Commentary - Forgotten Weapons

True Crime Collector Skulduggery: R.L. Wilson and the “Trade of the Century”

January 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 49

RL Wilson Case R.L. Wilson was a pillar of the firearms collecting community, and especially the Colt collecting community, in the 1970s and 80s. He wrote a slew of books on Colt, and was a […]

It Belongs in a Museum! Or, “Ian Offends Curators”

December 31, 2020 Ian McCollum 79

Have museums fundamentally changed since the advent of the internet? Does this impact decisions about whether artifacts like firearms are best held in museums versus private collections for the sake of study and understanding? How […]

Evolution of the Submachine Gun: Three Distinct Generations

October 20, 2020 Ian McCollum 98

Submachine guns have gone through a distinct evolution over the past one hundred years. Today we will look at these changes, specifically identifying: – 1st Generation guns from World War One and through the 1930s […]

Saga of the AR15 Forward Assist: A Solution Searching for a Problem

July 30, 2020 Ian McCollum 51

In 1963, the US Army set out to purchase 85,000 AR-15 rifles as a one-time procurement to hold the infantry through until final adoption of the expected Project SPIW rifle. Where the previous Air Force […]

What is a Duffel Cut?

July 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

American service members in World War One and World War Two brought a tremendous number of firearms back to the US as trophies and souvenirs. While some mailed guns home, most brought them back in […]

Buying a Machine Gun with a C&R License

July 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

I am often asked how a C&R license (Curio & Relic, also called a Type 03 Federal Firearms License; not to be confused with “Class 3”) affects the purchase of a machine gun. So, I […]

No, It Doesn’t Take Glock Mags…and Sometimes That’s Better

July 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

Sometimes it makes sense to use convenient existing magazines. Sometimes it doesn’t. Like all things in firearms design, magazine features are all compromises. Single feed vs double feed, polymer vs steel, and straight vs curved…one […]

Restoring Sporterized Military Rifles for Fun and…Probably not Profit

June 11, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

I get a fair number of questions about restoring sporterized rifles, so I figured I should address them in a stand-alone video…

The Scout Rifle Study: A Book Review and Critique of the Scout Rifle Concept

May 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 48

Let me preface this by saying that I remain a big fan of the Scout Rifle concept and the Steyr Scout in particular. When I ordered a copy of Richard Mann’s “The Scout Rifle Study”, […]

Scotch, Crackling Fire, and the Story of the Chassepot

March 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

One of the stretch goals in the presale Kickstarter for Chassepot to FAMAS was for me to do some reading from the book, on video. So, I present the story of the Chassepot! Copies of […]