Select-fire Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

AS Val, VSS Vintorez, OTs-14 Groza, and more: 9x39mm with Max Popenker

September 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Today we welcome back Max Popenker of ModernFirearms.net to discuss the Soviet and Russian development of the 9x39mm suppressed rifle cartridge. From the early unsuccessful and sidetracked efforts to replace the PBS suppressor through the […]

Larry Vickers’ Delta Force Colt 723 Carbine

July 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Today I’m with Larry Vickers, taking a look at the recreation of his Delta Force Colt 723 carbine – the rifle he used at Modelo Prison in Panama and in Desert Storm hunting for SCUD […]

Some Brief Shooting with a SIG 553R

July 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Some of my last footage from my trip to Switzerland last year; a bit of shooting with a SIG 553R. This is the model in 7.62x39mm, and the guns here are set up with 3-round […]

AAI 2nd Gen SPIW Flechette Rifles

June 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 36

The SPIW program began in 1962 with entries from Colt, Springfield, AAI, and Winchester. The first set of trials were a complete failure, and both Colt and Winchester abandoned the project at that point. AAI […]

South African R2 and its Special Furniture

June 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

In South African military service, the R1 was the FN FAL and was the preferred infantry combat rifle until the adoption of the Galil as the R4 rifle. So what were the guns in between? […]

Developmental History of the AK with Max Popenker

May 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 61

I am very happy to be joined today via Skype by Russian small arms researcher Max Popenker. You may know Max from his nearly 20 years publishing Modern Firearms, one of the original small arms […]

The Soviet Jackhammer: Shooting an AVS-36

April 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. Yesterday we looked at the history and mechanics of the Soviet AVS-36 battle rifle, and today we are taking it out to the range. As […]

AVS-36: The First Soviet Infantry Battle Rifle

April 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The AVS-36 was the first self-loading rifle adopted by the Soviet Union to be a standard infantry rifle, and it was not just semiautomatic, but […]

SIG AK-53: A Truly Weird Forward-Operating Rifle

February 22, 2019 Ian McCollum 71

One of the most mechanically unusual rifles I have had the chance to examine is the SIG AK-53. One of a long line of interested experimental self-loading designs made by SIG between the 1920s and […]

HK-32 Prototype in 7.62x39mm

February 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

Among the large family of roller-delayed rifles produced by Heckler & Koch, one of the rarest and least known is the HK32. This was the select-fire shoulder rifle chambered in 7.62x39mm. These rifles appeared in […]