Conversion - Forgotten Weapons

Britains First Standard Trainer: the No 2 Mk IV*

June 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

This rifle is coming up for sale at RIA on June 23. The British military started using training rifles in 1883, with the .297/.230 Morris cartridge in adapted Martini rifles. This would give way to […]

The Very Neat Peruvian Navy 1891 Mauser Carbine

May 31, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This carbine is coming up for sale here. Peru acquired a large stock of Model 1891 Mausers from Argentina in 1901, and the carbine we are looking at today is a conversion form one of […]

Reproduction RP-46 Belt-Feed Conversion from SMG Guns

May 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

InRange TV Operator’s Guide to the RP-46: You can order your own by contacting SMG Guns at smgguns@yahoo.com or placing an order online at SMGGunsStore.com. It’s very exciting to have these available, as they are […]

Dutch Mannlicher Plus Lewis Gun Bolt Equals Semiauto…?

May 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

Basically nothing is known about this rifle in terms of who created it or when – but it is a pretty interesting example of an attempt to convert a bolt action rifle to semiautomatic. This […]

Turkish “Enfauser” – Mauser/Enfield Hybrid Rifle

April 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

In the mid 1930s, Turkey updated and overhauled the bolt action rifles in its inventory, to bring them all up to that same standard for sights, ammunition, sling configuration, etc. Most of the rifles overhauled […]

Israeli M1919 Brownings and the US Semiauto Market

March 28, 2018 Ian McCollum 37

In the world of converted semiautomatic “machine guns,” the Browning 1919 is a happy example of one of the most iconic and historically important US machine guns and also one of the cheapest semiautomatic belt […]

Merrill-Jenks Navy Carbine Conversion

March 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 39

James Merrill was a Baltimore inventor and businessman who patented an improvement to the Jenks pattern carbine in 1858. His idea was for an improved locking lever for the gun, which would also allow the […]

Snabb Semiauto Conversion of a Dutch Mannlicher

January 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

Snabb was a Swedish company created to market a system for converting bolt action rifles into semiautomatic rifles. The system was patented in the US in 1938, making this one of the very last attempts […]

Improvised & Craft-Built Firearms w/ Jonathan Ferguson & Nic Jenzen-Jone

December 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

Today I am joined for a round table discussion (well, octagon table, technically) by Jonathan Ferguson (Curator of the National Firearms Centre collection at the Royal Armouries) and Nic Jenzen-Jones (Director of Armament Research Services) […]

Repurposing Obsolete Rifles: The Lebel R35 Carbine

December 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 21

Get your “Only Dropped Once” shirt here, and do your part to push back against the stereotype of the French soldier! The French military had investigated the possibility of a Lebel carbine in the 1880s, […]