Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Spencer 1871 Conversion: From Carbine to Infantry Rifle

August 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 16

Lot 237 in the September 2019 RIA auction. During the Civil War, the Union purchased about 12,000 Spencer rifles and many tens of thousands of carbines, and the weapon became a standard arm for the […]

The Type 81 LMG in Civilian Form: Norinco Model 313

August 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 25

Lot 1817 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The Norinco 313 is the semiauto commercial variation of the Type 81 LMG. The Type 81 was a small arms family of rifle and LMG developed to […]

Walther KKW: Competition Shooting in Nazi Germany

August 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

Lot 3620 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The KKW (“Klein Kaliber Wehrsportgewehr”, or small caliber military sporting rifle) was developed by BDW in 1937 as an amalgamation of various .22 rifle elements form other […]

Berthier Carbine with Chauchat Magazine

August 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Early in World War One, a small number (less than 200) Berthier rifle and cavalry carbines were adapted to use Chauchat magazines for aerial use. They were employed as defensive arms in observation balloons and […]

FAL in the North: The Canadian C1A1

July 19, 2019 Ian McCollum 53

Canada was the first country to adopt the FAL rifle, purchasing trials rifles from FN within weeks of the formal standardization of the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. Canada acquired production rights to the rifle along with […]

Larry Vickers’ Delta Force Colt 723 Carbine

July 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Today I’m with Larry Vickers, taking a look at the recreation of his Delta Force Colt 723 carbine – the rifle he used at Modelo Prison in Panama and in Desert Storm hunting for SCUD […]

Book Review: History of the Mauser Rifle in Chile, by David Nielsen

July 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 3

David Nielsen’s newly released book on Chilean Mauser rifles is a tremendous piece of academic work – which is both good and bad. It is 192 pages dedicated to the testing and procurement of the […]

Some Brief Shooting with a SIG 553R

July 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Some of my last footage from my trip to Switzerland last year; a bit of shooting with a SIG 553R. This is the model in 7.62x39mm, and the guns here are set up with 3-round […]

H&K Prototype Sniper: the SL7 Match

July 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

Built in the 1990s, this rifle is part of an experimental series of precision rifles made by H&K. It is marked “SL7 Match”, and uses the same action as the standard SL7 sporting rifle (the […]

History of the SVD Dragunov with Max Popenker

June 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Russian small arms researcher Max Popenker joins us again today, and this time he is discussing the history and development of the Dragunov rifle. We start from the desire to match longer-ranged NATO forces and […]