Crude Copies - Forgotten Weapons

You Can Copy Anything: Chinese Bolt Action M1 Carbine

January 6, 2025 Ian McCollum 20

This is a copy of the M1 Carbine made in China late in the Chinese civil war – likely between 1945 and 1949. While there was an attempt at factory production of a true M1 […]

Hamas Claims to Make Sniper Rifles in Gaza – Are They Really?

December 21, 2023 Ian McCollum 19

Hamas – or rather its specific military wing the Al Qassam Brigade – posted a video on Twitter / X yesterday purporting to show the manufacture of .50 caliber sniper rifles in Gaza. I was […]

Croatian Improvised Weapons: From Obrez to Single-Shot Yugo M70 Hybrid

October 25, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

During the Croatian Homeland War – as in all wars of independence – a wide variety of cobbled-together firearms were used by people who could not access proper factory arms for one reason or another. […]

Crude Khyber Pass Webley Revolver Copy

March 13, 2023 Ian McCollum 20

The town of Dara Adam Khel has became a locus of firearms manufacture in response to the British occupation of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 19th century, and it has remained dedicated to that industry […]

Ethiopian Oddities: A Long Lee / SMLE Hybrid

November 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a rifle that began its like as an early Lee Enfield MkI made by London Small Arms. It has the original buttstock, early style safety, volley sights, and magazine cutoff from […]

Spitfire: The Semiauto That Became a Machine Gun

November 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 13

The Spitfire is a firearm with an interesting importance in legal history. Originally designed and marketed as an open-bolt semiautomatic-only carbine, it was determined to be a machine gun under the law in 1968, and […]

Ethiopian Oddities: Vetterli-Mauser Hybrid (Sort Of)

October 7, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a rifle that appears to be a Vetterli action with a distinctly Mauser flair. The bolt is styled after the Vetterli system (including rear locking lugs) but has a non-functional Mauser […]

Spanish Patent Quirks: Anitua Y Charola’s Copy of the Merwin & Hulbert

August 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

The firm of Anitua Y Charola in Eibar, Spain (later renamed Charola Y Anitua) was founded in 1880 or 1881, and their first substantial product was a copy of the American Merwin & Hulbert revolver. […]

Chinese Warlord Pistols: Massive FN 1900 Copies in .30 Mauser

June 11, 2021 Ian McCollum 31

It’s not too late to join the “Pistols of the Warlords” Kickstarter! The armies of Warlord Era China had quite a fondness for the FN 1900 pistol, but they also made extensive use of the […]

Chinese Warlord Pistols: the “Horn Grip Type”

May 28, 2021 Ian McCollum 8

Interested in these guns? Check out the Kickstarter for my new book on the subject, “Pistols of the Warlords”! In the course of researching Chinese domestic pistols of the Warlord Era, I sorted through several […]