Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Prototype Ross “H5” from 1909

February 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

The Ross MkII (aka Ross 1905) was a reasonably successful rifle design, but it lacked a few elements that the Canadian military would have preferred. Most significantly, it was not compatible with the charger clip […]

Winchester Mystery Prototype: Melvin Johnson does Project SALVO?

February 19, 2021 Ian McCollum 29

This rifle is a Winchester semiauto prototype that has no documentation I could find in any source. So, today we will take a look at what we can possibly extrapolate from its various features. It […]

Prototype Jungle Carbine: A No1 MkV Becomes a No5 MkI

February 17, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

When the British began developing a shortened version of the No4 Lee Enfield in 1943 (which would become the No5 MkI “Jungle Carbine”), the development process included work with some rather older rifles. What we […]

2-Gun with SMG’s 1st Pattern Semiauto FG-42

February 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 62

Today I am taking the SMG first pattern semiauto FG-42 out to a 2-gun match to give it a try on the clock. This particular match has two rifle-only stage and one pistol-only stage, so […]

Wait, Go Back! The SMLE MkIII* Wartime Simplification

February 10, 2021 Ian McCollum 20

The British entered World War One with a technically excellent rifle, with lots of bells and whistles. By 1916, the war was taking a previously unimaginable toll on the industrial capacity of the Empire and […]

What’s Up With Norway and Military Scout Scopes?

February 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 18

Aside from the German widespread issue of the ZF-41 type scope, I have only come across three other military uses of long eye relief optics – and they are all Norwegian! One is simply Norwegian […]

SMLE MkI***: The Updated Early Lee Enfields (and Irish Examples!)

February 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 4

When the British adopted a new high-velocity spitzer bullet for the .303 cartridge, they had to update their rifles to use it. Specifically, the sights had to be recalibrated for the flatter trajectory of the […]

Modernizing the G3: The Swedish AK4C, Norwegian AG3F2 and More

February 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 41

Of all the classic 7.62mm battle rifles of the Cold War, only the G3 remains in modern military service updated to serve alongside the more recent 5.56mm rifles (no, the M14 DMR rifles don’t count). […]

Experimental Gras-Vetterli Repeating Rifle

February 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 4

In the 1870s and 1880s, France experimented with a huge variety of repeating rifle designs, including tube magazines hopper magazines, box magazines, and all sorts of other unique systems (more than 40 different types in […]

Yes, the AR-14 is a Real Gun…Sort Of

January 28, 2021 Ian McCollum 33

The AR-14 was the subject of a widely-seen political gaffe a while back – but what was the real AR-14? Because yes, there was one! It was one of many firearms planned by Armalite, but […]