Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Belgian GP35: The First Military Browning High Power

July 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 30

The Grande Puissance – High Power – was John Browning’s last firearms design. In fact, he only began the design; it was taken to completion by his protege Dieudonné Saive at FN in Belgium. It […]

Book Review: The Winchester Model 1895: Last of the Classic Lever Actions

July 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Rob Kassab and Brad Dunbar have just published an excellent new book on the Winchester Model 1895 rifle – the Last of the Classic Lever Actions, as their subtitle describes. It is a very nice […]

Virtual Tour: Newly Renovated Cody Firearms Museum

July 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

The Cody Firearms Museum has spent many months undergoing a complete renovation and rebuilding, and is not back fully open to the public. The new layout has not just improved visibility and put the guns […]

From Bolt Action Lee to LMG: The Charlton Automatic Rifle

July 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 27

The Charlton automatic rifle is one of very, very few examples of a conversion from bolt action to self-loading rifle actually working reasonably well. Typically this sort of project founders in expense and unreliability. Charlton, […]

Q&A 31: Russian and Soviet Arms w/ Max Popenker

July 25, 2019 Ian McCollum 10

We are joined today by Max Popenker to answer your questions about Soviet and Russian firearms: 00:32 – Russian-contract Colt 1911 pistols 01:33 – Clarification on SVD accuracy standards 02:57 – Is the PSO-1 BDC […]

SIG Chylewski: One-Handed Vest Pocket Automatic

July 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Designed by Witold Chylewski, this was only the second pistol manufactured by SIG (the first being the 6.5mm blow-forward 1894 MAnnlicher design). It was patented prior to WW1, but only after the war was Chylewski […]

Researcher Profile: Miles Vining and Silah Report

July 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

Today I am chatting with Miles Vining, co-creator of Silah Report, a blog and intelligence network researching firearms in MENA – the Middle East and North Africa. Miles and his colleagues have created an organization […]

Abercrombie & Fitch Luger

July 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Back before World War One, when Abercrombie & Fitch was still a true sporting goods company catering to the likes of Joseph Steinbeck and Theodore Roosevelt, they decided to offer Luger pistols for sale. This […]

Book Review: Arming the West

July 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

Published in 2008, “Arming the West” is, as it self-describes, “a fresh new look at the guns that were actually carried on the frontier.” Herbert Houze used the sales records of the Shuyler, Hartley, and Graham […]

Tirmax: A Pre-WW1 .32ACP Light Carbine

July 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

The Tirmax is a handy little carbine made between 1909 and 1914 in Liege by a German company. It is a semiauto action using a 5-round detachable magazine. The guns are quite scarce today because […]