Bolt Action Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

L8(T) Enfield: The British Army Fails to Make a Sniper

December 14, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

We looked at the 7.62mm conversion of the No4 Enfield into Rifle L8 yesterday. Part of that program was an attempt to develop a new sniper rifle on the L8 platform. To this end, six […]

7.62mm Rifle L8: The Last Gasp of the Service Lee Enfield

December 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 23

After the British adopted the FAL as the L1A1 rifle, there was still an interest in converting stocks of existing No4 Enfield rifles to the new 7.62x51mm cartridge for reserve and training use. A conversion […]

ASAC Presentation: Development of French Military Repeating Rifles

December 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

At the Fall 2021 meeting of the American Society of Arms Collectors, I had the opportunity to make a presentation on the development of French military repeating rifles. The story begins with the Mle 1874 […]

Ethiopian Oddities: Strange Smallbore Gewehr 71 Carbine

November 30, 2021 Ian McCollum 23

Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a Gewehr 1871 carbine – remarkably still with its matching bolt – rechamsbered for a small bore, smokeless powder cartridge. It is a quite interesting example of an Ethiopian armorer’s work…

FR-F2 French Sniper Rifle at the Range

November 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

Today I’ve taken the FR-F2 to the range to try it out. I’m using the early French Army scope, an APX L806-04. This is a 3.85x optic basically modeled on the German WW2 ZF-4. It […]

The French FR-F2: Best of the Cold War Sniper Rifles

November 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

In 1986, the French Army adopted the FR-F2 (Fusil à Répétition F2) as its standard sniper rifle. The F2 was never manufactured new; it was an improvement made on existing FR-F1 rifle by giving them […]

“FUSTAN” – The Competition Rimfire MAS-36 for North Africa

November 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

While the French military adopted a .22 rimfire training version of the MAS-36, that rifle (the “Tir Réduit 5.5mm”) was intended for military training, and not for formal competition. During World War Two, the design […]

Ethiopian Oddities: A Long Lee / SMLE Hybrid

November 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a rifle that began its like as an early Lee Enfield MkI made by London Small Arms. It has the original buttstock, early style safety, volley sights, and magazine cutoff from […]

Winchester Reference Collection: Uruguayan M1908 Short Rifle

November 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

Uruguay first adopted a Mauser rifle in the 1880s, with the single-shot Mauser model 1871. After an abortive attempt to update those rifles to a small bore smokeless powder cartridge (the Dovitiis conversion), they opted […]

A Tour of PGM Precision: Home of the Ultima Ratio and Hecate II

October 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

Today, I have the opportunity to take a look inside PGM Precision, in Annecy France. Ever been curious about where the Ultima Ratio and Hecate II come from? Let’s have a look! Note: PGM’s US […]