Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Correction: Whitworth Accuracy and Figure of Merit vs MOA

November 2, 2017 Ian McCollum 23

In my recent video on the Whitworth rifle, I made a rather embarrassing mistake, interpreting “figure of merit” accuracy measurements as complete group sizes. This was incorrect, and caused me to seriously overestimate the accuracy […]

BM59: The Italian M14

October 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 27

After World War Two, both the Beretta and Breda companies in Italy began manufacturing M1 Garand rifles. When Italy decided that they wanted a more modern selective-fire, magazine-fed rifle, they chose to adapt the M1 […]

Confederate Morse Carbine: Centerfire Cartridges Ahead of Their Time

October 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 20

George Morse of Baton Rouge patented a design for a remarkably modern centerfire cartridge and breechloading rifle action in 1856 and 1858, using a standard percussion cap as a primer. This was coupled with a […]

Evolution of the Sturmgewehr: MP43/1, MP43, MP44, and StG44

October 18, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

MP43/1: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52359-1-397/ MP44: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52520-5-397/ StG44: https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52725-1-397/ Today we are going to look at the evolution of the Sturmgewehr – from the MP43/I and MP43 to the MP44 and StG44, what actually changed and why?

Solothurn S18-1000: The Pinnacle of Anti-Tank Rifles

October 13, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

Among all the antitank rifles developed between the World Wars, the highest quality and most sophisticated was the Solothurn S18-1000. It fires the 20x138B cartridge which was also used in the Finnish Lahti L-39 and […]

Confederate Whitworth Sniper: Hexagonal Bullets in 1860

October 12, 2017 Ian McCollum 55

Sir Joseph Whitworth is quite the famous name in engineering circles, credited with the development of such things as Whitworth threading (the first standardized thread pattern) and engineer’s blue. When he decided to make a […]

The Keen-Walker Carbine – A Simple Confederate Breechloader

October 9, 2017 Ian McCollum 12

Little is known about the Keen-Walker Gun Company, except for a few Confederate arsenal records that have survived. From those we know that the company delivered a total of 282 of these single-shot .54 caliber […]

Really Not an M16 at All: Colt’s M231 Port Firing Weapon

October 6, 2017 Ian McCollum 47

The M231 Port Firing Weapon was developed in the 1970s as a part of the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle Project. A modern relative of the WW2 Krummlauf, the weapon was intended to provide close-in firepower […]

Colt Monitor: The First Official FBI Fighting Rifle

October 5, 2017 Ian McCollum 33

The Colt Monitor was Colt’s improved version os the Browning Automatic Rifle intended for the law enforcement market. Colt had the sales rights to the BAR in North and South American (as well as a […]

Kurdish Zagros and Şer Anti-Materiel Rifles

October 4, 2017 Ian McCollum 27

Thanks to correspondent Ed Nash (he gave me permission to use his name after I had recorded the video), I have a number of really interesting photos and video clips of YPG (Kurdish) locally-produced anti-materiel […]