Conversion - Forgotten Weapons

Otterup Model 69: From German Sword to Danish Plowshare

July 21, 2023 Ian McCollum 9

The Schultz & Larsen company in Otterup, Denmark was a venture formed by a gunsmithing shop and a very successful target shooter to make precision rifles. In 1919, they are able to purchase a bunch […]

No Clip, No Problem! Ethiopian Gunsmithing Solutions (Berthier)

July 19, 2023 Ian McCollum 8

While helping to unpack a new shipment of French rifles at IO Inc / Royal Tiger Imports, I came across several examples of Berthiers that were modified to not use clips. There were a couple […]

Improving Mosins: The Estonian M1935

June 21, 2023 Ian McCollum 19

When Estonia declared independence from Russia in 1918, it had no formal military. After winning a 2-year War of Independence, the nation needed to set up its own armed forces. The rifles available in Estonia […]

Hunting Rifles for Greenland: M1917 Enfield

May 8, 2023 Ian McCollum 22

Greenland is a remote and desolate land without a significant industrial base, but there is a demand for hunting rifles there. As the place has long been a Danish colony since 1814, its trade was […]

Musket to Big-Bore Rimfire: the Roberts Short-Frame Conversion

March 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 13

Brigadier General Benjamin Stone Roberts designed and patented a fall-block style of breech loading conversion to .58 Rimfire. Over the course of the decade after the Civil War, he was able to sell approximately 23,000 […]

Austrian Troop Training: Erma EL-24 .22 Kit for the Steyr M95 Carbine

February 11, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

The German company Erma (Erfurter Maschinenfabrik) developed a .22 rimfire kit for the Mauser 98 for the German Army in the 1920s. It was used for training, both to allow for more effective fundamental practice […]

From Aircraft to Improvised Infantry: the Vickers MkI No2

December 21, 2022 Ian McCollum 21

The Vickers MkI No2 was an improvisation of the British Royal Air Force. They needed arms for airbase defense, without unduly impacting the production of weapons for the infantry. Wheat they had a good supply […]

The History of Drop-In Auto Sears

December 17, 2022 Ian McCollum 19

When Colt decided to sell a semiauto-only civilian version of its AR-15 rifle, it had to make a number of changes to the design of the lower receiver to prevent full-auto fire control parts from […]

Older Gun With Newer Ammo: A Centerfire Winchester 1866

October 19, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

The Winchester 1866 was chambered for the .44 Henry rimfire cartridge, like the Henry rifle before it. Before too long, however, centerfire ammunition began to take over as the best and most common type of […]

Evolving the Cheek Pistol Concept: Calico M950

October 15, 2022 Ian McCollum 35

I have found the “cheek pistol” concept form Rhett Neumayer at Demonstrated Concepts to be pretty interesting. When I was thinking about what pistol designs might be suitable for this sort of use, the Calico […]