Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Makarov: The Soviets Adopt Some Weird Proprietary Caliber

December 6, 2023 Ian McCollum 36

The Makarov, designed by Nikolay Makarov, was the Soviet Union’s new post-WW2 handgun. The whole Soviet small arms suite was changed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the Makarov was intended to address […]

Top 5 Pistols of World War One (Response to C&Rsenal)

December 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 46

C&Rsenal posted a Top 10 Pistols of WWI video a few days ago, and I didn’t entirely agree with their choices – so I figured I’d do my own list. I’m using the same base […]

East Germany’s Secret Walther Clone: The Pistole 1001-0

December 2, 2023 Ian McCollum 10

When the Allies occupied German at the end of World War Two, the Walther factory at Zella Mehlis was initially garrisoned by American soldiers (who did a pretty thorough job liberating all the guns they […]

Favela 2-Gun Action Challenge: Rio BOPE Madsen & Beretta 92

November 24, 2023 Ian McCollum 4

It’s time for the monthly 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, and this time I’m bringing out the Madsen! I’ve rigged it up like the BOPE (Brazilian military police special teams) typically use them, with the flash […]

Colt 1903 in US Military Service (and for the OSS)

November 13, 2023 Ian McCollum 11

The Colt Model 1903, aka Pocket Hammerless, aka Model M, was a massively successful design for Colt on the commercial market. It was chambered for the .32ACP cartridge, with a .380 model introduced in 1908. […]

Adventures in Surplus: From German Imperial Navy to Ethiopia

November 7, 2023 Ian McCollum 7

I really enjoy finding guns that can be positively traced through multiple different parts of history, and Lugers can be a great source for that sort of story. Today I have a Luger from Royal […]

New Laugo Creator 500 Alien at the Range

October 21, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

Today I’m taking the new Laugo Alien out to the range to see if it matches up to the original. Spoiler, it does – and it’s even better. The new grip angle is much more […]

Improved Laugo Alien for the American Market: The Creator 500

October 11, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

When the original Laugo Alien came out, it was designed with a grip angle rather steeper than a lot of people (including most Americans, it seems) preferred. In response, Laugo redesigned the grip to be […]

A Professional Warlord Copy of the FN 1900 from the Nanjing Arsenal

October 9, 2023 Ian McCollum 4

Interested in more pistols from the Chinese warlord era? Check out my book “Pistols of the Warlords”, now in stock and shipping at: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/chinese-pistols One of the professional factory-made Chinese warlord-era copies of the FN […]

Egyptian 2-Gun: Rasheed and Browning High Power

October 7, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

We just looked at the Rasheed (and it’s Iraqi sibling the Baghdad) and today I’m taking it out to the monthly 2-Gun match. I’m pairing it with a United Arab Republic contract Browning High Power, […]