Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Book Review – The P38 Pistol by Alexander Krutzek

February 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 30

Get your copy here! If you have been looking for a comprehensive reference work on the P38 pistol but balked at paying $400 for the out-of-print three volumes by Warren Buxton, the solution is here. […]

Who is Springfield Armory? A Tale of Two Entities

February 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

Today we will take a look at the history of Springfield Armory – both the American national arsenal founded in the 1770s and the commercial entity founded in the 1970s.

Swiss Prototype von Steiger Auto-Ejecting Revolvers

February 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

In the 1870s, Switzerland was looking for a new military revolver, and they were particularly interested in finding a system which would allow faster reloading than the standard loading gate and manual ejection rod. A […]

Walther Olympia: Germany’s Interwar Target Pistol

February 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

The Colt Woodsman, introduced in 1915, was the premier – and really the only serious – option for the competitive target shooter into the 1920s when the Walther company decided to introduce a competitor. […]

Sheet Metal and Wood: The Polish Sudayev PPS 43/52

February 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

Poland was one of the states which manufactured the Soviet PPS-43 submachine gun under license, but they decided to make a change to is in 1952. Where the original PPS-43 used a top-folding metal stock, […]

China’s CF-98 Modular Service Pistol

February 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 61

China adopted this pistol in 1998 in a domestic 5.8x21mm cartridge, and also manufactured examples like this one in 9x19mm Parabellum for export. It is a design built around a sheet metal skeleton holding the […]

Slow Motion: Gerät 06 (German WWII Prototype)

February 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 27

Before the invention of the roller-delayed system which would become the H&K G3, Mauser engineers in late World War Two built a small number of prototype roller-locked, gas piston operated rifles in 8x33mm, designated the […]

Daewoo K1A1: A Hybrid AR-15 and AR-18

February 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 20

During and after the Korean War, the South Korean military was armed with American weapons – M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, M3/M3A1 Grease Guns, and so on. In the 1970s they wanted to modernize their equipment, […]

The Only Gun With Rollin White’s Name

February 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

While Rollin White’s patent for the bored-through cylinder was a massively important element in the development of Smith & Wesson as a company, White’s actual firearms design was impractical and never produced. In fact, there […]

How to Identify a Real M1A1 Carbine vs a Fake

February 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 42

Looking for a light and compact weapon to equip its new Airborne units, the US military adopted the M1A1 Carbine in May of 1942. This was mechanically identical to the existing M1 Carbine but with […]