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

I have had several people ask if I might write a book on the development of German military rifles in the same format as my book on French rifles. I do not plan to, in […]

At the Range with the Iconic MP5A3

June 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

The MP5 is widely considered the best submachine gun ever made, for its reliability, its handling, and it’s closed-bolt delayed-blowback action. It is so widely praised, in fact, that H&K’s efforts to replace it with […]

Lightweight Experimental Lanchester SMGs

June 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

George Lanchester was the engineer responsible for originally reverse engineering the German MP28 submachine gun for production by the British, under the designation Lanchester. Once he finished that design work, the gun was put into […]

Nagant Model 1877 Gendarmerie Double Barrel Rolling Block Pistol

June 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

This pistol is for sale as part of Lot 280 at Rock Island’s Regional auction on June 20th. Emile and Leon Nagant set up their manufacturing company in Liege, Belgium in 1859, and it would […]

Smith & Beecham Prototype Polymer High Power

June 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 32

The South African company Smith and Beecham was not a large operation, and their most notable product was a .380 caliber compact pistol, of which not more than 2000 were ever made (it was not […]

How Does it Work: Gas-Delayed Blowback

June 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 21

Gas-delayed blowback is a relatively uncommon operating system used in handguns. It is not an efficient mechanism for high-pressure rifle power cartridges, but works well with something like 9mm Parabellum. It tends to provide benefits […]

Egyptian FN49 Sniper (Late Pattern)

June 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

Egypt was the first country to adopt the FN-49 rifle, and its purchases actually predated FN’s development of a method for mounting a telescopic sight to the rifles. So Egypt came up with its own […]

Book Review: P38 Pistol – Spreewerk Production

June 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

I initially put off getting a copy of Jan Balcar and Ron Clarin’s book on the Spreewerk P38 because, well, I assumed it was just about Spreewerk. Upon finally reading it, I discovered that it […]