Video - Forgotten Weapons

Prototype Mauser 1917 Trench Carbine

December 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

In the latter stages of World War One, the German military was looking for new arms for its Sturmtruppen. Without a reliable self-loading rifle design to use, they instead focused on pistil caliber arms. The […]

M203 Underbarrel Grenade Launcher

December 18, 2019 Ian McCollum 29

After the problems with the Colt XM-148 under barrel grenade launcher were discovered in service in Vietnam, the US military was eager to quickly find a better alternative. The idea of replacing the standalone M79 […]

Ballester-Molina Pistols from German Pocket Battleship Armor?

December 17, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

There is an old gun shop tale that Argentine Ballester-Molina pistols were made form the salvaged armor plate of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. The Graf Spee was scuttled in the Rio de la […]

GIGN’s MR73 Sniper Revolver in .357 Magnum

December 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 29

Courtesy of the French Ministry of the Interior, we have a chance to take a look at an authentic GIGN sniper model MR73 revolver today. GIGN is the elite intervention element of the French Gendarmerie, […]

Chauchat Field Testing vs Mock MG08/15 Nest

December 14, 2019 Ian McCollum 41

Out at the range today with the Chauchat, testing accuracy against a simulated MG08/15 nest at 150 yards. I’ll try out semiauto and full auto (in short bursts), and see how they compare. For reference, […]

Huot Automatic Rifle: The Ross Goes Full Auto

December 13, 2019 Ian McCollum 23

During World War One, Joseph Alphonse Huot, a Canadian machinist and blacksmith living in Quebec, designed a conversion of the Ross MkIII rifle to become an automatic rifle. The Ross was the standard issue Canadian […]

Cannon Shooting Compilation: 20mm to 76mm

December 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 11

The end of the year means I am going to take a moment for a bit of a retrospective, this time on the cannons that have appeared on Forgotten Weapons over the years. From 20mm […]

XM-148: Colt’s Vietnam Grenade Launcher

December 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

While the Special Purpose Infantry Weapon (SPIW) program failed to produce any successful rifles, it did become clear that the area-effect aspect of its requirements did have merit. This was spun off as its […]

3.7cm PAK – Germany’s Basic WWII Antitank Gun

December 10, 2019 Ian McCollum 12

Germany developed its first 37mm (or as German designations put it, 3.7cm) antitank gun in the last months of World War One; a very simple design built using barrels from obsolete Hotchkiss revolving cannons. In […]

Belgian Model 1915/27 Improved Chauchat

December 9, 2019 Ian McCollum 47

The Belgian Army was the second to adopt the Chauchat automatic rifle, after the French. Almost all of Belgium was under German occupation during World War One, leaving Belgium significantly dependent on French aid for […]