Bolt Action Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Ishapore SMLE MkI** India Pattern (Video)

February 6, 2017 Ian McCollum 9

While many people are familiar with the Ishapore 2A1 rifles chambered in 7.62mm NATO (largely thanks to their importation and sale in the US in large numbers), production of Indian Enfield rifles actually dates back […]

Peruvian Mausers: 1891 and 1909 (Video)

February 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 7

Peru’s first standardized repeating rifle was the Model 1891 Mauser, as purchased in 1901 through Argentina. About 30,000 of these rifles were obtained when Argentina was unable to pay for them – although this may […]

SMLE Rifle Grenade Launcher (Video)

February 2, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

While rifle-launched grenades date back hundreds of years, they first came into widespread use during World War One, on all sides of the conflict. The first years of the war saw the use of rod […]

American Mosin Nagant Rifles (Video)

January 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 12

Everyone is aware of the Mosin Nagant rifle, but not everyone realizes that about 2 million of them were actually manufactured in the United States. Russia had been producing M91 Mosin Nagant rifles in their […]

Lee-Speed Military Model (Video)

January 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 8

In 1892, just a few years after the British military adopted the Lee-Metford rifle, the BSA and LSA factories began offering several configurations on the civilian/commercial market. They would produce them all the way into […]

RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) Enfield Carbine

January 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 7

Enfield carbines are marvelous little guns, in my opinion, and just ooze history. This particular one is a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) carbine, 10,000 of which were converted from obsolete British military Lee Enfield and […]

Finnish Mosin Nagant Overview (M91/24, M27, M28, M28/30, M39)

January 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

Finland found itself with nearly 200,000 Mosin Nagant rifles in its possession after breaking away from Russian rule in 1917, and those rifles would for the basis of Finnish infantry arms until the adopted of […]

Book Review: FN Mauser Rifles by Anthony Vanderlinden

January 2, 2017 Ian McCollum 4

When I was waiting for my copy of Anthony Vanderlinden’s new book “FN Mauser Rifles” to arrive, I was expecting a typical sort of dry reference work. You know, the sort of thing that is […]

Vintage Saturday: Goumier

December 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 52

Moroccan troops, known as les Goumiers Marocains were part of the French auxiliaries in the Army of Africa. As with all post-surrender French forces in WWII, they were armed and equipped with other Allied equipment; […]

Uruguay’s Forgotten Mauser: the Dovitiis

December 6, 2016 Ian McCollum 11

Uruguay’s Model 1871/94 Mauser conversions – known usually as either Daudetau or Dovitiis Mausers – are a really interesting story of arms history. It begins with Antonio Dovitiis, and Italian tailor and merchant of military […]