Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Baker Pattern 1800 Rifle for Napoleonic Wars Sharpshooters

August 11, 2025 Ian McCollum 5

The British military decided to organize their disparate small units of riflemen into a single standardized group in 1800. The 95th Regiment – the British Rifle Corps – was founded and it was equipped with […]

East Germany’s Nice .22 AK Trainer: KK-Mpi-69

August 6, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books! The KK-Mpi-69 (Klein Kaliber Maschinenpistole 1969) was a .22 rimfire training model of the standard East German stamped AKM. It used a simple blowback replacement bolt […]

Pick One: G1 (FAL) vs G3 (H&K) w/ John Keene

August 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 49

If you had to pick one, would you take a G1 (FAL) or a G3 (H&K)? Both are 7.62mm NATO rifles adopted by Germany. The G1 has more features and capabilities, like the carry handle, […]

Swedish Paratrooper Prototype: AK Fm/57

July 30, 2025 Ian McCollum 2

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten As Sweden was looking to adopt a new self-loading infantry rifle in the 1950s, one of the contenders was a modernized version of the Ljungman. […]

ZK 381: Czech Pre-War Prototype Battle Rifle

July 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

The ZK-381 was designed by Josef Koucký, his first design of 1938 (hence 381). This is one of the last of the Czech pre-war self-loading rifle projects, of which there were quite a lot. It […]

Krieghoff’s Bizarre Prototype FG42 Proposal

July 23, 2025 Ian McCollum 36

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten When the Luftwaffe was looking for its new universal paratrooper rifle, six different German arms companies were asked to submit proposals. Only two actually did; […]

.50 BMG and the Geneva Convention

July 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 36

Adorable Penguin Brutality shirt available from Varusteleka: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/forgotten-weapons-penguin-brutality-t-shirt/81986?option=81709 I’m sure you’ve heard the one about how targeting an enemy soldier with a .50 BMG is a war crime, but targeting his belt buckle is okay […]

G150: Swiss Silenced Guerrilla Anti-Material Rifle

July 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 36

The G150 is a rifle specifically assembled by and for the Swiss P-26 organization: a very secretive stay-behind group intended to fight foreign occupiers of Switzerland. It was one of a series of such organizations […]

Roller Delay in France: The H&K 33F (Trials & Export Models)

July 14, 2025 Ian McCollum 15

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten When France was looking to replace the MAS 49/56 rifle for military service in the 1970s, it tested all of the major rifle options available. […]

AK fm/54: Prototype Swedish Paratrooper Rifle

July 9, 2025 Ian McCollum 15

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten As Sweden experimented with updating the AG42 Ljungman in the 1950s, one of the intermediate patterns was the fm/54. This took the 7.62mm NATO short […]