Video - Forgotten Weapons

Italy’s Worst Machine Gun: The Breda Modello 30

July 28, 2017 Ian McCollum 112

The Breda Model 30 was the standard Italian light machine gun of World War II, and is a serious contender for “worst machine gun ever”. Yes, given the choice we would prefer to have a […]

Q&A #12: Small Arms in Modern Conflict Zones, with Nic Jenzen-Jones of ARES

July 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 37

This month’s Q&A features a special guest, Nic Jenzen-Jones from Armament Research Services (ARES). We have a bunch of very interesting questions for him on modern conflict zones and insurgent groups: 1:15 – Russian cartridge […]

The Berthier Gets an Upgrade: The Model 1916

July 26, 2017 Ian McCollum 26

The “Modifié 1916” update to the Berthier system of rifles and carbines marked a major improvement in the guns combat effectiveness – really the first substantial overhaul to the design since it was developed in […]

Finland Shooting Montage: Maxims and Mosins and Suomis, Oh My!

July 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 15

A montage of a bunch of shooting from my trip to Finland in June 2017! Including: m/31 Suomi KP-44 KvKK-62 LS-26 DP-28 (Emma) M91/24, M27, and M28/30 Mosins M32/33 Maxim Rk-95 Sako TRG in 7.62mm […]

Model 1907/15 Berthier: The WW1 Standard Infantry Rifle

July 24, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

When World War One broke out in 1914, France mobilized millions of men into military service – and it became abundantly clear that a lot of new rifles would need to be manufactured. The 1886 […]

Literature Review: English-Language Books on French Firearms

July 23, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

Since we are in the middle of a series on French rifles, I figured it would be an appropriate time to take a look at what printed reference books are out there in English on […]

W+F Bern P43: A Swiss Take on the Browning High Power

July 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 41

In 1940, Switzerland began a series of trials to replace their Luger service pistols with something equally high quality, but more economical. They had squeezed as much simplification out of the Luger as they could […]

Colonial Berthiers: 1902 Indochina and 1907 Senegalese

July 21, 2017 Ian McCollum 13

The sharpshooters of the French colonial forces in Indochina (the Tirailleurs Indochinois) had never been issued Lebel rifles, and were still using single shot Gras rifles at the turn of the century. The Indochinese soldiers […]

Light Machine Gun Comparison: Finnish LS26 vs Russian DP28

July 20, 2017 Ian McCollum 27

Before the Winter War, the standard light machine gun adopted by the Finnish military was the Lahti-Saloranta LS-26. This was a complex and finely built weapon, using a short recoil action and tilting bolt, chambered […]

Modele 1892 Berthier Artillery Musketoon

July 19, 2017 Ian McCollum 22

The original 1890 Berthier carbine was designed for cavalry, but a slightly modified version was produced (in small numbers) with a bayonet lug, for use by the Gendarmerie. In 1892, the French military would adopt […]