Bolt Action Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

RIA: Gewehr 1898 – Germany’s Standard WWI Rifle

June 11, 2016 Ian McCollum 52

The Gewehr 1898 was the product of a decade of bolt action repeating rifle improvements by the Mauser company, and would be the standard German infantry rifle through both World Wars. Today we are looking […]

Four Italian WWI soldiers of the Regia Guardia di Finanza (Royal Finance Police)

Vintage Saturday: Royal Finance Police

May 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

From left to right: The soldier without a hat is a sergeant holding a Beretta Model 1915 pistol chambered in 9mm Glisenti. He is resting his shooting arm on a folded coat with a […]

Book Review: M91/30 Rifles and M38/M44 Carbines in 1941-1945

May 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 25

The full title is actually (deep breath) M91/30 Rifles and M38/M44 Carbines in 1941-1945: Accessories and Devices – History of Production, Development, and Maintenance, by Alexander Yuschenko and translated into English by Ryan Elliot. I saw […]

French M14 Conversion – the Gras in 8mm Lebel (Video)

May 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 35

The French adopted the Gras as their first mass-issued metallic cartridge rifle in 1874, replacing the needlefire 1866 Chassepot. Quite a lot of Gras rifles were manufactured, and they became a second-line rifle when the […]

Vintage Saturday: Liberators

May 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 46

This is a pretty widely-published photo, but it sure is a good one. It also shows very clearly the US’ horrible excuse for a backpack of the time. For the record, the soldier on the […]

2-Gun Action Challenge Match: US WWI Infantry (M1917 & M1911)

May 2, 2016 Ian McCollum 57

In this month’s 2-Gun match, I am competing as a WWI US infantryman, with an M1917 Eddystone rifle and an M1911 pistol (both are genuine WWI-era originals). I am also using a reproduction US 1917 […]

RIA: Pattern 1913 Enfield Trials Rifle

April 28, 2016 Ian McCollum 67

One of the lessons learned by the British military in the aftermath of the Boer War was that modern Mauser rifles were superior to their Lee-action rifles and carbines. In response, British ordnance began experimenting […]

RIA: Spreewerke VG-2

April 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 35

Five different companies in Germany produced designs for the last-ditch Volkssturm bolt action rifles, and they were designated VG-1 through VG-5. The VG-2 was developed by the Spreewerke company, and differed from the others in […]

RIA: Japanese Type 100 Paratrooper

April 8, 2016 Ian McCollum 15

The Type 100 (sometimes called the Type 0) was one of the initial Japanese experiments in paratroop rifles. Manufactured from standard Nagoya Arsenal Type 99 rifles, the Type 100 used a set of interrupted lugs […]

Finnish red guard militia members posing for the camera some time during the civil war.

Vintage Saturday: Finnish Militia

March 26, 2016 Ian McCollum 48

The woman at the front right has a Winchester 1895, almost certainly of Russian contract origin in 7.62x54R. The others appear to have Type 30 Arisaka rifles, which would have been sold to Russia by […]