Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Ballistic Nylon as Armor (Video)

January 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

You have probably heard of “ballistic” nylon, but everyone knows that soft armor is made of Kevlar, right? Well, it is today (and other similar fibers). But a few decades back, before Kevlar had been […]

Vintage Saturday: Harried

January 2, 2016 Ian McCollum 27

This guy has clearly been through a lot. Note the G41(W) or G43 in the background.

Mondragon 1894 Bolt Action Rifle (Video)

December 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 22

Manuel Mondragon was a talented lifelong gun designer born in Mexico. He worked extensively at the Swiss SIG factory, and was the man behind the first military-issue semiautomatic rifle. Before that, though, he designed this […]

Maxim "Prototype" at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Note the absence of the rate-of-fire control arm in this version...

The First Maxim Machine Gun

December 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 31

I am going to start an intermittent series of posts on the various different types of Maxim machine guns over the next few months – there are a whole slew of them, and I have […]

Military Thought (USSR): Some Points on the Status and Development of Small Arms (1965, English translation)

A Soviet Look at Cold War Small Arms Development

December 29, 2015 Ian McCollum 77

I have covered various elements of small arms development during the Cold War more than a few times – usually involving the contentious process that led to the 7.62mm NATO cartridge being adopted, and the […]

Savage .45 ACP Pistols – History & Disassembly (Video)

December 28, 2015 Ian McCollum 24

In the US pistol trials of 1907 that eventually led to the adoption of the Colt/Browning Model 1911, the two strongest competitors to the Browning design were the Luger and the Savage. Luger declined the […]

Vintage Saturday: On Guard

December 26, 2015 Ian McCollum 56

Armed with a Trapdoor Springfield – with fixed spike bayonet – and a long-barreled Colt Single Action Army. Dated 1890s – back when “labor dispute” meant more guns and fewer negotiators than it does today. […]

Happy Holidays to All!

December 25, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

I hope everyone has a joyous holiday season and a great New Year! There are some cool things in the works here at Forgotten Weapons, and I am looking forward to a 2016 that is […]

Swiss Prototype: N33 (Video)

December 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

The N33 is one of a series of Swiss prototype semiautomatic rifles developed between WWI and WWII (the “33” refers to 1933). This particular design is interesting because it fires from an open bolt, a […]

Sidewinder SMG Photos

December 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 44

The Sidewinder is a rather unusual submachine gun designer by Sidney McQueen in the mid 1960s. His objective was to create a weapon which could be fired one-handed with the firepower of a submachine gun […]