Video - Forgotten Weapons

T31: Garand’s Bizarre Bullpup

December 10, 2025 Ian McCollum 17

The T31 was John Garand’s last project during his employment at Springfield Armory. It was proposed in 1948 as a bullpup configuration rifle to minimize muzzle blast and flash. It was a select-fire rifle with […]

Steyr M1912/16 Automatic “Repetierpistole”

December 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

In the latter half of World War One the Austro-Hungarian military experimented with a number of select-fire pistol type weapons. One of these was the Steyr Repetierpistole M1912/16, an automatic adaptation of the regular M1912 […]

Why the M7 and 6.8x51mm are Bad Ideas: Welcome to my TED Talk

December 6, 2025 Ian McCollum 62

NATO Cold War Battle Rifles and much more: https://www.headstamppublishing.com Cappy Army video on the SIG M7A1: CBJ Armor Piecing ammunition: The plan to replace the 5.56mm M4 Carbine with the 6.8mm M7 as the US […]

Walther’s Forgotten SMG: The MPK (and MPL)

December 3, 2025 Ian McCollum 29

https://youtu.be/3qElfsloKH8 Walther began developing a modern stamped sheet metal SMG in the late 1950s, and it entered production in 1963. It was an open-bolt, simple blowback gun available in a short (MPK; 6.75” barrel) and […]

The First M60 Prototype: FG42 + MG42 = T44

December 1, 2025 Ian McCollum 56

The FG-42 caught the attention of a lot of countries at the end of World War Two. The British and Swiss both used it as the starting point for some developments. The US went one […]

Semiauto SAR-80 “Sterling Assault Rifle” at the Range

November 29, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

The SAR-80 was a design by Frank Waters at Sterling in the UK, but was not actually put into production by Sterling. Instead, it was licensed to Chartered Industries of Singapore in 1977, who eventually […]

Origins of the Legendary CZ-75: Short Rail and Pre-B Models

November 28, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

Find something cool for Black Friday at Headstamp Publishing! https://www.headstamppublishing.com The CZ-75 began development in the late 1960s as a commercial project. It was not intended for Czechoslovak military use, but instead for export sales […]

Preproduction wz89 Onyx: the Polish Krinkov

November 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 8

After developing the 5.45mm Tantal rifle (adopted in 1988), the Radom factory moved on to designing a compact “SMG” version. This would be designated the wz.89 “Onyx”, but never made it into mass production thanks […]

TKIV-85: Finland’s Ultimate Mosin Nagant Sniper Rifle

November 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 6

Join the Kickstarter for “Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025” here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=desl1o Finland’s final iteration of Mosin Nagant sniper was adopted in the 1980s to replace a mix-and-match assortment of m/39-43, m/27-66, and m/28-76 […]

Q&A November 2025: The 6.8×51 is Still a Bad Idea

November 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 80

Use code “FORGOTTENRYE10” for 10% off Kyrö Distillery spirits at their web store: https://kyrodistillery.com/ 00:00:20 – Aimpoint offering multi-reticle options? 00:01:55 – Blood lead levels from shooting 00:05:59 – Combining scuba with history and guns […]