Sniper Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Christian Prouteau on the FR-F1 Rifle

January 5, 2022 Ian McCollum 20

My interview with Christian Prouteau focused on the MR-73 revolver and how his men in GIGN trained with it. However, I did also ask him about the FR-F1 rifles, and figured I would separate that […]

Finland’s M/39 PH Sniper from the Continuation War

December 15, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

The basic equipment of the Finnish Army came from what was left in Finland by departing Russian soldiers when Finland declared independence. As the Russians had no scoped rifles at that time, Finland didn’t have […]

L8(T) Enfield: The British Army Fails to Make a Sniper

December 14, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

We looked at the 7.62mm conversion of the No4 Enfield into Rifle L8 yesterday. Part of that program was an attempt to develop a new sniper rifle on the L8 platform. To this end, six […]

FR-F2 French Sniper Rifle at the Range

November 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

Today I’ve taken the FR-F2 to the range to try it out. I’m using the early French Army scope, an APX L806-04. This is a 3.85x optic basically modeled on the German WW2 ZF-4. It […]

The French FR-F2: Best of the Cold War Sniper Rifles

November 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

In 1986, the French Army adopted the FR-F2 (Fusil à Répétition F2) as its standard sniper rifle. The F2 was never manufactured new; it was an improvement made on existing FR-F1 rifle by giving them […]

Ross WWI Sniper Rifle w/ Winchester A5 Scope

August 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

The standard Canadian sniper’s rifle of World War One was the MkIII Ross fitted with a Warner & Swasey “musket sight” purchased from the United States. However, armorers in the field did create sniping rifles […]

L96A1 Behind the Scenes: Manufacturing Catastrophes and Exploding Rifles

July 1, 2021 Ian McCollum 58

Accuracy International’s L96A1 was a stunning success in British military trials, and became the basis for one of the most respected line of precision rifles in the world. However, it very nearly was abandoned almost […]

German World War One Gewehr 98 Sniper

May 7, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

Germany was the earliest adopter of scoped rifles in World War One, and produced more of them over the course of the war than any other power. After an initial stop-gap effort to scrounge up […]

Book Review: The Green Meanie L96A1 by Steve Houghton

April 27, 2021 Ian McCollum 8

Following up on his 2018 “The British Sniper: A Century of Evolution”, Steve Houghton has now released a followup book on the L96A1 in particular: “The Green Meanie”. This rifles was a paradigm shift for […]

IMI “Galatz” – Galil DMR/Sniper in 7.62 NATO

March 17, 2021 Ian McCollum 7

Adopted in 1983, the “Galatz” (a contraction of the Hebrew for Galil Sniper) is a DMR based on the 7.62x51mm Galil action. It was fitted with a 23” heavy barrel, rear-m mounted bipod, folding stock, […]