Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Russian Type 2 AK: Introducing the Milled Receiver

May 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 44

With recognition of the production problems of the original Type 1 AK, an alternative was needed. Russian engineer Valeriy Kharkov led a team of engineers who designed a replacement drop-forged and machined receiver for the […]

Ribeyrolles 1918 – France’s First Assault Rifle or a Failed Prototype?

May 22, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

Paul Ribeyrolles was the manager of the Gladiator bicycle factory, and by 1918 he had significant experience in small arms design, having been a core member of the team that designed and built the 1915 […]

Type 1 Russian AK: The Actual AK-47

May 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 75

https://youtu.be/f5UFzsnmIlQ The AK-47 rifle was formally adopted in 1947, as the name implies, and went into production in 1948. In this very first form, it used a stamped receiver with front and rear trunnions riveted […]

A Book and a Rifle: The Vercors Resistance in WWII

May 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

One of the single largest actions of the French Resistance during World War Two was Operation Montagnards – the plan to drop about 4,000 Allied paratroops onto the Vercors Massif when the resistance was activated […]

Madsen M1896 Flaadens Rekylgevær: The First Military Semiauto

May 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 8

After losing out in the 1888 trials, Madsen and Rasmussen continued to refine their rifle. They reduced the overall length and weight, and replaced the feeding clip with a more modern enclosed magazine (although it […]

Ken Hackathorn on the M1 Carbine: Reputation vs Reality

May 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 31

The M1 Carbine has long been a bit of an enigma to me, because I have never had really good luck with the design, and yet they were extremely popular with Americna soldiers, German soldiers, […]

Madsen M1888 Forsøgsrekylgevær: The Strangest Semiauto

May 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

Development of the weapon that would eventually become the very successful 1902 Madsen light machine gun began many years earlier, in 1883. Two Danes, Madsen and Rasmussen, began working on a recoil-operated self loading rifle […]

Steyr ACR: A Polymer Flechette-Firing Bullpup From the 90s

May 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 62

The US Army ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle) program was an effort to find a new type of infantry rifle which could increase the practical accuracy of the M16 by a whopping 100% in the […]

Short: How to Pronounce “Garand” (and why)

May 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 40

Is it “GUH-rand” or “GAIR-end”? Well, let’s find out by asking John Cantius himself…

Vektor CR21: South Africa’s Futuristic Bullpup

April 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

The CR-21 was a private effort to create a new rifle for the South African military in the 1990s. Bullpup designs were all the rage at the time (Austria has the AUG, France had the […]