Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

M28/76: A Finnish Competition & Sniper Mosin

June 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

The Finns developed several difference scopes rifles in the 1930s, but none were made in large quantities, and they were not really much used during the Winter War or Continuation War. The first post-war consideration […]

Project Lantan: Poland Designs a Modular AK in 7x41mm

May 31, 2023 Ian McCollum 30

In the early 1970s, Poland wanted to replace their 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov rifles. The Soviet Union was developing the 5.45mm AK-74, but the Poles wanted to make a more ambitious advance in small arms systems. They […]

Finland Salvages a “Tragic Boating Accident”: Grafton Vetterli Rifles

May 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government helped smuggle arms to potential revolutionaries in Russia, in hopes of provoking a domestic crisis that would divert Russia military force form the war. This included a plot […]

Slovenia’s Specialized Bullpup: the F2000S

May 27, 2023 Ian McCollum 17

When the Slovenian Army decided to adopt a new infantry rifle in the mid-2000s, the Arex Defense company decided to submit the F-2000 into the trials. The H&K G36 was widely expected to be the […]

Remington’s Only Lever-Action: The Nylon 76 “Trail Rider”

May 20, 2023 Ian McCollum 17

In 1962, Remington tried to exploit the popularity of pop-culture cowboys by introducing a lever-action version of its of its Nylon 66 semiauto .22 rifle. This new model was the Nylon 76, named the “Trial […]

Nylon 66: Remington’s Revolutionary Plastic Rifle

May 19, 2023 Ian McCollum 61

In the 1950s, Remington decided that it needed an inexpensive new .22 self-loading rifle to add to its catalog. In looking at how to reduce the cost of such a rifle, they hit upon the […]

PTR-44 Sturmgewehr at a 2-Gun Match

May 17, 2023 Ian McCollum 9

Today I’m taking the PTR-44 Sturmgewehr out to the local 2-Gun match. I’m excited to get a chance to run it in a competitive environment – I have shot some original StGs, but only on […]

Slovenian SAR80: Sterling Out-Simplifies the AR-180

May 15, 2023 Ian McCollum 22

The British Sterling firm designed the SAR-80 (specifically, their engineer Frank Waters) as a very simple rifle to sell to countries outside the main NATO/Warsaw spheres of influence. Sterling ended up getting a license to […]

Chinese Warlord C96 Carbine from Taku Naval Dockyard

May 12, 2023 Ian McCollum 3

“Pistols of the Warlords” is in stock and shipping: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/chinese-pistols Today we are looking at a second Chinese Warlord-Era C96 Mauser carbine. These were made as fancy sporting or presentation arms for important people – […]

Hunting Rifles for Greenland: M1917 Enfield

May 8, 2023 Ian McCollum 22

Greenland is a remote and desolate land without a significant industrial base, but there is a demand for hunting rifles there. As the place has long been a Danish colony since 1814, its trade was […]