Commentary - Forgotten Weapons

Schwarzlose Followup – and the More Things Change…

April 23, 2013 Ian McCollum 8

When we went to the range to do our video on the Schwarzlose 1908 that you saw yesterday, we didn’t have our slow-motion-capable camera along. I knew it would be great to get some slow […]

Dangerous Guns

April 9, 2013 Ian McCollum 90

After shooting the Bannerman Mosin-Nagant conversion recently, the subject of dangerous military rifles came up when I was talking with a friend. And y’know, there are more than a few designs and conversions that are […]

If You Want it, Buy it Today

April 2, 2013 Ian McCollum 26

…because it won’t get any cheaper or easier to find. Military guns, that is. Part of the human psyche, I think, tends to disregard the value of things that are plentiful and inexpensive (or even […]

Do You Shoot Competitions?

March 26, 2013 Ian McCollum 26

It’s not about winning; it’s about pushing yourself to do your best. When we shoot competitively, we have the pressure of performing in front of our peers, against the clock, and against a standard that […]

236 Year of US Army Accoutrements

March 24, 2013 Ian McCollum 13

Today’s guest post comes from Nightgear, a UK retailer of tactical gear: Accoutrement is the term used to describe items carried on a soldiers person. In modern military jargon it would be referred to as […]

So Many Machine Guns!

March 19, 2013 Ian McCollum 36

Not too long ago, a pretty serious machine gun collector named Richard Wray passed away, and his estate is auctioning off his collection, which includes 80-odd transferable machine guns – nearly all of them very […]

Quote of the Day: Denial

March 10, 2013 Ian McCollum 35

I believe that the value of the horse and the opportunity for the horse in the future are likely to be as great as ever…aeroplanes and tanks are only accessories to the man and the […]

How Governments Choose Weapons: Israel

March 5, 2013 Ian McCollum 35

I recently got an email from Clément, asking about the choices Israel has made in small arms for the IDF. Why did they switch from the FAL to the Galil? And then why take M16s […]

Wacky Propaganda

February 19, 2013 Ian McCollum 34

It’s always interesting to look at the propaganda that military organizations put out regarding their opponents – it can often reveal what was particularly worrisome to men in the field at the time. A good […]

Historical What-If

February 12, 2013 Ian McCollum 45

I happened to catch a show on the History Channel the other day about a group of archaeologists doing a forensic reconstruction of Custer’s annihilation at the Little Bighorn. One of the things they determined […]