Select-fire Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

The Very Rare FN CAL at the Range

March 20, 2023 Ian McCollum 31

The FN CAL (Carabine Automatique Legere) was Fabrique Nationale’s first attempt at a 5.56mm rifle, and it was not successful. They replaced it with the FNC, which saw much wider success. The CAL is quite […]

FG-42: Perhaps the Most Impressive WW2 Shoulder Rifle

March 8, 2023 Ian McCollum 96

The first production version of the FG42 used a fantastically complex milled receiver and a distinctive sharply swept-back pistol grip. A contract to make 5,000 of them was awarded to Krieghoff in late spring of […]

Bonus: MSBS Grot at the Range (Standard, Bullpup, & 7.62mm)

December 18, 2022 Ian McCollum 5

After touring the Fabryka Broni factory in Radom and filming the history of the MSBS “Grot” development, I had the chance to try out the rifle in several different configurations. We didn’t have time to […]

The History of Drop-In Auto Sears

December 17, 2022 Ian McCollum 19

When Colt decided to sell a semiauto-only civilian version of its AR-15 rifle, it had to make a number of changes to the design of the lower receiver to prevent full-auto fire control parts from […]

CZ Bren 2 “PDW” at the Range

December 10, 2022 Ian McCollum 8

After a lot of requests from law enforcement and military organizations, CZ developed a collapsing buttstock for the Bren 2 rifle. It requires a different upper receiver than the standard Bren 2, although that upper […]

MSBS Grot: The Complete History of Poland’s New Army Rifle

December 7, 2022 Ian McCollum 9

The MSBS Grot is Poland’s current military service rifle, and has gone through several iterations in the many years of its development that led to its current 2nd generation form. It is best known in […]

Belgian Congo Force Publique FN49 Sniper

October 7, 2022 Ian McCollum 2

One of the rarest versions of the FN49 rifle is the Belgian Congo contract, made to equip the Force Publique there – the military force in the territory when it was a Belgian colony. A […]

VHS-1: Croatia Copies the FAMAS (But Not Really)

September 28, 2022 Ian McCollum 8

The VHS-1 was heavily influenced by the French FAMAS, albeit with a short stroke gas piston operating system. Early development began in the late 1990s with the prototype designs we looked in over the past […]

Yugoslav M70A: The AK With a Real Magazine Holdopen

September 26, 2022 Ian McCollum 15

Yugoslavia began development of a Kalashnikov pattern rifle in 1959. The Yugoslav rifle would be distinct from the standard Soviet model, as evidenced by features like the gas cutoff for grenade launching and the early […]

A Path Less Traveled: IM Metal’s Tavor-Based Prototype for the VHS-1

September 21, 2022 Ian McCollum 3

Today we are continuing to trace the development of the IM Metal / HS Produkt VHS rifles. During this period, Croatia briefly considered adopting the Israeli Tavor rifle. Part of the adoption would have included […]