Video - Forgotten Weapons

Ross 1912 Cadet: Straight Pull .22 Rimfire Training Rifle

January 28, 2026 Ian McCollum 2

The Ross model 1912 Cadet rifle was introduced in 1912 as a diminutive rimfire companion to the 1905 and 1910 military Ross rifles. It was a single-shot straight pull rifle, with a somewhat unusual locking […]

Book Review: Vickers Guide to H&K Volume 4: Rifles & Machine Guns (and more)

January 27, 2026 Ian McCollum 0

Available directly from Vickers Guide: https://www.vickersguide.com/purchase/heckler-koch-vol-4-standard The fourth and final volume of the Vickers Guide to Heckler & Koch covers the post-roller-delayed long guns made by H&K. This begins with the G11, and then the […]

Roller Locked Czechnology: the CZ 482 Pistol (Which Eventually Became the vz.52)

January 26, 2026 Ian McCollum 6

The Czech vz.52 service pistol actually began as a commercial export program at CZ. It was developed by two brothers, Jan and Jaroslav Kratochvíl. They actually designed two pistols with similar shape and controls, one […]

Vaporware or Successful Release: SHOT Show 2025 Retrospective

January 25, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

Today we take a look back at last year’s SHOT Show. Of all the products I did videos on, which ones successfully came to market and which dissolved into vaporware? Hop’s HTX-1 Video: https://youtu.be/snpg6Vz5DOY AKB-23 […]

Stamm-Saurer Model 1916 Short-Recoil Light Machine Gun

January 23, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

Hans Stamm developed a series of firearms in Switzerland in the early 1900s, and today we are looking at a Model 1916 light machine gun. This was developed while Stamm was working for the Saurer […]

Mauser M80SA: Actually a High Power and Actually Hungarian

January 21, 2026 Ian McCollum 29

Our book on Hungarian AKs, “Rifles on the Danube”, is available here: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/danube-book In the 1980s, the Mauser company was completely adrift, without any real plans or goals or good leadership. They had been trying […]

Finnish Civil Guard m/33 Sniper (Built on the m/28-30 Mosin)

January 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 4

The first Finnish Civil guard sniper rifle was the m/28, but its development was paused when the m/28-30 improved rifle was developed. Once that rifle wa sin production, they set about making a scoped version. The […]

The First Red Dot Sights: Aimpoint Electronic, MkIII, and Aimpoint 1000

January 17, 2026 Ian McCollum 6

Today we are looking at the first commercial red dot optic, and its successors. In 1975, Aimpoint released the Aimpoint Electronic, a collimating optic using an LED as a light source. It was intended for […]

How Red Dot Sights Work (What is a Collimator?)

January 16, 2026 Ian McCollum 18

A whole lot of people have used red dot sights, but how many actually understand how they work? Let’s see if we can fix that today…

Yugoslav M92: The Serbian 7.62x39mm Pseudo-Krink

January 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

The Yugoslav M92 rifle is most often compared to the Soviet AKS-74U “Krinkov” – it is a compact, folding-stock version of Zastava’s M70 AK, just as the 74U was the compact version of the AK-74 […]