Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Rhodesian Cobra SMG/Carbine

August 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 28

The Cobra was one of a variety of semiautomatic compact carbines designed and manufactured in Rhodesia in the latter half of the 1970s for sale as civilian self-defense weapons (primarily for rural farming families). Unlike […]

South African Galils: The R4, R5, R6, and LM Series

July 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

When South Africa decided to replace the R1 rifle (a metric FAL), they chose to adopt the Israeli Galil. Both nations had similar environmental issues with blowing sand (in northwestern South Africa particularly), and Israel […]

Rhodesia’s First Production: Northwood Developments R76 & M77

June 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

In the mid to late 1970s, several different Rhodesian arms designers were basically racing to be the first to come to market with a domestically produced civilian carbine type weapon. Northwood Developments would be the […]

Demro XF-7 Wasp – An Open Bolt Semiauto From the 70s

June 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 29

The carbine in this video is selling at auction here. Designed by Gerry Fox in the early 1970s, this carbine saw production sequentially as the Fox Carbine, the TAC-1, and the XF-7 Wasp, as it […]

Romania Doesn’t Make the Dragunov: The PSL

May 28, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

This rifle is available at Rock Island’s next auction here. When Romania vocally objected to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, it lost some of its opportunities for technology transfer form the Soviet Union. […]

Gevarm A6: An Open Bolt Semiauto .22 Sporting Rifle

May 26, 2018 Ian McCollum 58

Gevarm, a gunmaking offshoot of the Gevelot cartridge company, produced a line of open-bolt semiautomatic rimfire sporting rifles from the early 1960s until 1995. This is an A6 model, the base type. It is chambered […]

Madsen M1896 Flaadens Rekylgevær: The First Military Semiauto

May 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 8

After losing out in the 1888 trials, Madsen and Rasmussen continued to refine their rifle. They reduced the overall length and weight, and replaced the feeding clip with a more modern enclosed magazine (although it […]

Ken Hackathorn on the M1 Carbine: Reputation vs Reality

May 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 31

The M1 Carbine has long been a bit of an enigma to me, because I have never had really good luck with the design, and yet they were extremely popular with Americna soldiers, German soldiers, […]

Madsen M1888 Forsøgsrekylgevær: The Strangest Semiauto

May 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

Development of the weapon that would eventually become the very successful 1902 Madsen light machine gun began many years earlier, in 1883. Two Danes, Madsen and Rasmussen, began working on a recoil-operated self loading rifle […]

Short: How to Pronounce “Garand” (and why)

May 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 40

Is it “GUH-rand” or “GAIR-end”? Well, let’s find out by asking John Cantius himself…