Sniper Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Canadian Ross MkIII Sniper Rifle with Warney & Swasey Scope

March 11, 2020 Ian McCollum 5

The Canadian infantry that went to Europe in the early years of World Wa rOne were equipped primarily with the Ross MkIII rifle. The Ross would become quite the scandal, and was replaced in service […]

French Air Force Snipers: the FR-G1 and FR-G2

March 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 0

When St Etienne developed the FR-F1 sniper rifle, all the branches of the French military were given the opportunity to purchase them – and the Army, Navy, and Gendarmerie did. The Air Force, decided that […]

SIG 550-1 Sniper: Answering a Question Nobody Asked

December 31, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

Today at the Kessler auction house in Kreuzlingen Switzerland, we are taking a look at a SIG 550-1 Sniper model. This is mechanically a SIG 550, aka Sturmgewehr 90, but made to a very high […]

GIGN’s MR73 Sniper Revolver in .357 Magnum

December 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 29

Courtesy of the French Ministry of the Interior, we have a chance to take a look at an authentic GIGN sniper model MR73 revolver today. GIGN is the elite intervention element of the French Gendarmerie, […]

Britain’s Tubeless WW1 Sniper Optics: Martin Galilean Sight

September 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

When Britain entered the First World War, it had no formal sniper program. Germany was the first combatant to train and utilize snipers, and their effectiveness quickly convinced the British military that a similar program […]

SSG-82: The Enigmatic East German Sniper Rifle

September 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

Lot 3533 in the September 2019 RIA auction. When East Germany received the technical data package for the 5.45x39mm cartridge, they began a program to make their own AK-74 model. Alongside, they also wanted a […]

H&K Prototype Sniper: the SL7 Match

July 3, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

Built in the 1990s, this rifle is part of an experimental series of precision rifles made by H&K. It is marked “SL7 Match”, and uses the same action as the standard SL7 sporting rifle (the […]

History of the SVD Dragunov with Max Popenker

June 27, 2019 Ian McCollum 22

Russian small arms researcher Max Popenker joins us again today, and this time he is discussing the history and development of the Dragunov rifle. We start from the desire to match longer-ranged NATO forces and […]

Egyptian FN49 Sniper (Late Pattern)

June 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

Egypt was the first country to adopt the FN-49 rifle, and its purchases actually predated FN’s development of a method for mounting a telescopic sight to the rifles. So Egypt came up with its own […]

A Rifle for International Competition: the MAS 49-56 MSE

May 29, 2019 Ian McCollum 43

Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here! The MSE (Modified St Etienne) version of the MAS 49-56 was developed specifically for international competition shooting by […]