Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Austrian Mosin Nagant Rifles Rechambered for 8x50mm in WWI

March 27, 2026 Ian McCollum 7

The Austro-Hungarian Empire captured a very large number of Mosin Nagant rifles from Russian forces during World War One. They decided as early as November 1914 to convert many of these rifles to the 8x50mm […]

Austrian Sniper Prototype: SSG-1917A4 (M1917 and 03A4 Springfield Hybrid)

March 25, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

In the years after World War Two when the Austrian Army began looking for new sniper rifles, one of their experiments was to use available M1917 rifles and M73B1 scopes (from M1903A4 sniper rifles). The […]

Lithuanian Model 24L Mauser

March 18, 2026 Ian McCollum 0

The history of early Lithuanian small arms usage is hard to trace, as most records were destroyed over the course of a German invasion, two Russian invasions, and a 50-year communist occupation. When Lithuania gained […]

Eugene Stoner’s Future Assault Rifle Concept (F.A.R.C.)

March 6, 2026 Ian McCollum 57

After developing the AR-15 with Armalite, Eugene Stoner worked for a number of different companies. In 1972 he cofounded Ares Inc, where he and his partners worked on a wide variety of weapons platforms. Their […]

Adventures in Surplus! Type 38 Arisaka Carbine in World War One

March 4, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

“Forged in Snow”, my book on Finnish small arms, is available for pre-order right now along with all the other cool options at: https://www.headstamppublishing.com In the fall of 1914 it became apparent that the minor […]

Civil War Gwyn & Campbell Carbines (aka Cosmopolitan, Union, & Grapevine)

March 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 10

The first version of this carbine was the Cosmopolitan, designed and patented by Henry Gross in 1859 and manufactured by Edward Gwyn and Abner Campbell. It is a single-shot .52 caliber carbine that loads from […]

Coenders’ Bolt-Less Last Ditch Bolt Action Rifle

February 4, 2026 Ian McCollum 112

When the German Army tested last-ditch Volkssturm rifles late in World War Two, one of the particularly obscure submissions was August Coenders’ Coenders-Rochling Volkssturmkarabiner. This was a bowl action rifle chambered for 8mm Mauser with […]

Ross 1912 Cadet: Straight Pull .22 Rimfire Training Rifle

January 28, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

The Ross model 1912 Cadet rifle was introduced in 1912 as a diminutive rimfire companion to the 1905 and 1910 military Ross rifles. It was a single-shot straight pull rifle, with a somewhat unusual locking […]

Finnish Civil Guard m/33 Sniper (Built on the m/28-30 Mosin)

January 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 4

The first Finnish Civil guard sniper rifle was the m/28, but its development was paused when the m/28-30 improved rifle was developed. Once that rifle wa sin production, they set about making a scoped version. The […]

Yugoslav M92: The Serbian 7.62x39mm Pseudo-Krink

January 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

The Yugoslav M92 rifle is most often compared to the Soviet AKS-74U “Krinkov” – it is a compact, folding-stock version of Zastava’s M70 AK, just as the 74U was the compact version of the AK-74 […]