Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

German MG08 machine guns on the line early in WWI

Vintage Saturday: Early WWI Machine Gun Emplacement

December 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

I don’t have a date or location for this photo, but it is clearly quite early in the Great War. Note the nice pickelhaube covers and the big shields on the MG08s. Those shields would […]

Slow Motion: M134 Minigun (Video)

December 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 10

Following up to yesterday’s look at the history and (partial) disassembly of a GE M134 Minigun, today we will check it out in slow motion. I filmed these high-speed shots, but there was so much […]

M134 Minigun: The Modern Gatling Gun (Video)

December 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

The General Electric M134 “Minigun” is essentially an electrically-powered Gatling gun – the conceptual operation of the gun is identical to Dr. Gatling’s original creation. What has changed, however, is the chambering (it’s in 7.62 […]

Crossfire MkI: A Creature from the AWB Lagoon (Video)

December 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 44

The Crossfire MkI is a combination rifle and shotgun, with the two barrels sharing a single pump action mechanism. The shotgun is a 12ga bore, with a 4-round tubular magazine located on top of the […]

Swiss 1882 Ordnance Revolver (Shooting)

December 20, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

The Swiss military dabbled in revolvers with their rimfire 1872 model (about 900 made) and the followup 1878 centerfire version (5500-6000 made), but their first large-scale service revolver was the Model 1882, designed by Colonel […]

Guycot 40-Shot Chain Pistol (Video)

December 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 28

The Guycot chain pistol was the development of two Frenchmen, Henri Guenot and Paulin Gay in 1879. It is chambered for a unique 6.5mm caseless rocket ball type cartridge in which the base of the […]

Vintage Saturday: Goumier

December 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 52

Moroccan troops, known as les Goumiers Marocains were part of the French auxiliaries in the Army of Africa. As with all post-surrender French forces in WWII, they were armed and equipped with other Allied equipment; […]

Shooting the 1883 Reichsrevolver (Video)

December 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 44

The 1883 Reichsrevolver is not the weapon most people would expect to see in German service – it was a decidely obsolete weapon from the moment of its adoption. The initial 1879 model was actually […]

Two Strange Project SPIW Magazines (Video)

December 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 38

Today we are taking a look at two unusual magazines from unusual firearms. These are a 60-round double-column mag from a Springfield 1964 SPIW bullpup and a 50-round box magazine from an AAI XM-19 serial […]

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun (Video)

December 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

The Vickers is quite simply the best heavy machine gun ever made.