Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Mossberg 44US: A Cheaper Training Rifle for World War Two

June 12, 2017 Ian McCollum 38

As World War Two expanded to encompass the whole US economy, it became clear to the Army that some cost cutting measures would be required. One place that was a clear choice was in rimfire […]

Winchester Lever Action Development: Model 1876

June 11, 2017 Ian McCollum 20

Rifle NWMP Carbine While the Model 1873 was a very popular rifle, its pistol caliber cartridge did leave a segment of the market unaddressed. Winchester wanted a rifle that could chamber the larger and more […]

Winchester Lever Action Development: Model 1873

June 9, 2017 Ian McCollum 25

Musket Rifle Trapper Carbine With the Model of 1873, Winchester was able to address the major remaining weakness of the Henry and 1866 rifles – the cartridge. The 1873 was introduced in tandem with the […]

Bushmaster M17S – An American Commercial Bullpup

June 8, 2017 Ian McCollum 21

The M17S began as an Australian design by a man named Alex Hand, apparently intended for Australian military trials. It did not succeed in that effort, although the Australian military did adopt a bullpup rifle […]

Winchester Lever Action Development: Model 1866

June 7, 2017 Ian McCollum 11

While the Henry Repeating Rifle had been an serious leap forward in firearms capability, it was not without problems. The biggest single weakness of the Henry was its magazine. The tube magazine was open to […]

Winchester Lever Action Development: 1860 Henry

June 5, 2017 Ian McCollum 36

The Henry Repeating Rifle was a truly revolutionary development in firearms technology. It was not the first repeating rifle, but it was the best of a emerging class of new arms, reliable in function and […]

Norwegian K98kF1 Repurposed Mauser

June 4, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

At the end of When Germany capitulated in 1945, there were nearly 400,000 German soldiers in Norway (largely thanks to the efforts of the Norwegian Resistance to prevent them from being transferred south). This provided […]

What is the German 1920 Double Date Stamp?

June 3, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

One will sometimes encounter German WW1 arms – mostly Lugers and Kar98 carbines – that have two date stamps, one of them being 1920. What is the significance of this? The crux of the matter […]

SA80 History: Underbarrel Grenade Launchers

May 31, 2017 Ian McCollum 5

Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions field. For detailed photos of the guns in […]

Modello 1928 Tromboncino Grenade Launcher

May 29, 2017 Ian McCollum 54

In 1928, the Italian army adopted a rifle-mounted grenade launcher. It was a potentially interesting weapon which wound up being fatally handicapped by the use of ineffective grenades. The basic idea was to mount a […]