Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

The Italian Workhorse: Carcano M91 Rifle

May 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 56

Today we start a series looking at the evolution of the Carcano series of rifles. Starting with the M91 rifle adopted in 1892, the Carcano would be the workhorse of the Italian military through two […]

UVF Gewehr 88: Gun Running Into Ireland in 1914

May 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 37

The Ulster Volunteer Force was a Loyalist organization dedicated to keeping Ireland in the United Kingdom, in reaction to the Home Rule bills being considered by the UK parliament. In 1914 they purchased nearly 25,000 […]

Kalashnikov USA KP-9 (Semiauto Vityaz) at the Range

May 2, 2020 Ian McCollum 6

Today I have Kalashnikov USA’s KP-9 (which is a virtually exact semiauto copy of the Vityaz SMG) out at the range. I chose the most suitable ammo to try it out with; slightly rusty steel-case […]

Kalashnikov USA KP-9: A Perfect Copy of the Russian Vityaz SMG

May 1, 2020 Ian McCollum 31

The PP-19-01 Vityaz is a development of the PP-19 Bizon, a submachine gun developed by Izhmash at the request of the Russian Interior Ministry in the early 1990s. The Bizon design team included the sons […]

The EM2 in NATO Trials, with Jonathan Ferguson

April 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Join the Kickstarter campaign and preorder your copy of Jonathan’s “Thorneycroft to SA80: British Bullpup Firearms 1901 – 2020”! Sorry for the poor audio quality – I am back at the Cody Firearms Museum talking […]

Archival E.M.2 Footage: Slow Motion and Janson Doing Mag Dumps

April 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 9

Thanks to Jonathan Ferguson and Royal Armouries Archivist Philip Abbott, we have a compilation of some archival video of the E.M. 2 testing circa 1951/1952. This is mostly high speed video clips showing reliability testing, […]

Ward Burton Model 1871: The US Tries a Bolt Action

April 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

This is lot #3220 in the upcoming RIA Premier Auction. It was scheduled for April, but has been postponed – check their web site for upcoming Online Only auctions every month, though! The Model 1871 […]

Brown/van Choate Trials Rifle: Internal Hammer in 1871

April 24, 2020 Ian McCollum 10

This is lot #3221 in the upcoming RIA Premier Auction. It was scheduled for April, but has been postponed – check their web site for upcoming Online Only auctions every month, though! Designed by Silvanus […]

The REAL Heroes of the M1 Carbine – not “Carbine” Williams

April 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 30

The Hollywood-spawned mythos of the M1 Carbine is that it was created by David Marshall “Carbine” Williams. The reality is far different. In real life, Williams was talented, but short-tempered, stubborn, and unable to work […]

Colt Franklin: Detachable 9-Round Magazine of .45-70 in 1884

April 11, 2020 Ian McCollum 15

This is lot #3213 in the upcoming RIA Premier Auction. It was scheduled for April, but has been postponed – check their web site for upcoming Online Only auctions every month, though! Patented in 1884 […]