Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Chrysanthemums in the Snow: Finnish Arisaka Rifles

February 6, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

When Finland took its independence, the most common type of firearms in the country was the Mosin Nagant – and the second most common was the Arisaka. An assortment of Type 30, Type 35, and […]

AR57: Fun Times with a Tiny Carbine (aka FSS Hurricane)

February 4, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

Thanks to MagPul for sponsoring this video! I was happy to use one of their new Daka Grid rifle cases today – it’s a very cool system that will be of great use for me […]

Ian Ruins the Elbonian Sniper Corps

January 14, 2023 Ian McCollum 20

Today’s Q&A is from Tim on Patreon: “The great nation of Elbonia is looking to spin up a sniper program. But they know better than to adopt ZF41 scopes. What rifles do you attempt to […]

Tsingtao Ironworks C96 Carbine – A Fancy Carbine for a Wealthy Client

December 28, 2022 Ian McCollum 12

Today we are looking at a high-end C96 Mauser pattern sporting carbine made by the Tsingtao Ironworks. Only a few dozen of these were made, and this one survives in excellent condition. It is a […]

Bonus: MSBS Grot at the Range (Standard, Bullpup, & 7.62mm)

December 18, 2022 Ian McCollum 5

After touring the Fabryka Broni factory in Radom and filming the history of the MSBS “Grot” development, I had the chance to try out the rifle in several different configurations. We didn’t have time to […]

The History of Drop-In Auto Sears

December 17, 2022 Ian McCollum 19

When Colt decided to sell a semiauto-only civilian version of its AR-15 rifle, it had to make a number of changes to the design of the lower receiver to prevent full-auto fire control parts from […]

PTRS 41: The Soviet Semiauto Antitank Rifle (aka an SKS on Steroids)

December 14, 2022 Ian McCollum 25

Prior to World War Two, the Soviet Union had a rather lackluster interest in antitank rifles – a series of guns were developed, but slowly and without all that much success. The Barbarossa invasion gave […]

CZ Bren 2 “PDW” at the Range

December 10, 2022 Ian McCollum 8

After a lot of requests from law enforcement and military organizations, CZ developed a collapsing buttstock for the Bren 2 rifle. It requires a different upper receiver than the standard Bren 2, although that upper […]

MSBS Grot: The Complete History of Poland’s New Army Rifle

December 7, 2022 Ian McCollum 9

The MSBS Grot is Poland’s current military service rifle, and has gone through several iterations in the many years of its development that led to its current 2nd generation form. It is best known in […]

Operation CARPETBAGGER: French Resistance No4 Enfield

November 18, 2022 Ian McCollum 8

During 1944, the US and UK cooperatively ran a major effort to drop arms and equipment to French Resistance forces in preparation for the Allied landings in France. It began as Operation Carpetbagger with night […]