Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Introduction to Military Flamethrowers with Charlie Hobson

May 5, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

Flamethrowers are a significant piece of military weapons history which are very widely misunderstood, as flamethrowers have never been the subject of nearly as much collector interest as other types of small arms. The US […]

Book Review: The Armalite AR-10 The World’s Finest Battle Rifle

May 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

One of the topics that has been (somewhat oddly) lacking a detailed and well-researched history is the Armalite AR-10. There was a book written by a Major Pikula many years ago, but it is really […]

Disassembly Photos: Bendix-Hyde 2nd Model Carbine

May 3, 2016 Ian McCollum 9

This is a second pattern Bendix-Hyde carbine, made for the M1 Carbine trials. The first Bendix-Hyde had a number of features that Ordnance requested be changed (including a pistol grip), and this was the modified […]

2-Gun Action Challenge Match: US WWI Infantry (M1917 & M1911)

May 2, 2016 Ian McCollum 57

In this month’s 2-Gun match, I am competing as a WWI US infantryman, with an M1917 Eddystone rifle and an M1911 pistol (both are genuine WWI-era originals). I am also using a reproduction US 1917 […]

German troops demonstrating use of a WWI flamethrower

Vintage Saturday: Flammenwerfer

April 30, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

Note how this, like many early flamethrowers, was a two-man affair. One carried the tanks and the other aimed and fired the projector.

New Video Series from the Pattern Room

April 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 18

Nope, it’s not mine (although I do look forward to visiting the NFC again in the future) – my friend Vic has started a video channel looking at some of the guns in the monumental […]

RIA: Pattern 1913 Enfield Trials Rifle

April 28, 2016 Ian McCollum 67

One of the lessons learned by the British military in the aftermath of the Boer War was that modern Mauser rifles were superior to their Lee-action rifles and carbines. In response, British ordnance began experimenting […]

RIA: Walther/Heinemann Toggle Lock Sporting Rifle

April 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

In 1928 and 1929, the Swiss Rheinmetall company produced about 50 examples of a toggle-locked rifle designed by Karl Heinemann. It was tested by the United States among other countries, but never found military acceptance. […]

RIA: Thompson T2 Submachine Gun Prototype

April 26, 2016 Ian McCollum 46

The T2 submachine gun was Auto-Ordnance’s entry into the ongoing competition to replace the classic Thompson submachine gun with something more economical to produce. It was a closed-bolt, select-fire design using a progressive trigger and […]

RIA: Japanese Army Pedersen Copy Trials Rifle

April 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 21

The Japanese military was interested in finding a new self-loading rifle to adopt in the 1930s. The development project began with a request to retired General Kijiro Nambu who designed a gas-operate,d rotating bolt rifle […]