Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

German Mauser Obrez Pistol

September 12, 2014 Ian McCollum 27

From the collection of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, a reader named James found an example of an Obrez pistol made on a Mauser K98 rifle action. This apparently was made by Czech partisans during World […]

Introducing InRange TV

September 11, 2014 Ian McCollum 47

I am very excited to introduce a new project today – InRange TV! InRange is intended to be everything that cable TV gun programs have utterly failed to be: intelligent and educational, while still being […]

Hall Breechloading Carbine at RIA

September 10, 2014 Ian McCollum 14

The M1819 Hall rifle was the first breechloader adopted on a wide scale by a military force (the British Ferguson predated it, but was only made in small numbers). The Hall stayed in production on […]

Survival Rifles at RIA: Luftwaffe Drilling and USAF M6

September 9, 2014 Ian McCollum 20

Today we’re looking at a pair of military survival rifles at the Rock Island September auction. One is a Luftwaffe M30 drilling – the most finely finished and luxurious survival rifle ever issued by a […]

Gyrojet Pistol at RIA

September 8, 2014 Ian McCollum 24

The 13mm Gyrojet pistol was the closest thing to a commercially successful rocket pistol, although not many were sold before the company went out of business. This pistol version (the most common type of Gyrojet) […]

Prototype Dieckmann P66 Pistol at RIA

September 7, 2014 Ian McCollum 36

The P66 was a prototype .22LR semiauto pistol designed by a German immigrant to the United States by the name of Rolf Dieckmann. It never went into production, but had a number of interesting features, […]

Vintage Saturday: Finn Capture

September 6, 2014 Ian McCollum 20

Note the Mosin Nagant PE sniper on the wall, and the AVS-36 machine rifle peeking out from behind the man on the right in addition to the DP-28 LMG on the table.

Krummlauf Curved Barrel StG44 at RIA

September 5, 2014 Ian McCollum 18

Today’s Rock Island Auction item is a very cool piece – a German Sturmgewehr with a “krummlauf”, or curved barrel attachment. This is the 30 degree type, intended (as goofy as this sounds) for firing […]

Chinese Mystery Pistol at RIA

September 4, 2014 Ian McCollum 16

Many unique and interesting pistols were made in China in the 1920s and 1930s, and this pistol is a good example of them. It is not a copy of any specific Western handgun, although mechanically […]

Two Pinfire Harmonica Pistols at RIA

September 3, 2014 Ian McCollum 14

Harmonica guns were a short-lived type of firearm that was developed in an effort to have reliable repeating weapons prior to the the modern centerfire cartridge. They were made in both muzzleloading and cartridge varieties, […]