Conversion - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

Needham Musket Conversion

October 15, 2014 Ian McCollum 38

by Roger L. Papke, Handfuls of History At the end of the American Civil War, the Union had well over a million surplus muzzle-loading rifle-muskets, all of which were obsolete since it was clear that […]

Experimental .30-40 Trapdoor Springfield Repro (Video)

April 21, 2014 Ian McCollum 26

We have often touched on the series of US magazine rifle trials that took place through the late 1800s – those trials brought out a slew of interesting new ideas and clever (or not so […]

Browning M2 “Anti-Mechanization Weapon”

February 19, 2014 Ian McCollum 100

During the latter half of the 1930s, the US Cavalry decided to experiment with adapting the .50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine gun into a bipod-mounted, shoulder-fired configuration. The goal was to devise a variant […]

On the Way to Being Forgotten: AKU-94 Bullpup AK Conversion

February 18, 2014 Ian McCollum 84

The AKU-94 was a bullpup conversion kit made for standard AK rifles by K-Var a while back. They were never particularly popular, probably because in stock form they weren’t particularly good. The sights are wobbly […]

Pakistani 44-Bore Followup

November 19, 2013 Ian McCollum 48

Thanks to a Pakistani reader named Adi who happens to own a 44-Bore rifle (an AK with the chamber reamed to accept 8×33 Kurz cartridges), we have some a bit more information on this interesting […]

Pathan “44-Bore” AK in 8×33 Kurz

November 1, 2013 Ian McCollum 40

Today’s rifle is an curious example of forgotten weapons going full-circle and being reinvented. What we’re looking at is the “44 Bore”, a colloquial name given to AK-pattern rifles rechambered for the German 7.92×33 Kurz […]

Israeli 7.62mm Conversion

October 1, 2013 Ian McCollum 30

I was looking at a particularly nice FN Israeli Mauser the other day; one of their rifles converted to 7.62mm NATO: I was admiring the condition (much better than the one of these I have […]

2-Gun Match: Chinese 7.62x39mm Bren

September 24, 2013 Ian McCollum 32

Thanks to the folks at SMG Guns in Texas, I just got my completed semiauto Bren gun in 7.62x39mm. What the best way to break it in? Take it to a run-n-gun match, of course! […]

The Huot Machine Rifle: A Ross Conversion

July 17, 2013 Ian McCollum 13

The first serious automatic weapon considered for military service in Canada was the brainchild of Joseph Alphonse Huot, a machinist and blacksmith from Quebec. Born in 1878, Huot was a large and strong man (not […]