Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Wolfgang Riess, one of the Commandos who used these CETMEs, later to work as an H&K weapons technician

French Marine Commandos with CETME Rifles

June 1, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

I was doing some reading up on the early roller-delayed rifles (in Blake Stevens’ exquisitely technical and detailed book Full Circle: A Treatise on Roller Locking) and came across this very cool story, which I […]

Japanese Type 4 Garand Photos

May 24, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

Towards the end of WWII, in 1944, the Japanese Navy developed a copy of the American M1 Garand rifle, chambered for the 7.7mm cartridge. This followed attempts to simply rebarrel captured US guns, which did […]

The StG-44 in Africa

May 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

A while back, a video made the rounds of a cache of StG-44 rifles being found in (allegedly) Syria – I commented on it here, in fact. It was pretty much without any context, though. […]

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 […]

Detailed Photos: Walther A115 No. 3

May 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 5

I did a video on this very interesting German prototype semiauto rifle a few weeks ago, and took one or two photographs at the same time. The genesis of the Gewehr 41 gas system is […]

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 […]

Review: Inland Reproduction M1 Carbine

May 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

A little while back I got my hands on a T&E sample of the new reproduction Inland M1 Carbine, and have spent some time with it. I addition to regular range plinking, I used it […]

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 […]