Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Domestic Burmese G3s: BA64 Rifle and BA-72 Carbine

April 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 3

After achieving independence from the British, Burma (now Myanmar) looked to develop a domestic small arms industry to supply its armed forces. The first weapon produced there was the BA-52, a copy of (how they […]

KH-9: B&T Remakes the SITES Spectre Just Because It’s Cool

April 9, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Karl Brügger, CEO of B&T, is a true gun nerd and avid competitive shooter. When he got his hands on the Spectre SMG with its quad-stack magazine and weird DA/decocker fire control system, he thought […]

Stamm-Saurer Model 1907: A New Swiss Straight-Pull Bolt Action Rifle

April 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

After leaving the Zeller company, Hans Stamm went looking for work at major gun manufacturers like WF Bern and SIG. He ended up hired in 1907 by a company caller Saurer. This was an automotive […]

Type 56C: China’s Last Military AK (And It’s Totally Non-Standard)

March 17, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

The Type 56C is the final iteration of Chinese Kalashnikov, originally intended for export but primarily used by Chinese police and special forces. It is a short-barreled carbine with a folding stock, and remarkably few […]

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 9: 1869 Swiss Vetterli

March 15, 2025 Ian McCollum 10

For the full episode with the hand loading instructional section, click here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/ep-9-swiss-vetterli-app Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, […]

Stamm-Zeller 1902: A Swiss Straight-Pull Converted to Semiauto

March 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 31

Today’s rifle was designed by a Swiss inventor named Hans Stamm while working for the Zeller et Cie company in Appenzell Switzerland. The company originally made embroidering machinery, but turned to military rifle parts subcontracting […]

Våpensmia NM-149S: Norway’s Sniper Conversion of the Kar 98k

March 5, 2025 Ian McCollum 2

After World War Two, there were a lot of K98k rifles left in Norway. Like, a whole lot of them. So many that even in the 1980s they were still a popular basis for hunting […]

Estonian Snipers: Enfields in 7.62x54R and Arisakas in .303 British

February 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

In the early 1930s, the Estonian military and Estonia Defense League had a rather eclectic mix of small arms. The Army had three divisions, and split different types of weapons between them to simplify logistics. […]

A Beautiful Factory Semiauto SIG MKPO

February 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 20

During the 1930s, SIG Neuhausen made a series of really beautiful submachine guns. They were the MK series, offered in either 500mm / 19.7 inch barrels for military use or 300mm / 11.8 inch for […]

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 8: Mauser 71/84

February 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

For the full episode with the hand loading instructional section, click here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/ep-8-71-84-app Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, […]