Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Musgrave Ambidex: Straight Pull Rimfire Rifle for Lefties or Righties

August 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

The Ambidex was a rifle developed by the Musgrave company in South Africa in the late 1980s. It was a straight-pull bolt action rifle inspired by the Browning T-Bolt, but with the ability to have […]

Rhodesian Cobra SMG/Carbine

August 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 28

The Cobra was one of a variety of semiautomatic compact carbines designed and manufactured in Rhodesia in the latter half of the 1970s for sale as civilian self-defense weapons (primarily for rural farming families). Unlike […]

SIG’s Pump Action 550 Rifle: the 550 VRB

August 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

In many countries, manually operated rifles are substantially easier for civilians to own than semiautomatic ones – and this was not lost on firearms manufacturers. In an effort to potentially open a new market, SIG […]

South African Galils: The R4, R5, R6, and LM Series

July 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

When South Africa decided to replace the R1 rifle (a metric FAL), they chose to adopt the Israeli Galil. Both nations had similar environmental issues with blowing sand (in northwestern South Africa particularly), and Israel […]

WW2 Mauser Becomes Heckler & Koch: the StG-45(M), or Gerat 06H

July 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 11

After the Mp44/StG44 Sturmgewehr was starting to see substantial production and field use, the German military and the Mauser company began working on a way to simplify production of the weapon. The design for the […]

Kaiserliche Schutztruppen G98 – for the German Camel Corps

July 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

Germany established their colony of German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika, now Namibia) in 1884, as part of its late attempt to become a colonial power to rival the United Kingdom. The soldiers deployed to protect […]

Testing the Halbek Device

July 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

The Halbek Device was an interesting clamp-on muzzle brake designed by two Rhodesians, Douglas Hall and Marthinus Bekker. It was patented in Rhodesia in 1977 and in the US in 1980, and manufactured in small […]

Dutch Farmers Against the Empire: ZAR Mausers of the Boer War

July 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

When the intercepted Jameson Raid made it clear to the governments of the ZAR (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek; South African Republic) and the Orange Free State that war with Britain was imminent, a hasty armaments program was […]

St Petersburg Cavalry School Mosin Carbine

July 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

This is a rather mysterious – or at least poorly documented – Mosin Nagant carbine variation. Made from an assortment of rifles dated from 1896 through 1920, these carbines were designed to fit Gulkevich folding […]

MKb-42(W) – The Sturmgewehr That Never Was

July 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 26

When the German military first requested rifles in the new 8x33mm Kurz cartridge, there were two companies that provided designs. One was Haenel, who would eventually win the competition. The other was Walther, who submitted […]