Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Vintage Saturday: Strange Bedfellows

December 21, 2013 Ian McCollum 22

Soviet troops with M38 Mosin carbines and Breda Model 37 heavy machine guns (presumably captured from the ill-fated Italian ARMIR expedition in 1942/43). Thanks to Leszek for finding the photo at Waralbum.ru!

W.B. McCarty’s Peculiar Revolver

December 20, 2013 Ian McCollum 18

Okay, to be precise I should say that it is W.B. McCarty’s idea for a peculiar revolver. We know nothing about Mr. McCarty beyond the fact that in 1909 he was granted a patent for […]

Book Review: The 100 Greatest Combat Pistols

December 19, 2013 Ian McCollum 17

Today we’re taking a look at the third of Tim Mullin’s hands-on firearms evaluation and testing books: The 100 Greatest Combat Pistols (the other two being on the subjects of rifles and SMGs/shotguns/machine pistols). Normally […]

Spanish Fusil M32 Sistema MR Manual

December 18, 2013 Ian McCollum 12

Thanks to reader Carlos in Spain, we have a manual on a very obscure Spanish self-loading rifle, the Sistema MR M1932, to share today. The only other information I have been able to find on […]

The Sad Gun Show Dilemma

December 17, 2013 Ian McCollum 27

There is an outstanding gun show sponsored by SAR in Phoenix each year that I always make a point to attend, and this year’s was about two weeks ago. One of the things that came […]

Ball Repeating Carbine (Video)

December 16, 2013 Ian McCollum 9

The Ball Repeating Carbine was one of the last Civil War arms manufactured, as an initial order of 1,002 units was ordered in 1864 but not delivered until shortly after the cessation of hostilities in […]

Vintage Saturday: A Long Way From Home

December 14, 2013 Ian McCollum 26

Malagasy soldier from the French army, World War I. Armed with a M1886/93 Lebel rifle and early style bayonet with hooked quillion.

Dutch Bren Manual

December 13, 2013 Ian McCollum 12

Dutch forces during and well after World War II used the excellent Bren LMG (and the Dutch Artillerie-Inrichtingen factory at Hembrug made Bren parts as well). So, it should come as no surprise that they would […]

Book Review: Firearm Anatomy I – Thompson M1A1 Submachine Gun

December 12, 2013 Ian McCollum 15

One of the questions I have gotten quite a few times is what resource I would recommend for folks who are interested in the technical engineering aspects of firearms design. It’s always been a tough […]

Mauser M1915 Flieger-Karabiner

December 11, 2013 Ian McCollum 20

Thanks to reader Jacob, we have some fantastic photos of a Mauser M1915 Flieger-Karabiner. This was an early (although not the earliest) Mauser self-loading rifle design, and was used for a short time by German […]