Video - Forgotten Weapons

Mondragon 1894 Bolt Action Rifle (Video)

December 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 22

Manuel Mondragon was a talented lifelong gun designer born in Mexico. He worked extensively at the Swiss SIG factory, and was the man behind the first military-issue semiautomatic rifle. Before that, though, he designed this […]

Israeli Dror LMG: Shooting & Disassembly (Video)

December 21, 2015 Ian McCollum 38

The Dror was an Israeli copy of the Johnson LMG, which was made domestically in Israel as part of Israel’s war of independence in the late 1940s. The design was developed through a combination of […]

Knoble Automatic Pistol, Cal .30 (Video)

December 17, 2015 Ian McCollum 35

The Knoble in .45 caliber was one of the pistols in the US pistol trials of 1907. Unfortunately for Mr. Knoble, his pistol was deemed to crude for the Ordnance Board to consider even test […]

Should Guns be in Museums or Private Collections? (Video)

December 16, 2015 Ian McCollum 69

Guns in museums get condemned to a purgatory behind glass. Guns in private collections get shot and broken. What are we to do? As it happens, I have spent the last two days in museum […]

Savage Automatic Pistols: Overview (Video)

December 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

Today I am taking a look at Savage automatic pistols as a general group. Savage produced about a quarter million pistols in both .32 and .380 caliber, divided between the models 1907, 1915, and 1917. […]

H&K SL-6 and SL-7 Rifles at RIA

December 3, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

The German firm Heckler & Koch spent several decades building firearms all based on the same basic operating system: roller-delayed blowback (often called roller-locked, although they are not technically locked breech actions). The two best […]

M1903 Sniper Rifle with Warner & Swasey M1913 Musket Sight at RIA

December 2, 2015 Ian McCollum 25

When the United States entered World War One, there was no formal sniper school or training in place. However, the US Army had adopted a sniper optic for the M1903 Springfield rifle. It was the […]

German Naval P04 Luger at RIA

December 1, 2015 Ian McCollum 24

Most everyone is familiar with the Luger pistol – it is one of the most iconic handgun designs ever made. Folks who have a passing interest in the guns will probably know about both the […]

First Pattern 1865 Allin Conversion – Trapdoor Springfield at RIA

November 30, 2015 Ian McCollum 35

As the US Civil War drew to a close, it was quite apparent to everyone that muzzleloading rifles were obsolete, and any military force wishing to remain relevant would need to adopt cartridge-firing weapons. However, […]

C93 Borchardt: the First Successful Self-Loading Pistol at RIA

November 29, 2015 Ian McCollum 39

Hugo Borchardt was a brilliant and well-traveled firearms designer. He was born in Germany but emigrated to the United States at a fairly young age, where he became engaged in the gun trade. He spent […]