Ian McCollum - Forgotten Weapons

Villar Perosa manual

February 18, 2011 Ian McCollum 0

The Villar Perosa was a rather odd weapon developed by noted designer Revelli in Italy in 1914 and adopted into service in 1915. It was a pair of open-bolt submachine guns (predating shoulder-fired submachine gun […]

Volksgewehr VG1

February 16, 2011 Ian McCollum 1

In late 1944, Hitler formed the Volkssturm, a last ditch Home Guard type force to throw against the encroaching American and Russian forces at the German border. Small arms production was taxed already from the […]

Chatellerault FM Mle 1924-29

February 14, 2011 Ian McCollum 0

The Chatellerault FM Mle 1924-29 was the French military’s replacement for the 1915 Chauchat automatic rifle. It was clear after WWI that the Chauchat design was flawed, and a new weapon was required. The military […]

More Russian Manuals

February 11, 2011 Ian McCollum 0

I have a couple more French guns queued up for next week, but it’s been a few days since I added a manual to the library. I was going to post a DsHK 38 manual, […]

French Experimental 1910 autoloader

February 9, 2011 Ian McCollum 0

We don’t have much information about this rifle, but we do know that is was a prototype direct gas impingement rifle in 6mm, built at the Puteaux Arsenal. It had an overall length of 50″, […]

French A6 Meunier M1916

February 7, 2011 Ian McCollum 5

The French military is the butt of quite a lot of jokes…I’m sure we’ve all heard the one about the great deal on French surplus – never fired and only dropped once! Well, when it […]

Fedorov manual

February 4, 2011 Ian McCollum 1

Ok, just one more Fedorov post before we turn to other things. Thanks to the generosity of Max Popenker, we have a copy of a 1928 original Fedorov manual for you. It’s in Russian, of […]

Fedorov magazine

February 2, 2011 Ian McCollum 1

Before we leave the Fedorov, I would like to take a moment to address a common misconception – the Fedorov did not use MG13 magazines. The two designs certainly are very similar, but they are […]

Fedorov

January 31, 2011 Ian McCollum 0

The Fedorov was the first practical assault rifle, predating the German Sturmgewehr by thirty years. It was a select-fire rifle with a 25-round magazine of 6.5x50mm cartridges. The caliber was chosen for its light recoil […]

Winchester .224 E2 manual

January 28, 2011 Ian McCollum 6

Today, we have for you an original manual for the Winchester Light Rifle in .224 Winchester E2. This was a rifle in competition with the early AR-15 to replace the M-14 in US military service. […]