Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Interview with Nicole Wiley: German .22 Training Rifles

November 3, 2014 Ian McCollum 23

While I was visiting the Simpson Ltd shop in Galesburg, I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole Wiley. She is working on organizing a massive reference book on German .22 training rifles (like the Sportmodell […]

Vintage Saturday: Mujahideen

October 25, 2014 Ian McCollum 47

Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Mostly armed with SMLEs, but I see at least one No4 Enfield in there as well (and the AKM, of course – which appears to have a 40-round […]

Slow Motion: M1 Garand

October 23, 2014 Ian McCollum 12

The M1 Garand needs no introduction, does it? Here is is at 2000 frames per second:

7.62 mm PSG LANO Sniper Rifle

October 22, 2014 Ian McCollum 12

Today’s post is more modern than most of what we usually cover, but it is about a rifle for which very little information is available. It is a Swedish report translated by Arne Bergkvist – […]

2-Gun Action Challenge with a MAS 49/56

October 20, 2014 Ian McCollum 28

This month I chose to shoot the 2-Gun Action Challenge Match with a French MAS 49/56, in the original 7.5×54 caliber. I really like the handling of the rifle, and I was curious to see […]

Needham Musket Conversion

October 15, 2014 Ian McCollum 38

by Roger L. Papke, Handfuls of History At the end of the American Civil War, the Union had well over a million surplus muzzle-loading rifle-muskets, all of which were obsolete since it was clear that […]

Swiss K31 Snipers (Video)

October 13, 2014 Ian McCollum 8

The Swiss experimented with scoped sniper rifles during World War II, and the results were the K31/42 and the K31/43. Only a couple thousand were made between the two models, and they were not considered […]

Vintage Saturday: Captured Carbine

October 11, 2014 Ian McCollum 30

German soldier with R35 Lebel Mle 1892 Berthier carbine – these were still being issued to support-type troops when WWII broke out. As you see here, some of them found their way into German service […]

Slow Motion: MAS 49/56

October 9, 2014 Ian McCollum 48

The MAS 49/56 is a much under-rated rifle here in the US – it is extremely simple, durable, and reliable, while being shorter and lighter than it’s US contemporary, the M14.

Arisaka With Nambu Bipod

October 6, 2014 Ian McCollum 12

I recently had a chance to take a look at a rifle that has been floating around the Japanese collector’s community causing grief since for at least 25 years. It is a Type 99 Arisaka, […]