Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Eugene Stoner’s Future Assault Rifle Concept (F.A.R.C.)

March 6, 2026 Ian McCollum 57

After developing the AR-15 with Armalite, Eugene Stoner worked for a number of different companies. In 1972 he cofounded Ares Inc, where he and his partners worked on a wide variety of weapons platforms. Their […]

Adventures in Surplus! Type 38 Arisaka Carbine in World War One

March 4, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

“Forged in Snow”, my book on Finnish small arms, is available for pre-order right now along with all the other cool options at: https://www.headstamppublishing.com In the fall of 1914 it became apparent that the minor […]

Civil War Gwyn & Campbell Carbines (aka Cosmopolitan, Union, & Grapevine)

March 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 10

The first version of this carbine was the Cosmopolitan, designed and patented by Henry Gross in 1859 and manufactured by Edward Gwyn and Abner Campbell. It is a single-shot .52 caliber carbine that loads from […]

Coenders’ Bolt-Less Last Ditch Bolt Action Rifle

February 4, 2026 Ian McCollum 112

When the German Army tested last-ditch Volkssturm rifles late in World War Two, one of the particularly obscure submissions was August Coenders’ Coenders-Rochling Volkssturmkarabiner. This was a bowl action rifle chambered for 8mm Mauser with […]

Ross 1912 Cadet: Straight Pull .22 Rimfire Training Rifle

January 28, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

The Ross model 1912 Cadet rifle was introduced in 1912 as a diminutive rimfire companion to the 1905 and 1910 military Ross rifles. It was a single-shot straight pull rifle, with a somewhat unusual locking […]

Finnish Civil Guard m/33 Sniper (Built on the m/28-30 Mosin)

January 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 4

The first Finnish Civil guard sniper rifle was the m/28, but its development was paused when the m/28-30 improved rifle was developed. Once that rifle wa sin production, they set about making a scoped version. The […]

Yugoslav M92: The Serbian 7.62x39mm Pseudo-Krink

January 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

The Yugoslav M92 rifle is most often compared to the Soviet AKS-74U “Krinkov” – it is a compact, folding-stock version of Zastava’s M70 AK, just as the 74U was the compact version of the AK-74 […]

Rare & Unique Sightings From 100 French FR-F2 Sniper Rifles

January 12, 2026 Ian McCollum 5

Today I had a chance to dig through no less than one hundred FR-F2 snipers brought in by Navy Arms. I found a number of interesting and unusual things in the process, including a number […]

Israeli Mauser K98k Sniper Rifles: Wild Heerbrug & Nimrod

January 9, 2026 Ian McCollum 5

The first Israeli military sniper rifles were German K98k snipers obtained by the nascent Israeli armed forces in the late 1940s. These were used in Israel’s independence war, and served well. When the IDF decided […]

The Real T26 “Tanker” M1 Garand

January 5, 2026 Ian McCollum 11

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten The name “tanker” has been applied to shortened M1 Garand rifles for a long time and today we are looking at one of the rifle […]