Single Shot Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Whitneyville Rolling Block for the Montreal Riot Squad

February 2, 2024 Ian McCollum 1

In 1875 the Montreal City Police decided that they wanted to equip a riot squad in case of public disturbance. They initially requested funds for 50 revolvers, but this changed to 60 carbines instead, and […]

Beecher’s Bible: A Sharps 1853 from John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry

January 8, 2024 Ian McCollum 63

On October 16, 1859 John Brown and 19 men left the Kennedy farmhouse and made their way a few miles south to the Harpers Ferry Arsenal. They planned to seize the Arsenal and use its […]

Variations on Gras Cavalry Carbines & Conversions from Ethiopia

January 7, 2024 Ian McCollum 2

While I was at InterOrdnance unpacking French rifles, I took the opportunity to pull out a couple different examples of Gras Cavalry Carbines to show the differences between original French production examples and Belgian commercial […]

Croatian Improvised Weapons: From Obrez to Single-Shot Yugo M70 Hybrid

October 25, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

During the Croatian Homeland War – as in all wars of independence – a wide variety of cobbled-together firearms were used by people who could not access proper factory arms for one reason or another. […]

The Rarest Chassepot: Rifle for the African Cavalry

July 14, 2023 Ian McCollum 8

“Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016” is in stock and shipping now: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/purchase The rarest pattern of factory-made Chassepot is the fusil modèle 1866 pour la cavalerie d’afrique – the Model 1866 rifle for […]

Tallassee Carbine: The Confederacy’s Last-Ditch Effort

April 10, 2023 Ian McCollum 5

In 1863, the Confederate military decided to design a new standard pattern of cavalry carbine. The designs was put together rather quickly at the Richmond Arsenal; a 25 inch barrel, brass furniture, and Enfield type […]

Kongsberg M52: A Line-Throwing Rifle (or Harpoon Gun)

April 5, 2023 Ian McCollum 28

The Norwegian Kongsberg factory has a history of making firearms-based tools for maritime use, and one of the more recent is the M52 line-throwing gun, introduced in the 1950s and sold through the 1970s. It […]

Musket to Big-Bore Rimfire: the Roberts Short-Frame Conversion

March 29, 2023 Ian McCollum 13

Brigadier General Benjamin Stone Roberts designed and patented a fall-block style of breech loading conversion to .58 Rimfire. Over the course of the decade after the Civil War, he was able to sell approximately 23,000 […]

From the American Revolution: Short Land Pattern Brown Bess

March 22, 2023 Ian McCollum 33

The standard weapon of the British Army in the American War of Independence was the “Brown Bess”, and today we are looking at a 1769 Short Land Pattern example of the Brown Bess. This was […]

Austrian Troop Training: Erma EL-24 .22 Kit for the Steyr M95 Carbine

February 11, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

The German company Erma (Erfurter Maschinenfabrik) developed a .22 rimfire kit for the Mauser 98 for the German Army in the 1920s. It was used for training, both to allow for more effective fundamental practice […]