Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

A Rifle for International Competition: the MAS 49-56 MSE

May 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 43

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! The MSE (Modified St Etienne) version of the MAS 49-56 was developed specifically for international competition shooting by […]

French NATO Standardization: the MAS 49-56 in 7.62mm

May 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 24

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! In the late 1950s, France was still part of the NATO integrated military structure. When the 7.62x51mm cartridge […]

France’s Final Battle Rifle Iteration: The MAS 49-56

May 24, 2019 Ian McCollum 26

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! While the development of the MAS 49 had given France a very utilitarian rifle that could serve as […]

MAS 49: A Universal Service Rifle

May 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! As the MAS 44 saw combat service with French Marines in Indochina, some of its shortcomings began to […]

MAS 44: The French Adopt a Semiauto Rifle

May 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Pre-sales for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866 – 2016 are now live on Kickstarter – check it out! The French Army had been planning a semiauto infantry rifle since 1921, but […]

Israeli Light-Barrel FAL (from DS Arms)

March 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 18

Israel was one of the very First Nations to adopt the FN FAL rifle – after Canada but before many actual NATO nations. Israel made its first purchases of the rifles in 1955, and delayed […]

BXP: Blowback eXperimental Parabellum

February 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

Andries Piek was a farmer in South Africa in the late 1970s when he mail ordered an LDP 9mm carbine from Rhodesia. The gun was impounded by South African customs, and Piek wound up designing […]

Luxembourg FN49 Semiauto Sniper Rifle

January 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 16

After World War Two, Luxembourg was one of the nations which opted to purchase new FN-49 rifles. It bought a total of 6,203 of them for the military – an initial purchase of 4,000 semiauto […]

Paramax: Final Iteration of the LDP Kommando

January 23, 2019 Ian McCollum 54

The Kommando semiauto carbine was designed in 1975 by Alexis du Plessis in Rhodesia, and went on the be manufactured in South Africa a few years later by the Maxim Parabellum company. The final iteration […]

South African Army .22 Rimfire Conversion for the R4

January 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

In order to allow cheaper and simpler training of troops, the South African Defense Forces adopted a .22 rimfire conversion kit for their R4 rifles. The system was developed by an engineer named Willie Klotz […]