Semiauto Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Winchester G30M (Video)

July 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 16

With the death of Jonathan “Ed” Browning in 1939, development of the Winchester G30 rifle was passed into the hands of a new employee at Winchester by the name of David Marshall Williams. Williams would […]

Ed Browning’s Winchester G30 Prototypes (Video)

July 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 39

After Jonathan Edward “Ed” Browning had his 1929 rifle dropped form US military testing, he took the design back to his shop in Utah and kept working on it. By 1938 he had made enough […]

British troops in Northern Ireland, 1971

Vintage Saturday: Sniper Troubles

July 23, 2016 Ian McCollum 49

Hard to use those face shields and still get a sight picture…

Colt Model 1929 Prototype .276 Rifle

July 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 43

On October 1, 1928, the US War Department published a request for semiautomatic rifle designs. The Colt company submitted this .276 caliber rifle to the ensuing trials in 1929. It was designed by Jonathan Edward […]

Pavesi Prototype SVT Copy (Video)

July 15, 2016 Ian McCollum 36

This rifle is pretty much a big mystery – I have virtually no good information on it. Through inspection, we know it is a mechanical copy of the Soviet SVT 38 or 40 – it […]

Semiauto RPD Light Machine Gun (Video)

July 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 67

The RPD was the first belt-fed light machine gun (or squad automatic weapon) developed by the Soviet Union. It was designed in 1944 for the then-new M43 cartridge (7.62x39mm), although wartime exigencies followed by post-war […]

CETME-L Flats: HMG vs Prexis

July 10, 2016 Ian McCollum 29

You may recall a while back I picked up a CETME-L flat from Prexis, because it was the only option available for building a CETME-L rifle. Well, there is now another option available. Hill & […]

Pavesi Model 1942 Prototype Semiauto (Video)

July 8, 2016 Ian McCollum 22

The Pavesi Model 1942 is a prototype Italian semiauto rifle chambered for the 8×59 Breda cartridge. It is a short recoil action with a 4-lug rotating bolt, and appears to use a Mannlicher type en […]

Beretta Model 1931 & 1937 Prototype Semiauto Rifles

July 1, 2016 Ian McCollum 42

In the 1930s, the Italian military (like all major military forces at the time) was investigating options for a semiautomatic service rifle. Beretta’s Tulio Marengoni developed one such rifle, and submitted it in two forms. […]

Q&A #5: Rollin White and Other (Better) Designers

June 28, 2016 Ian McCollum 51

Questions in part I of today’s Q&A: 1:04 – What was Rollin White’s revolver like? 7:09 – Why did pan magazines disappear? 10:14 – Why no pointed pistol bullets? 13:24 – Funky rounds like Trounds […]