Single Shot Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Belgian 1862 Wall Gun (Video)

November 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 19

Wall guns are the philosophical predecessor to today’s anti-material rifles – large-caliber, high power rifles heavy enough that they cannot be fired from the shoulder realistically. Traditionally, they were used for defending walls or ramparts, […]

Vintage Saturday: Austrian Prisoners

October 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 43

This photo is an original color picture, not a modern colorization – taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a pioneer of color photography. Also of interest, note that the Russian guard on the far left is […]

Book Review: Documenting the Weapons used at the Little Bighorn

August 2, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

I previously reviewed a book on archaeological study of the Little Bighorn battlefield, which did an excellent and very insightful job of tracing the battle through tangible artifacts, including forensic tracing of different individual weapons […]

French M14 Conversion – the Gras in 8mm Lebel (Video)

May 16, 2016 Ian McCollum 35

The French adopted the Gras as their first mass-issued metallic cartridge rifle in 1874, replacing the needlefire 1866 Chassepot. Quite a lot of Gras rifles were manufactured, and they became a second-line rifle when the […]

RIA: Whitmore 4-Barrel Swivel-Breech Rifle

April 12, 2016 Ian McCollum 17

One of the options for having multiple shots available in the age of the muzzleloading rifle was the swivel-breech rifle. Such a rifle would have typically two barrels and one lock – one the first […]

James D. Julia: An Overview of 4-Bore Stopping Rifles

February 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 61

The 4-bore (approximately 1″/25mm bore diameter) is the largest shoulder-fired rifle actually used for hunting. Developed in the days of black powder muzzleloaders, it was intended to be the ultimate rifle of last resort, to […]

RIA: Predecessor to the Mosin – the Russian Berdan II

February 10, 2016 Ian McCollum 43

Before adopting the M1891 Mosin-Nagant, the Russian Empire (like most major militaries) used a large-bore single-shot rifle as its standard infantry rifle. In this case, a .42-caliber rifle designed by American General Hiram Berdan (yes, […]

RIA: Imperial Gewehr 71 (Video)

January 30, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

The Gewehr 1871 was the first rifle adopted by the newly-formed German state after its unification at the end of the Franco-Prussian War. It replaced the decades-old Dreyse needle rifles, and fired an 11x60mm black […]

French Remington Rolling Block in 8mm Lebel (Video)

January 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 27

The Remington Rolling Block, introduced in 1866, was one of the most prolific single shot military rifles in the world. The combination of aggressive marketing, low cost, and an excellent design led to Remington selling […]

How to Get More Rifles Fast: France, WWI

January 12, 2016 Ian McCollum 24

One of the universal misconceptions about World War One on the parts of its combatants was how long it was expected to last. When war broke out, the prevailing assumption on all sides was that […]