Bolt Action Rifles
FR-F2 French Sniper Rifle at the Range
Today I’ve taken the FR-F2 to the range to try it out. I’m using the early French Army scope, an APX L806-04. This is a 3.85x optic basically modeled on the German WW2 ZF-4. It […]
Rifles
Bolt Action Rifles
The French FR-F2: Best of the Cold War Sniper Rifles
In 1986, the French Army adopted the FR-F2 (Fusil à Répétition F2) as its standard sniper rifle. The F2 was never manufactured new; it was an improvement made on existing FR-F1 rifle by giving them […]
Bolt Action Rifles
“FUSTAN” – The Competition Rimfire MAS-36 for North Africa
While the French military adopted a .22 rimfire training version of the MAS-36, that rifle (the “Tir Réduit 5.5mm”) was intended for military training, and not for formal competition. During World War Two, the design […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Ethiopian Oddities: A Long Lee / SMLE Hybrid
Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a rifle that began its like as an early Lee Enfield MkI made by London Small Arms. It has the original buttstock, early style safety, volley sights, and magazine cutoff from […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Winchester Reference Collection: Uruguayan M1908 Short Rifle
Uruguay first adopted a Mauser rifle in the 1880s, with the single-shot Mauser model 1871. After an abortive attempt to update those rifles to a small bore smokeless powder cartridge (the Dovitiis conversion), they opted […]
Prototype
Throwback Thursday: A .22 Rifle for John Wayne
Today I’m reposting part of an interview I did with L James “Jim” Sullivan back in 2014. Aside from being one of the two men who did the conversion of the AR-10 into the AR-15, […]
Select-fire Rifles
Belgian Black Rifle: the FNC at the Range
Today, we’re taking the FN FNC out to the range to see how it handles…
Conversion
FN FNC: The Belgian 5.56mm NATO Carbine
The FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine) was FN’s followup to the unsuccessful CAL rifle. Chambered for the newly-adopted 5.56mm NATO cartridge, the FNC uses a long stroke gas piston system very reminiscent of the AK, combined […]
Antiques
Dodge Patent Prototype Rolling Block Rifle
William Dodge and his brother were inventors in Washington DC who in the 1870s patented a bunch of different improvements to the Remington Rolling Block, among other guns. This particular one I cannot identify with […]
Antiques
Unique Rotating Single-Shot Percussion Rifle
This is a very unusual single-shot muzzleloading rifle. It is devoid of markings that might identify it, but appears (to my eye, anyway) to have been built from what was originally intended to be a […]