Video - Forgotten Weapons

A New Enfield for a New War: The No4 MkI

July 7, 2021 Ian McCollum 66

The stalwart No1 MkIII “Smelly” served the United Kingdom well during the First World War, but by the 1920s it was growing obsolescent. The war had revealed a number of shortcomings of the design, and […]

Japan’s First Military Revolver: the S&W No.3

July 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 29

When Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1853, he began a serious upheaval of Japanese life. Among other things, the insular Japanese society had been virtually the only nation to ever successfully implement gun […]

FN P90 at the Range

July 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 46

Having taken a look at the history and mechanics of the P90 yesterday, I’m taking it out to the range today. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the progressive trigger…

P90: FN’s Bullpup PDW

July 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 62

FN began developing the P90 in the late 1980s, actually preceding the NATO requirement that it would eventually compete for. The idea of the P90 was to develop a weapon for secondary troops to replace […]

L-34 Sampo: Aimo Lahti’s Rejected Masterpiece

June 30, 2021 Ian McCollum 39

Finland’s standard light machine gun going into the Winter War was the LS-26, a gun which did not succeed in field use. It was complex and cumbersome, and Finnish troops quickly replaced it with captured […]

Q&A 51: Troop Trials, Postwar MG34/42, and the DIY Maker’s Match

June 29, 2021 Ian McCollum 41

Want to ask a question for next month’s Q&A? Join the Patreon crew and help support Forgotten Weapons… Want to help support excellent history? Check out Glory and Defeat: the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 from […]

Ian Finally Takes a Full Auto FAMAS F1 to the Range

June 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 46

Huzzah! I finally have a chance to take a proper full-auto FAMAS F1 out to the range. My conclusions? It’s very nice, just like the semiauto civilian model. It has a limited 3-round-burst option for […]

Vickers for Interwar Tanks: The Class C/T Machine Gun

June 25, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

The Vickers company developed several versions of the Vickers machine gun for aircraft use during the 1920s and 1930s, but they also worked on armored vehicle versions of the gun in the 1930s. Between 1930 […]

Colt Prototype Double Action 1911

June 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 16

Thanks to Legacy Collectibles, today we have a unique Colt prototype pistol to look at today – a double-action variation of the 1911. Judging by the grips and markings, this was made in the late […]

The KP-15: Now in OD Green for you Forest-Dwellers

June 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 6

KE Arms has finally pretty much caught up with the demand for black KP-15 monolithic polymer lowers, and now has the time to put out a limited run of them in OD Green (virtually identical […]