Articles by Ian McCollum
Pavesi Prototype SVT Copy (Video)
This rifle is pretty much a big mystery – I have virtually no good information on it. Through inspection, we know it is a mechanical copy of the Soviet SVT 38 or 40 – it […]
Book Review: SOE Equipment Air Dropped in Europe 1940-1945
A while back I posted a review of a great little paperback account of Winston Churchill’s Toyshop – the development of clandestine warfare gear for use by saboteurs and resistance movements in occupied Europe during […]
Semiauto RPD Light Machine Gun (Video)
The RPD was the first belt-fed light machine gun (or squad automatic weapon) developed by the Soviet Union. It was designed in 1944 for the then-new M43 cartridge (7.62x39mm), although wartime exigencies followed by post-war […]
Bernardon-Martin 1909 Pistol in a Chinese Museum
Note: I’m slipping! I initially identified this as one of the mystery Chinese pistols, having not recognized it as a Bernardon-Martin. A bunch of folks in the comments did, though, and I have corrected the […]
Interview: Ashley Hlebinsky, Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum
Sorry about the sound quality! I did my best to clean it up, but the air conditioning system in the museum had a more significant impact on the video that I had anticipated. Ashley Hlebinsky […]
CETME-L Flats: HMG vs Prexis
You may recall a while back I picked up a CETME-L flat from Prexis, because it was the only option available for building a CETME-L rifle. Well, there is now another option available. Hill & […]
Pavesi Model 1942 Prototype Semiauto (Video)
The Pavesi Model 1942 is a prototype Italian semiauto rifle chambered for the 8×59 Breda cartridge. It is a short recoil action with a 4-lug rotating bolt, and appears to use a Mannlicher type en […]
A 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt Cannon and the Type 30 Arisaka
First up, a 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon that was on display at the Carabinieri Museum in Rome. Guns like this one were pretty widely used by countries all over the world, with a wide variety of details […]
Cody Firearms Museum Virtual Tour
The Cody Firearms Museum is a part of the Buffalo Bill Center for the West, and one of the very best firearms museums in the US (if not the world). It incorporates a number of […]