Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

New Rifles for Old Ammo: The Royal Navy’s Unique SMLE MkI**

January 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 12

When the SMLE was adopted by the British, it was to be the new universal rifle for all branches of service, including the Royal Navy. This suited the Navy just fine; they like the features […]

SMLE MkIII: The Iconic Smelly of World War One

January 20, 2021 Ian McCollum 28

In 1907, the British adopted the final major pattern in the evolution of the Short, Magazine, Lee Enfield. Designated the ShtLE MkIII (Short Lee Enfield) at the time, it would be retroactively renamed Rifle No1 […]

Terrible 2-Gun: Lebel, 1892 Revolver, and a WW1 Gas Mask

January 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 35

Today, I thought it would be fun (or at least interesting) to shoot a 2-gun match in a reproduction World War One gas mask and helmet. Specifically, a French M2 pattern, which was used extensively […]

Indian 4-Shot Repeating Matchlock Toradar

January 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

Today, courtesy of Mike Carrick from Arms Heritage magazine, we are taking a look at a quite old Indian matchlock “toradar”. Not just any matchlock, but one with a 4-shot revolving cylinder. Matchlocks appeared in […]

Rifles of Simo Häyhä: The World’s Greatest Sniper (w/ 9 Hole Reviews)

January 14, 2021 Ian McCollum 26

In light of the approaching Finnish Brutality: The Winter War match, I though we could take a look at the two rifles associated with the world’s most successful sniper: Simo Häyhä. Häyhä was born in […]

The First SMLE Trials Rifles: Lessons From the Boer War

January 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 41

In the aftermath of the Boer War, the British military needed to address critical issues of practical marksmanship with its troops. The Long Lee rifles it had deployed to South Africa suffered significant problems in […]

Modernizing a Classic: the Brownells BRN-180 Project

January 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 10

Today I am chatting with Paul Levy of Brownells about their BRN-180 upper; a modernization of the original Armalite AR-180. This particular project is an interesting combination of recreating an older design but simultaneously modernizing […]

Mannlicher 88/95 – A Rare World War One Update

January 7, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

The Austro-Hungarian Empire went into World War One with the Steyr M95 straight-pull rifle as its standard infantry arm. Heavy losses in just the first few months of the war made it clear that the […]

Charger-Loading Lee Enfields: The CLLE MkI* and MkII

January 6, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

In our continuing series on the development of the British Lee Enfield rifles, we are looking at the CLLE conversions today. In 1907 the British adopted a new universal short rifle (the SMLE) that used […]

Boys Mk I Anti-Tank Rifle at the Range

January 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 26

I have done several previous videos on the Boys antitank rifle, but never actually fired one – until today! We’re out at the range with a MkI Boys and five rounds of its .55 Boys […]