Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

CETME LC: Last of the Roller-Delayed Carbines

September 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 2

The Spanish adopted the 5.56mm CETME-L rifle in the mid 1980s, although they only used it until the late 1990s, when it was replaced by the G36. One of the sub variants made was the […]

Ethiopian M90/95 Hybrid Mannlicher Carbine

September 15, 2020 Ian McCollum 8

Today we are looking at a uniquely Ethiopian carbine, a hybrid M90/95 Mannlicher. It began life as an Austrian-issue M90 carbine proofed in 1892. It served through World War One, and was probably given to […]

Lee Metford MkI: Great Britain’s First Magazine Rifle

September 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

The British went into the 1880s with plans to adopt the Enfield-Martini as its new rifle, a single shot Martini-action rifle with essentially a sidesaddle of ready-access cartridges on the side of the receiver. It […]

Elbonian Prototype Hakim LMG

September 12, 2020 Ian McCollum 42

Pre-order your Elbonian shirt or poster here! Pre-orders will be open for two weeks before the shirts are printed and ship. Orders after that are subject to availability. Elbonia had a brief partnership with Egypt […]

Merrill Breechloading Conversion of the 1841 Mississippi Rifle

September 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

Lot 1171 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. James Merrill of Baltimore had his hands in several Civil War era firearms – rifles built from scratch, conversions of the Jenks carbines, and also conversions […]

Hall Model 1819: A Rifle to Change the Industrial World

September 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

Lot 1193 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. John Hall designed the first breechloading rifle to be used by the United States military, and the first breechloader issued in substantial numbers by any military […]

Norinco 84S: China Makes a 5.56mm AK Specifically for the US

September 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 17

Lot 1685 in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. With the commercial success of the semiauto Type 56S AK rifles in the US, Norinco looked for other options for export rifles to sell. Given the […]

Peabody Sidehammer: The Best Martini Action You’ve Never Heard Of

August 31, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 152 (long rifle) and lot 1164 (carbine) in the RIA September 2020 Premier auction. Henry Peabody was one of the less-recognized American firearms designers. A machinist from the age of 17, he worked at […]

Not Always Bubba: A Factory Sporter Winchester-Lee Navy Rifle

August 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

Lot 3106 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. I am happy that the practice of sporterizing military rifles has fallen out of favor, but sometimes one can throw the baby out with the bathwater. […]

Chichester “Pocket Shotgun” Revolver

August 20, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

Lot 1059 in the September 2020 RIA Premier auction. The Chichester Rifle Company (actually of Jersey City, NJ) was one of many small firms that sold branded guns made by the Hopkins & Allen company. […]