Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

The Soviet Jackhammer: Shooting an AVS-36

April 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. Yesterday we looked at the history and mechanics of the Soviet AVS-36 battle rifle, and today we are taking it out to the range. As […]

AVS-36: The First Soviet Infantry Battle Rifle

April 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The AVS-36 was the first self-loading rifle adopted by the Soviet Union to be a standard infantry rifle, and it was not just semiautomatic, but […]

Armstrong & Taylor Carbine – Too Little Too Late

April 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

This carbine is lot #1416 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The Armstrong & Taylor carbine is a neat single shot breechloading carbine patented in 1862. It operates by way of a button on the top […]

The Last Dreyse Needlefire: 1874 Border Guard

March 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

This rifle is lot #1414 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The Dreyse needle fire rifle was invented by Niclaus von Dreyse in 1836, adopted by Prussia in 1841, and would serve as their standard military […]

Arctic Warfare Magnum: Accuracy International L115A3

March 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

In 2007, the British Army placed an order for 582 AI Arctic Warfare Super Magnum rifles chambered for the .338 Laua Magnum cartridge, formally adopting the model as the L115A3 sniper rifle. This followed special […]

North & Skinner Wedge-Lock Revolving Rifle

March 25, 2019 Ian McCollum 5

This rifle is lot #1237 in the upcoming May 2019 Rock Island auction. Patented in 1852 by Henry North and Chaucey Skinner, about 700 of these revolving rifles were made by 1856. The design used […]

Israeli Light-Barrel FAL (from DS Arms)

March 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Israel was one of the very First Nations to adopt the FN FAL rifle – after Canada but before many actual NATO nations. Israel made its first purchases of the rifles in 1955, and delayed […]

L118A2: Accuracy International Arctic Warfare

March 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 4

After the British adoption of the Accuracy International PM as the L96A1 sniper rifle, other nations began to give a very serious look at the company and its rifles. One of the first was Sweden, […]

Schlegemilch 1896: Closest Competition to the Mauser 98

March 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 37

Louis Schlegemilch had been one of the contributors to the Gewehr 1888 and when the German military decided to replace it, Schlegemilch was there with a design he hoped would win. His model 1896 rifle […]

Spanish 1892: Last of the Single Stack Magazine Mausers

March 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

The Mauser 98 may have been the best bolt action design of all time, but it did not spring forth from Paul Mauser’s head fully formed. The Mauser took nearly 10 years of development and […]