Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

.577 Caliber Bland-Pryse Stopping Revolver

April 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 32

This revolver is lot #2573 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. There were probably less than a hundred of these Pryde-Patent break-action .577 revolvers made in total, and this one has managed to maintain an excellent […]

Ingram M10 & M11 SMGs: The Originals from Powder Springs

April 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 41

These Ingram SMGs are selling in the April 2019 Morphy’s auction: M10/45 (lot 1069), M10/9 (lot 1070), and M11 (lot 1067) After the commercial failure of Gordon Ingram’s M6 submachine gun in the early 50s, […]

Armstrong & Taylor Carbine – Too Little Too Late

April 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

This carbine is lot #1416 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The Armstrong & Taylor carbine is a neat single shot breechloading carbine patented in 1862. It operates by way of a button on the top […]

Municion L.M.P. 1889: Paris Commune to Spanish Civil War

April 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 38

Thanks to Staghounds for the invaluable help researching this episode! The French Municion Lancée à la Main Pierre is one of the little-known French infantry weapons of the Great War. Originally developed as a man-portable […]

The Last Dreyse Needlefire: 1874 Border Guard

March 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

This rifle is lot #1414 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The Dreyse needle fire rifle was invented by Niclaus von Dreyse in 1836, adopted by Prussia in 1841, and would serve as their standard military […]

Shooting the H&K MP7

March 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 37

Thanks to H&K and Trijicon, I have a chance to do some shooting with an MP7A1 PWD today. The MP7 is unusual for a gun of its size and configuration in having a fully locked […]

Arctic Warfare Magnum: Accuracy International L115A3

March 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

In 2007, the British Army placed an order for 582 AI Arctic Warfare Super Magnum rifles chambered for the .338 Laua Magnum cartridge, formally adopting the model as the L115A3 sniper rifle. This followed special […]

How Does it Work: Long Stroke Gas Piston

March 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

The long stroke gas piston system was in its heyday about 50 years ago, and was popular in both rifles and machine guns. The principle is that the gas piston is fixed to the bolt […]

Musgrave 9mm: A Gun for the Black Market

March 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 40

In the brief couple of years between the election of a new black-majority government in South Africa in 1994 and the dissolution of the Musgrave company, it attempted to produce a new 9mm pistol to […]

Announcing Headstamp Publishing!

March 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

I am very excited to announce Headstamp Publishing! This is a small arms and military technology focussed publishing company I have founded with my friends and collaborators Nic Jenzen-Jones and James Rupley. Between us, we […]