Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

Bolt Action Cartridge Conversion of a French M1822 Rifle

March 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

This is a conversion of a French 1822 rifle to a single shot bolt action, using a newly manufactured receiver. It is unfortunately not marked with a patent name or date, and I have been […]

Genhart Horizontal Turret Rifle

March 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

Heinrich Genhart was a Swiss designer working in Liege, Belgium in the 1850s making horizontal turret rifles. His design was actually pretty decent, and included recessed chamber mouths and a calming barrel which would lock […]

Yugoslav M52 Sniper: East Meets West

March 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

In 1947, Yugoslavia received about 4600 Russian M91/30 PU sniper rifles as military aid, which were basically not used, as Yugoslavia had standardized on the 8mm Mauser cartridge. In 1952, however, a new sniper rifle […]

Merckelbagh Needlefire Conversion Rifle

March 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

This is an example of a needle fire conversion of a French 1822 rifle based on the patent of L. Merckelbagh. The conversion was done in Paris, probably in the early 1870s. Other base rifles […]

Parker Hale M85: Traditional Sniper in a Modern World

February 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 32

The 1985 competition to pick a new sniper rifle for the British military came down to a closely fought contest between the Accuracy International PM and the Parker Hale M85. The M85 was a fantastically […]