Antiques - Forgotten Weapons

Finland Salvages a “Tragic Boating Accident”: Grafton Vetterli Rifles

May 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government helped smuggle arms to potential revolutionaries in Russia, in hopes of provoking a domestic crisis that would divert Russia military force form the war. This included a plot […]

Tallassee Carbine: The Confederacy’s Last-Ditch Effort

April 10, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

In 1863, the Confederate military decided to design a new standard pattern of cavalry carbine. The designs was put together rather quickly at the Richmond Arsenal; a 25 inch barrel, brass furniture, and Enfield type […]

Viking Atgeirr: Reevaluating the Origins of European Firearms

April 1, 2023 Ian McCollum 28

See Dr. Crawford’s video here: “Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat” on Amazon by Reynir Óskarson and William Short My helmet was generously provided by Grimfrost. I have been privileged to be […]

Musket to Big-Bore Rimfire: the Roberts Short-Frame Conversion

March 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 13

Brigadier General Benjamin Stone Roberts designed and patented a fall-block style of breech loading conversion to .58 Rimfire. Over the course of the decade after the Civil War, he was able to sell approximately 23,000 […]

From the American Revolution: Short Land Pattern Brown Bess

March 22, 2023 Ian McCollum 33

The standard weapon of the British Army in the American War of Independence was the “Brown Bess”, and today we are looking at a 1769 Short Land Pattern example of the Brown Bess. This was […]

Prototype Birdshead Grip S&W No.3 Russian

March 6, 2023 Ian McCollum 12

This revolver appears to be one of the pre-production prototypes S&W made for the Russian No.3 revolver contract. Its frame has been expertly converted to a birdshead style. It handles very nicely, but was apparently […]

Collier Reproductions and Fakes – Who and Why?

December 15, 2022 Ian McCollum 9

“Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier and Artemas Wheeler” is available right now for preorder on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/clockwork-basilisk?ref=4gzkeh Today I’m again joined by Professor Ben Nicholson, author of the newest Headstamp Publishing book, […]

Art and Engineering: Field Stripping a Second Model Collier

December 12, 2022 Ian McCollum 9

“Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier and Artemas Wheeler” is available right now for preorder on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/clockwork-basilisk?ref=1n89n0 Courtesy of esteemed collector Frank Graves, Professor Ben Nicholson and I are disassembling a gorgeous […]

Colt vs Collier: Patents Lawsuits and Lawyers Oh My!

December 8, 2022 Ian McCollum 13

“Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier and Artemas Wheeler” is available right now for preorder on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/clockwork-basilisk?ref=7zdbzu Most of the historical recognition of Elisha Collier comes from the 1851 and 1852 patent […]

Clockwork to Percussion: Collier Revolver Types and Timeline

December 1, 2022 Ian McCollum 16

“Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier and Artemas Wheeler” is available right now for preorder on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/clockwork-basilisk?ref=1s3pxu What were the different patterns of Collier, and what was the timeline of their development […]