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HomeConversion

Conversion

Bolt Action Rifles

Uniquely Ethiopian Shortened Lebel Rifles

December 16, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

Today we are looking at an interesting sub-type of Ethiopian Lebel short rifle. When InterOrdnance brought in the surviving Lebels from Ethiopian storage, eleven of one hundred were in this configuration, with barrels shortened to […]

Conversion

Experimental Pre-WWI Ross .30-06 Automatic Rifle

December 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

In August 1913, the British War Office wrote to Sir Charles Ross requesting a sample automatic rifle for trials in the UK. Ross was able to submit a prototype on May 1914, which was tested […]

Conversion

Elbonian M52/57/61 Paratrooper Carbine

November 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 41

In 1960, Elbonia set out an RFP for a new carbine for a fledgling paratroop brigade. They wanted a rifle to provide a higher volume of firepower for these troops, rather like the intention of […]

Antiques

Model 1881 Trapdoor Forager: Cheap Entertainment for the Troops

November 20, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

This is Lot #1236 in the upcoming December 2020 RIA Premier auction. At the suggestion of Colonel J.C. Kelton (Assistant Adjutant-General, Military Division of the Pacific and Department of California), the US Army adopted a […]

Bolt Action Rifles

Vetterli-Ferracciu for the Italian Navy

October 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 7

The Italian military adopted the single-shot Vetterli rifle in 1870, and by 1882 the Italian Navy was looking for something with a bit more firepower. The proceeded to adopt the Vetterli-Bertoldo in 1882, a version […]

Conversion

Merrill Breechloading Conversion of the 1841 Mississippi Rifle

September 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

Lot 1171 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. James Merrill of Baltimore had his hands in several Civil War era firearms – rifles built from scratch, conversions of the Jenks carbines, and also conversions […]

Conversion

Prototype Tube-Magazine Trapdoor Springfield

August 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 15

Lot 1078 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. This experimental repeating conversion of a Trapdoor Springfield was most likely made by Augustine Sheridan Jones, of the Dakota Territory in the 1880s. We know he […]

Bolt Action Rifles

Berthier with a Chauchat Magazine at the Range

June 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 30

Today I am out at the range to put the first shots through a completed replica of the French Chauchat-magazine Berthier conversion. The real versions of these guns were made on Mle 1890 cavalry carbines […]

Conversion

CMMG Banshee: The Unique Radial Delayed Blowback System

May 15, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

In 2015, the CMMG company decided to develop a pistol-caliber AR carbine firing .45 ACP. Such things were becoming common in 9mm, but .45 was a more open market opportunity. They spent substantial time trying […]

Conversion

Chinese 7.62mm Sten Gun

May 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

During World War Two, Canada supplied some 73,000 Sten guns (made by the Long Branch arsenal) to Chinese Nationalist forces in an effort to help them fight the Japanese. These Stens were standard MkII pattern […]

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