Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Kalashnikov vs Sturmgewehr

September 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 86

The German Sturmgewehr and the Soviet Kalashnikov are widely and rightly considered the two most influential and iconic of the modern military rifles. While the German rifle certainly influenced the Soviet design, the two were […]

US World War Two Sniper Springfields

September 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 14

The primary sniper rifle used by the United States in World War II was the M1903A4 Springfield, a version of the exisiting 1903A3 with the iron sights removed and replaced with a Weaver 330C scope […]

US World War One Sniper Rifles

September 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 20

The United States had two primary types of sniper rifles during World War One, although both were based on the M1903 Springfield rifle. The most common optic used was the Warner & Swasey “Telescopic Musket […]

Julia: Shooting a 20mm Lahti L39

September 12, 2016 Ian McCollum 76

The Lahti L39 was the Finnish answer to the need for an anti-tank rifle, developed just before the Winter War. The rifle was created by noted Finnish designed Aimo Lahti, who had pressed for it […]

CETME-LC (the short one): Safety PSA

September 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 78

As you may or may not be aware, I recently built a semiauto CETME-LV rifle using a parts kit imported by Apex Gun Parts and an 80% flat from Hill & Mac Gunworks. Now, the […]

RIA: H&K SL8, The Civilian G36 (Video)

September 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 37

The SL-8 was Heckler & Koch’s civilianized version of the G36 military rifle. There was, unsurprisingly, a major interest in semiautomatic civilian copies of the G36, but H&K was in a difficult position to meet […]

RIA: Experimental Semiauto Springfield 1903 Primer-Actuated Rifle (Video)

September 3, 2016 Ian McCollum 74

During the 1920s, a lot of experimental rifle development work was being done in the US. The military was interested in finding a semiautomatic rifle, and plenty of inventors were eager to get that valuable […]

RIA: Mauser 1913 Selbstladegewehr Sporter (Video)

August 30, 2016 Ian McCollum 50

Paul Mauser spent nearly 20 years attempting to perfect a self-loading rifle for military service. He came closest with this, his 1913 patent model, which was used by German balloon and aircraft fliers as the […]

RIA: Prototype CZ-38 Trials Rifle (Video)

August 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

Like most other nations with modern military forces. Czechoslovakia was interested in developing a semiautomatic infantry rifle in the 1920s and 1930s. The most successful such rifle to come out of Czech factory during this […]

RIA: Ethiopian ZH29 and Czech Experimental Z37

August 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

The ZH-29 was an influential early semiautomatic military rifle, although not one that saw any significant adoption. As best I can tell, only two countries purchased them in any quantity: China and Ethiopia. This ZH-29 […]