Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Colonies Lead the Way: Charger-Loading Lee Enfield MkI India Pattern

September 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 6

While the Indian Army was looked down upon by much of the British military, it saw much more combat service than its European counterpart. The Indian Army was actually faster than the British to recognize […]

Portuguese m/937B Kar98k: Back to the Standard Pattern

September 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

In the 1930s, Portugal was looking to update its small arms, and wanted to get some top-shelf K98k Mausers to replace its 1904 Mauser-Vergueiros. The country was on good terms with Germany, and so Portugal […]

Collette Gravity Guns: A 60-Shot Rifle in 1854

September 21, 2021 Ian McCollum 18

What we today call the Collette Gravity Gun was actually designed by a gunsmith named Jean Nicolas Herman in Liege between 1850 and 1854. He was an employee of Victor Collette (note: spellings vary), and […]

Throwback Thursday: The Nifty Hybrid-Design HAC-7 Battle Rifle

September 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

The Halloway Arms Company HAC-7 was a very interesting hybrid design that incorporated elements of the FAL, AR10, and AK designs. It needed a bit more development to really work out the kinks, though, and […]

What Would Ross Do? The .280 Military Match M10 Rifle

September 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 0

There were many different versions of the Ross straight-pull bolt action rifle made and adopted by the Canadian military. However, the version that Sir Charles Ross thought would be best was only ever made as […]

Ethiopian Oddities – Single Shot French Mle 1878 Marine

September 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

Among all the standard rifles that are coming into the US from Ethiopia through InterOrdnance, there are a handful of really unusual oddballs, and we are going to look at several of them. We have […]

Zastava’s M90: The Serbian M70 Updated to 5.56mm

September 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 17

Zastava has been making AK rifles in Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) since the 1960s, and today has a number of offerings made for the commercial market. One of the recent ones is the M90 (or more […]

Odd BSA Prototype Charger Bridge Long Lee

September 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 5

Today we have a very odd BSA prototype Long Lee rifle. The details of its production are unknown, but it has good provenance; the Charnwood Ordnance collection. What makes the rifle unusual is a unique […]

Ian’s Customs: WWSD Commando

August 31, 2021 Ian McCollum 23

Having worked with the KP-15 for the WWSD2020 project, I got a hankering to know how a tiny SBR carbine would work using a KP-15 lower. There is no option for using a pistol brace, […]

The Army’s Labor Union: Winchester 94s for the Loyal Legion of Loggers & Lumbermen

August 30, 2021 Ian McCollum 31

Today we have a rifle from a really neat forgotten corner of American military history. During World War One, the Pacific Northwest was the source of prime lumber, in particular Sitka Spruce that was ideal […]