Commentary - Forgotten Weapons

Hunting the African Big 5 with Percussion Muzzleloaders (w/ Val Forgett)

June 22, 2026 Ian McCollum 21

Today we are back with Val Forgett and another story about the history of Navy Arms. When his father was making reproduction sidelock percussion guns, he wanted to prove that they were still viable hunting […]

The Surplus Guns Gold Rush When Communism Fell (w/ Val Forgett)

May 20, 2026 Ian McCollum 9

When the Soviet Union collapsed, there was a gold rush for the surplus guns held by all the various newly independent republics, as well as the Warsaw Pact nations. Lord of War is not far […]

ZB-26 vs Bren LMGs (w/ John Keene)

May 1, 2026 Ian McCollum 50

ZB-26 Available from Morphys here: https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_N__UTTERLY_FANTASTIC_CONDITION_WWII_GERMAN_NAZI_P-LOT655878.aspx Today John Keene and I are comparing two light machine guns: the Czech ZB-26 and the British Bren. Of course, the Bren is a development of the ZB, so […]

Franchi LF-57 vs Colt SMG (w/ John Keene)

April 17, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

LF-57 Available from Morphys here: https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_N__MARS_EQUIPMENT_CORP_FRANCHI_M1962_MACHINE_GUN_-LOT667044.aspx Today John Keene and I are comparing and contrasting a pair of quite different submachine guns. One is a Franchi LF-57, a rare second generation stamped Italian design very […]

The Origins of Aldo Uberti and Reproduction Cowboy Guns

April 11, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

In 1958, Val Forgett of Navy Arms contracted with Beretta engineer Aldo Uberti to produce 1,000 reproductions of the Colt 1851 Navy revolver. That turned into the beginning of many decades of production of a […]

Will FRTs Kill Machine Gun Values? (feat. DIAS)

March 7, 2026 Ian McCollum 32

When bump stocks made their appearance on the market, people suggested that they might cause a drop in the value of registered transferrable machine guns. That didn’t happen, largely because bump stocks were tricky to […]

Bannerman, the Father of Gun Collecting: Tales from the Golden Age of Surplus

February 11, 2026 Ian McCollum 19

Francis Bannerman is really the father of the modern military surplus industry, and in many ways a father of gun collecting as we know it today. Before Bannerman, “gun collecting” was generally something for the […]

Which Customer Are You? (w/ Mike Branson of Gideon Optics)

February 9, 2026 Ian McCollum 10

Suit from Grayman & Co: https://grayman.co Today I’m speaking with Mike Branson from Gideon Optics at SHOT Show 2026 about what he sees in the industry. Specifically, the three categories that customers fall into…

Vaporware or Successful Release: SHOT Show 2025 Retrospective

January 25, 2026 Ian McCollum 17

Today we take a look back at last year’s SHOT Show. Of all the products I did videos on, which ones successfully came to market and which dissolved into vaporware? Hop’s HTX-1 Video: https://youtu.be/snpg6Vz5DOY AKB-23 […]

Buying W.W. Greener: Tales from the Golden Age of Surplus

January 7, 2026 Ian McCollum 5

I am joined today by Val Forgett III of Navy Arms for the first in a series of videos telling some of his stories form growing up in the golden age of surplus, with a […]