Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Pietta’s PPS/50 – A Popular PPSh Plinker

January 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Introduced by the Italian Pietta company in the 1970s (yes, the same Pietta that makes all those reproduction Old West revolvers and lever action rifles), the PPS/50 has been a continuously popular firearm for more […]

Snabb Semiauto Conversion of a Dutch Mannlicher

January 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

Snabb was a Swedish company created to market a system for converting bolt action rifles into semiautomatic rifles. The system was patented in the US in 1938, making this one of the very last attempts […]

Full Auto at 1000m: The 7.92x41mm CETME Cartridge

January 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

The US insistence on a full-power rifle cartridge for the NATO standard in the 1950s derailed a couple potentially very interesting concepts – including the 7.92x41mm CETME cartridge. This round was developed by Dr. […]

“Carbine” Williams’ Battle Rifle: The Winchester G30R

January 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 26

The Winchester G30R is the final iteration of David Marshall Williams’ work on a full power .30 caliber military rifle. The project began with a design by Ed Browning (John Browning’s half brother) using […]

Book Review: The Modele 1866 Chassepot

January 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

Until now, there has really been nothing substantial and scholarly printed on the Chassepot needle-fire rifle in English – but now that has changed, thanks to Guy & Leonard A-R-West. Their just-released book on […]

Meunier A6: France’s First Semiauto Battle Rifle

January 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 59

France began experimenting with self-loading rifle designs in the late 1890s, although most of this work is mostly unknown today. The work was done by the State arsenals, and kept as military secrets, without […]

Rhodesian FAL – with Larry Vickers

January 5, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

The iconic weapon of the Rhodesian Bush War is the FN-FAL, painted in a distinctive “baby poop” yellow and green pattern. Because Rhodesia was under international embargo, its options for obtaining weapons were limited. Some […]

Italian Trials Czech ZK-391 Semiauto Rifle

December 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 31

The ZK-391 is one in a series of Czech developmental semiautomatic rifles designed by Josef Koucký. It was developed initially in 1939 (hence the “39” in the designation), and was tested by the Italian military […]

Prototype Friberg/Kjellman Flapper-Locking Semiauto Rifle

December 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 11

The origins of flap-locking (as used in the G41(W), G43, DShK, DP, and RPD, among others) goes back to a Swedish Lieutenant Friberg in 1870, who patented the system. At that time, however, the fouling […]

Repurposing Obsolete Rifles: The Lebel R35 Carbine

December 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 21

Get your “Only Dropped Once” shirt here, and do your part to push back against the stereotype of the French soldier! The French military had investigated the possibility of a Lebel carbine in the 1880s, […]