Conversion - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Colt Richards Conversion 1860 Army

February 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 7

Colt, like all the other manufacturers in the US, was prevented from making cartridge revolvers by the Rollin white patent, which finally expired in 1869. This left them limited to their percussion revolvers, the 1849, […]

Smoothbore Spencer: Tracing a Mystery Gun

February 3, 2016 Ian McCollum 21

Today’s firearm is not a normal gun; it is a conversion of a Spencer into a shotgun. My question is, what path did this weapon travel? What did it begin as, and how did it […]

Video Q&A #3: What-Ifs and How-Comes

January 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 46

I initially figured these Q&A video would be a fun little side note, and I have been a bit taken aback by how popular they became…and so they keep getting longer. This one clocks in […]

First Pattern 1865 Allin Conversion – Trapdoor Springfield at RIA

November 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 35

As the US Civil War drew to a close, it was quite apparent to everyone that muzzleloading rifles were obsolete, and any military force wishing to remain relevant would need to adopt cartridge-firing weapons. However, […]

Beretta M1918 SMG Photos

October 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

The Beretta M1918 was one of two simultaneous efforts to turn the M1915 Villar-Perosa machine gun into a more practical weapon. The Officine Villar Perosa (who had manufactured the 1915 gun in the first place) […]

RIA: Granatbuchse GrB-39 Antitank Rifle

August 29, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

Like most countries, Germany had a standard-issue antitank rifle when World War II began – the Panzerbuchse 39. It fired an 8x94mm cartridge with a small very high velocity armor-piercing bullet. And like the other […]

RIA: The ASP Subcompact 9mm for Sneaky People

August 22, 2015 Ian McCollum 39

The ASP was a custom take of the S&W Model 39 autoloading pistol developed by a man named Paris Theodore in the 1970s. Theodore made a wide variety of sneaky James-Bond-like guns for various clients, […]

Garand converted to use AR10 magazines by Artillerie Inrichtingen

Dutch M1 with AR-10 Magazines

August 5, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Dutch government was looking to adopt a new rifle for its Army, and considered both the AR-10 (which was being produced domestically by Artillerie Inrichtingen) and the […]

French officer with a Lebel rifle and barrel-mounted light

Vintage Saturday: Throw Me a Line!

August 1, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

Thuer Conversion Colt 1849 at James D Julia

February 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 10

As the self-contained metallic cartridge because popular, a niche industry developed in converting percussion revolvers to use the new cartridges. One of the first of these conversions was designed by F. Alexander Thuer and marketed […]