Shotgun - Forgotten Weapons

SPAS-15: Franchi’s Improvement on the SPAS-12

August 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 46

Lot 776 in the September 2019 RIA auction. The SPAS-15 was Franchi’s successor to the SPAS-12, improved with detachable box magazines (6 round capacity) and a construction of simple sheet metal samplings and polymer. Like […]

Shooting the Sjogren Inertial Shotgun

June 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 30

When I filmed this, I had limited time and figured I would do the shooting first and then film the history and disassembly of the gun afterwards. Alas, I ran out of time and never […]

Samuel Pauly Invents the Cartridge in 1812

April 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 45

https://youtu.be/BC7awTeuqRU This Pauly shotgun is lot #1346 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. Samuel Johannes Pauli was born outside Bern, Switzerland in 1766, and became an engineer of wide interests. Among them were bridge design, passenger-carrying […]

Nikita Kruschev’s MTs-11 Communist Party Shotgun

April 7, 2019 Ian McCollum 21

This shotgun is lot #1256 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. Presented to Nikita Kruschev at the opening of the 21st session of the Communist Party session in 1959, this is an example of the best […]

Becker Blow-Forward Revolving Shotgun

February 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

The Becker shotgun is a very unusual blow-forward, revolving cylinder shotgun made in Germany in the 1920s (although it was originally patented in the late 1890s). Only a very small number were made – allegedly […]

Fosbery’s Paradox, by Holland and Holland

November 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

This shotgun sold for $6,900 at Rock Island on November 30, 2018. Lt. Col. George Fosbery was a British Army officer who was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions in India in 1863 – and […]

California Arms Co 20ga “Defiance” Pistol-Shotgun

November 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

This registered NFA AOW sold for $3,738 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. Made to compete with guns like the Ithaca Auto & Burglar, the “Defiance” form the California Arms Company is a side […]

Cobray Terminator at the Range: The Worst Shotgun Ever

July 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

Most of the guns made by Cobray are pretty awful, but one can at least understand the market they were made for. The Terminator is different, because it really is rather incomprehensible who would have […]

Shooting the Techno Arms MAG-7 (properly!)

June 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 26

A while back I filmed some shooting with a Techno Arms MAG-7 shotgun in the US. It had been set up in the American non-NFA configuration, with a terrible wooden stock and long barrel, and […]

Neostead 2000 Dual-Tube Pump Shotgun

June 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

Developed in the mid 1990s by South African designer Tony Neophytou, the Neostead 2000 is a pump action shotgun with a substantial cult following. It was the first truly high-capacity shotgun put into production, with […]