Bolt Action Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Lee Metford MkI: Great Britain’s First Magazine Rifle

September 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

The British went into the 1880s with plans to adopt the Enfield-Martini as its new rifle, a single shot Martini-action rifle with essentially a sidesaddle of ready-access cartridges on the side of the receiver. It […]

Not Always Bubba: A Factory Sporter Winchester-Lee Navy Rifle

August 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 3106 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. I am happy that the practice of sporterizing military rifles has fallen out of favor, but sometimes one can throw the baby out with the bathwater. […]

What is a Duffel Cut?

July 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

American service members in World War One and World War Two brought a tremendous number of firearms back to the US as trophies and souvenirs. While some mailed guns home, most brought them back in […]

Steyr Dragoon Scout and African Big Game Cartridges: .376 Steyr, .375 Ruger, .375 H&H

July 16, 2020 Ian McCollum 26

Jeff Cooper envisioned a few variation on the Scout Rifle, most notably a heavier-caliber type suited more for African dangerous (or large) game hunting, for which the .308 Winchester cartridge was not really suitable. Cooper […]

The Gras in Ethiopia: Carbines of Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu

July 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 9

Ethiopia is a fascinating and unique example of an African nation that was able to uphold its sovereignty through force of arms, and resist become a possession of any of the European powers during the […]

Elmech EM-992: Croatia’s First Domestic Sniper Rifle

July 1, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

There was a fair amount of small arms production in Croatia during the breakup of Yugoslavia, but most of it was not particularly high quality. After the government of Croatia had become established, it looked […]

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 […]

M44L: The Experimental Midlength Folding-Bayonet Mosin Nagant

June 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

Courtesy of The Mosin Crate, we have a Soviet “M44L” today. This was an intermediate length (24 inch barrel) pattern of the Mosin Nagant rifle with an M44-style permanently attached folding spike bayonet. Developed in […]

M91/41: A Step Back From the M38 and the Last Carcano

June 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

In my opinion, the M38 Carcano as a very insightfully designed infantry rifle for World War Two, acknowledging the real-world use conditions of such weapons. With the M91/41 (aka M41), Italy took a step back […]

Adventures in Surplus: Yugoslav M48 Mauser

June 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 33

Today is a look at a Yugoslav M48 Mauser. This was the standardized model that Yugoslavia adopted to replace its assortment of repaired and rebuild older Mauser rifles in the aftermath of World War Two. […]