Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Ross MkII: Sorry, We’ll Get it Right This Time

October 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 21

The many significant problems with the Model 1903 / MkI Ross rifle had quickly led to the development of the improved MkII design. This strengthened many parts, including the sights, nosecap, bolt latch, and more. […]

Ross MkI: Canada’s First Battle Rifle

October 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Sir Charles Ross was heir to a very wealthy Scottish family, and was a talented if temperamental engineer. He took an interest in firearms and their design, and worked with American and English connections to […]

Experimental Triple-Magazine Henry Rifle

September 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

This rifle is an experimental twist on the Henry, built with three magazine tubes in a fixture pivoting around the axis of the barrel. While only half the length of the barrel itself, the three […]

Steyr Model 1911 Semiautomatic Trials Rifles

September 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 24

In 1909, the Austro-Hungarian Empire announced a desire to find a new semiautomatic military rifle, and requested proposals from arms manufacturers. Six rifles were submitted to the resulting trials in 1911, including this model from […]

Britain’s Tubeless WW1 Sniper Optics: Martin Galilean Sight

September 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

When Britain entered the First World War, it had no formal sniper program. Germany was the first combatant to train and utilize snipers, and their effectiveness quickly convinced the British military that a similar program […]

Shooting the Mle 1866 Chassepot

September 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 26

A while back, I visited @CanadianGunLover, and we did a bit of shooting with an 1866 Chassepot. I lost track of the footage and only just now found where I had put it – so […]

AS Val, VSS Vintorez, OTs-14 Groza, and more: 9x39mm with Max Popenker

September 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Today we welcome back Max Popenker of ModernFirearms.net to discuss the Soviet and Russian development of the 9x39mm suppressed rifle cartridge. From the early unsuccessful and sidetracked efforts to replace the PBS suppressor through the […]

SSG-82: The Enigmatic East German Sniper Rifle

September 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 3533 in the September 2019 RIA auction. When East Germany received the technical data package for the 5.45x39mm cartridge, they began a program to make their own AK-74 model. Alongside, they also wanted a […]

Lakeside Vindicator BF1: A Belt-Fed .22 Plinker

September 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

Lot 3837 in the September 2019 RIA auction. In 1983, Dennis Tippmann started a company making beautiful half-scale Browning machine guns, fully functional and chambered for the .22LR cartridge. This was a pretty cool idea, […]

Nichols & Childs Revolving Rifle

September 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

Lot 3077 in the September 2019 RIA auction. Rufus Nichols and Edward Childs had a partnership in Conway MA making revolving firearms in the late 1830s. Their patent was granted in 1838, for an indexing […]