Select-fire Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

North Korean Type 58 Milled AK

September 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 42

North Korea was one of several recipients of Soviet military technological aid during the Cold War, being provided the design package and manufacturing assistance for both the SKS and AK-47 rifles. The AK was adopted […]

Kalashnikov vs Sturmgewehr

September 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 86

The German Sturmgewehr and the Soviet Kalashnikov are widely and rightly considered the two most influential and iconic of the modern military rifles. While the German rifle certainly influenced the Soviet design, the two were […]

CETME-LC (the short one): Safety PSA

September 9, 2016 Ian McCollum 78

As you may or may not be aware, I recently built a semiauto CETME-LV rifle using a parts kit imported by Apex Gun Parts and an 80% flat from Hill & Mac Gunworks. Now, the […]

Riot-Control Trigger Guards on Turkish G3 Rifles

July 19, 2016 Ian McCollum 32

An interesting detail from a couple photos of the recent disturbance in Turkey. Take a look at the trigger guards of the G3 rifles – they have been equipped with large protective shields. I have […]

CETME-L History & Disassembly (Video)

July 18, 2016 Ian McCollum 30

The CETME-L was Spain’s replacement for the CETME Modelo C, which was the 7.62x51mm rifle that was essentially adopted by Germany as the G3 in the 1950s. By the 1980s Spain needed to move to […]

Burton 1917 Light Machine Rifle

July 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 58

America’s first assault rifle? Well, it does meet all the requirements – select-fire, intermediate cartridge, and shoulder-fired. It was never actually fielded, though. The Burton Light Machine Rifle was developed during World War One, with […]

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 […]

Wolfgang Riess, one of the Commandos who used these CETMEs, later to work as an H&K weapons technician

French Marine Commandos with CETME Rifles

June 1, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

I was doing some reading up on the early roller-delayed rifles (in Blake Stevens’ exquisitely technical and detailed book Full Circle: A Treatise on Roller Locking) and came across this very cool story, which I […]

The StG-44 in Africa

May 22, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

A while back, a video made the rounds of a cache of StG-44 rifles being found in (allegedly) Syria – I commented on it here, in fact. It was pretty much without any context, though. […]

New Video Series from the Pattern Room

April 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 18

Nope, it’s not mine (although I do look forward to visiting the NFC again in the future) – my friend Vic has started a video channel looking at some of the guns in the monumental […]