Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Brazil’s .30-06 Copy of the G43: The Mosquetão Semi-Automático M954

April 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

Sold for $5,750 with four other rifles at the February 2020 RIA Sporting & Collectors auction. In the aftermath of World War Two, Brazil decided to adopt a semiautomatic rifle for its military, in .30-06 […]

M1 Carbine: A Whole New Class of Weapon

April 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 92

The United States developed the M1 carbine very quickly at the beginning of World War Two, once the German “blitzkrieg” made it clear that highly mobile enemy forces could threaten rear echelon troops in a […]

Ross Rudd’s Prototype Delayed Blowback AR180

March 30, 2020 Ian McCollum 68

Sold for $1,610 in the February 2020 Sport & Collectors auction. Ross Rudd was born in Toronto in 1915, but his family moved to Springfield Massachusetts in 1917, and he would grow up there. Interested […]

Zastava M91: Serbia Modernizes its DMR to 7.62x54R

March 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 39

After World War Two, Yugoslavia was left with a tremendous amount of German war material – enough that it cost to adopt the 8x57mm Mauser cartridge as its standard. The M76 precision rifle was developed […]

FAMAS PGMP w/ EOTech in a Team 2-Gun Match

March 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

My book is now in stock and shipping! Order your copy today! The PGMP (Poignée Garde-Main Polyvalente) handguard assembly is the original modification to allow mounting of optics to the FAMAS rifle. The FAMAS handguard […]

RIA Feb 2020 Special: Sporterized M1 Carbine

February 16, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

Our final quick video from RIA this weekend is a look at a sporterized M1 Carbine – but one that was actually done quite nicely! I would never suggest that someone cut up an intact […]

RIA February 2020 Special: Venezuelan and Argentine FN49s

February 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Today at RIA, a quick look at a pair of FN-49s – one Venezuelan pattern in 7x57mm, and one Argentine Navy model in 7.62mm NATO using detachable mags (the only variant of FN-49 to do […]

MAS 49-56 in a 2-Gun Match

February 1, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

A while back, I ran a 2-Gun match on my own with my MAS 49-56 (and a plain Glock 19), including the original APX L806 optic. It was not a particularly complex match, but it […]

French Resistance 2-Gun: FG-42 & Mle 1935A (Prep for Desert Brutality)

January 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 29

Next week is Desert Brutality 2020, the big annual 2-Gun “nationals”. I’ll be shooting it in the Classic division (guns from 1946 and earlier) this year, with an SMG semiauto FG-42 rifle and a French […]

Short: Inspecting an RSC 1917 Gas System

January 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 11

The French Model 1917 RSC rifle has a rather unusual gas system, and without some experience it can be difficult to know what one is looking at in one. So today, we’re taking a quick […]