Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Bergmann Introduction (Video)

January 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 8

Theodore Bergmann, despite having his name on a lot of different guns, was not actually a gun designer. Bergmann was a financier and industrialist, in many ways like Eli Whitney in the US decades earlier. […]

Book Review: FN Mauser Rifles by Anthony Vanderlinden

January 2, 2017 Ian McCollum 4

When I was waiting for my copy of Anthony Vanderlinden’s new book “FN Mauser Rifles” to arrive, I was expecting a typical sort of dry reference work. You know, the sort of thing that is […]

Forgotten Weapons 2017!

January 1, 2017 Ian McCollum 29

We have lots of exciting content coming for you in 2017, including at least two international trips, thanks to support from the fine folks on Patreon! I will be visiting the Pattern Room collection, and […]

Winchester Proto-M14 Rifle (Video)

December 30, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States spent 12 years looking for a successor to the M1 Garand rifle. The new standard infantry arm was expected to be select-fire, lightweight, accurate, controllable, […]

Enfield L85A1 (Video)

December 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 70

The L85A1 (part of the SA80 small arms family) was adopted by the British military in 1985 as a new generation of small arms to replace the L1A1 FAL (one quick note, where “A1” indicates […]

Final Prices: Rock Island December 2016 Premier

December 28, 2016 Ian McCollum 1

Final hammer prices from the Rock Island December 2016 Premier auction. These all include the 15% buyer’s fee. The next auction series will begin in a couple weeks, so stay tuned!

Welrod Mk IIA (Video)

December 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 59

The Welrod is a nearly completely silent bolt action pistol designed by SOE Section 9 for covert operation and assassination use during WW2. Chambered for the .32ACP cartridge (which is subsonic to begin with), the […]

Explaining the AR Safety Lever Design (Video)

December 26, 2016 Ian McCollum 49

The AR safety lever design stems from the American emphasis on carefully aimed semiauto fire, right? It flips naturally to semiauto, while the AK moves naturally to full-auto. Well, that’s not why. It’s actually a […]

Puckle Gun (Video)

December 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 37

The Puckle Gun is probably best known as that thing that had round bullets for Christians and square bullets for Turks, but there is much more to it than just that (and in addition, the […]

Forgotten Weapons Merch!

December 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 5

After many years, I finally have a selection of shirts and cool stuff for sale! Just in time to buy something after Christmas, how’s that for timing? Check it out, and don’t miss the limited-time […]