Conversion - Forgotten Weapons

Indonesian M95/51 Mannlicher Carbine & Short Rifle Converted to .303 British

December 27, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

When Indonesia won its independence in 1949, its military had a real mess of different equipment. The SMLE was adopted as the first standard rifle, ut these were in short supply and a lot of […]

Pienoiskivääri m/91 Finnish .22 Mosin Trainer

November 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 1

This and all the other Finnish Mosins are detailed in my new book “Forged in Snow”: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=b8ft1r In the 1920s the Finnish Defense Forces wanted a reduced-power training rifle to allow low-cost marksmanship practice and […]

Aly & Kaufman AKB-23: Better Than the SA80 / L85

November 19, 2025 Ian McCollum 47

Penguin Brutality t-shirt available from Varusteleka: https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-penguin-brutality-t-shirt The Aly & Kaufman AKB-23 is a set of parts that allows one to use a Brownells BRN-180 upper to create an SA80 / L85 lookalike. It’s a […]

Project PRAK: Converting the CZ50 Pistol to 9x18mm Makarov

October 31, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

In 1966, CZ undertook Project PRAK (“Slingshot”) to investigate the possibility of converting the CZ50 pocket pistol to 9x18mm Makarov. The PM Makarov was adopted in the 1950s and used throughout the eastern bloc, but […]

Fenian Needham Conversion: Just the Thing for Invading Canada

May 10, 2025 Ian McCollum 33

The Fenian Brotherhood was formed in the US in 1858, a partner organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The groups were militant organizations looking to procure Irish independence from the British, and they found significant […]

Experimental AG-42B Conversion to 7.62mm NATO

April 14, 2025 Ian McCollum 10

Circa 1954, Sweden was starting to look for a new self-loading rifle to adopt for its infantry. The 6.5x55mm cartridge was a good round, but the idea of having ammunition compatibility with its neighbors was […]

Stamm-Zeller 1902: A Swiss Straight-Pull Converted to Semiauto

March 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 31

Today’s rifle was designed by a Swiss inventor named Hans Stamm while working for the Zeller et Cie company in Appenzell Switzerland. The company originally made embroidering machinery, but turned to military rifle parts subcontracting […]

Deckard’s Pfläger-Katsumata Series D 5223

February 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 35

In the film Blade Runner, Deckard carries a pistol called a Pfläger-Katsumata Series D 5223 – a name created by the fan community to have the initials “PKD” after Phillip K. Dick, who wrote Blade […]

Ljungman Updates: the AG-42 vs AG-42B

January 31, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

In 1953, the Swedish military launched a program to refurbish and refit all of the Ag m/42 rifles in inventory. Aside from replacing broken parts and worn barrels, the program also made a number of […]

2-Gun: Dillinger Gand Special! Winchester 1907SL and M911

January 11, 2025 Ian McCollum 28

Yesterday we took a look at a reproduction of the Winchester 1907 Self Loader made for the Dillinger gang (and others) by Hyman Lebman. Today, I’m taking it out to a 2-gun match, paired with […]

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