Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Japanese Type 18 Murata at RIA

June 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

The Murata was Japan’s first domestic manufactured military rifle. In its first iteration, it was an 11mm, single shot, black powder weapon and was adopted in 1880 (the Type 13). Before long, some problems in […]

Hungarian WWII Rifles at RIA (35M, 43M, G98/40)

June 12, 2015 Ian McCollum 37

After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Hungarian army was armed primarily with Steyr M95 straight-pull rifles and carbines, chambered in the 8x56mm rimmed cartridge. In 1935 they adopted a new Mannlicher turnbolt rifle, […]

M1 Enforcer Carbine Pistols at RIA

June 5, 2015 Ian McCollum 41

There are rarely any truly original ideas in the gun world, and today’s “pistol” ARs and AKs are not among them. Back in the 60s and 70s, companies were marketing the “Enforcer” M1, a pistol […]

Colt 1855 10-Gauge Revolving Shotgun at RIA

June 4, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

In 1855, Colt introduced a new revolver unlike the others in their lineup – it was a side-hammer design with the cylinder stops built into the axis pin instead of the cylinder. They then proceeded […]

Chassepot Needle Rifle at RIA (Video)

June 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

The Chassepot was the French answer to the Dreyse needle rifle, and also the only other needlefire rifle to see major military service. It was adopted in 1866 and served as a primary French infantry […]

Dreyse M1860 Needle Rifle at RIA (Video)

June 2, 2015 Ian McCollum 21

The Dreyse needle rifle (or zundnadelgewehr, which translates to needle firing rifle) was a major step forward in military rifle technology, although it did not remain at the forefront for very long (much like the […]

Slow Motion: Remington Model 8

May 28, 2015 Ian McCollum 15

This week’s slow motion footage is a Remington Model 8, in .300 Savage (when the .300 was offered in the Model 81, Remington offered a service rebarreling existing Model 8 rifles for the spiffy new […]

Three Videos: Finland, Spain, and Hungary

May 25, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

From Vesamatti, a Finnish gunsmith student who reads the site, we have this neat video of a few older Finnish Army machine guns. The KP-31, KP-44, Sten, KVKK, and DP-27. Not guns we get all […]

The SVD with a Red Dot Optic (2-Gun Match)

May 24, 2015 Ian McCollum 20

This isn’t exactly a “forgotten” weapon, but it is a very cool one, and one we have been unable to pry out of Karl’s hands. In the recent May 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, Karl opted […]

British Army patrol in Northern Ireland, circa 1971

Vintage Saturday: Roller Skates

May 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 80