Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

James D. Julia: Experimental Muzzle Cover 1893 Mauser

March 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 16

(Note: this rifle was removed from the auction, so I have no link to provide for it) I have been unable to find any history on this particular rifle, which is an experimental mixture of […]

James D. Julia: Confederate Cofer Revolver

March 12, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

T.W. Cofer was a Virginian gunsmith who made revolvers for the Confederate cause during the Civil War – although he never had a formal contract with the CSA. His pistols were sold privately to individual […]

James D. Julia: Presentation Colt 1851 w/ Canteen Stock

March 11, 2016 Ian McCollum 10

One of the less common accessories for Colt percussion pistols is the original factory shoulder stock. And far less common still is the factory stock made with a canteen inside it! The stocks were made […]

James D. Julia: An Assortment of James Reid “My Friend” Knucklers

March 10, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

James Reid was a Catskills gunsmith who emigrated form Ireland by way of Scotland. He made a number of different revolvers, but is best known for his line of “My Friend” knuckleduster pepperboxes (or “knucklers”, […]

The Gun as Art: Tiffany Colts from Two Eras

March 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 13

The famous American jewelry company Tiffany & Co has a long history of offering decorative firearms, and today I’m looking at two of them. One is a cartridge conversion Colt from the 1870s, engraved by […]

James D. Julia: Polish wz.28 BAR Shooting, History, Disassembly

March 8, 2016 Ian McCollum 43

In the aftermath of WWI the newly-united Poland had a military equipped with a mishmash of leftover light machine guns, from Chauchats to MG 08/15s. They wanted to adopt a new standardized weapon, and trials […]

James D. Julia: Confederate Spiller & Burr Revolver (Presentation!)

March 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 13

The Spiller & Burr was a Confederate copy of the 1854 Whitney revolver, made in .36 caliber under contract to the CSA. As with so many Confederate arms projects, many thousands were promised and only […]

James D. Julia: The Very First H&K G3 Import (3/62)

March 6, 2016 Ian McCollum 29

We have all seen plenty of sporter CETME rifles and civilian HK-91s, but when the G3 was new to the Germany military, there was already na interest in bringing semiauto versions into the US. The […]

James D. Julia: Czech ZK-383 Transferable Submachine Gun

March 5, 2016 Ian McCollum 65

The Czech-made ZK-383 submachine gun is a bit of an oddball in the world of submachine guns. It has several design features typically associated with rifle-caliber light machine guns – an integral bipod and a […]

James D. Julia: Orvill Robinson’s Innovative Rifles

March 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 28

Orvill Robinson was a gunsmith and gun designer in upstate New York who developed two rather interesting rifle designs in the 1870s. They are both pistol-caliber actions, with tubular magazines. The first (the 1870 model) […]