Video - Forgotten Weapons

Spencer Rifle Conversion at RIA

November 13, 2014 Ian McCollum 23

The Spencer repeating rifle was a major leap forward in infantry firepower, and more than one hundred thousand of them were purchased by the US military during the Civil War. The Spencer offered a 7-round […]

Iraqi Tariq Pistol at RIA

November 12, 2014 Ian McCollum 32

The official issue sidearm for the Iraqi Army (and many of its police agencies) is the Tariq, a domestically-manufactured copy of the Beretta M1951 pistol. The Beretta is a pretty decent pistol, mechanically fine and […]

S&W 320 Revolving Rifle at RIA

November 11, 2014 Ian McCollum 16

The Model 320 Revolving Rifle was one of Smith & Wesson’s least successful commercial products, and as a result has become one of the most collectible of their guns – less that a thousand were […]

Chicago Palm Protector Pistols at RIA

November 10, 2014 Ian McCollum 17

“The Protector” was a very discreet palm pistol developed in the late 1800s by a French inventor, produced in bulk by the Ames Sword Company, and sold by the Chicago Firearms Company. They are mechanically […]

Lancaster Howdah Pistols at RIA

November 9, 2014 Ian McCollum 45

Charles Lancaster was a master London gunsmith who made 2-barrel and 4-barrel pistols in a variety of British revolver cartridges (commonly known as Howdah pistols). Many of his pistols was purchased privately by British military […]

Online-Only Auction at RIA

November 7, 2014 Ian McCollum 17

It is worth pointing out the RIA has added a third type of auction in the last year or so; online-only. The idea is to have a lower-overhead way to sell some of the things […]

Colt Offensive Pistol at RIA

November 6, 2014 Ian McCollum 11

I had the opportunity to visit Rock Island Auction again to check out the guns they have up for sale in their December 2014 Premier Auction, and put together a big batch of videos, which […]

Interview with Nicole Wiley: German .22 Training Rifles

November 3, 2014 Ian McCollum 23

While I was visiting the Simpson Ltd shop in Galesburg, I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole Wiley. She is working on organizing a massive reference book on German .22 training rifles (like the Sportmodell […]

Slow Motion: Star Model B Super

October 30, 2014 Ian McCollum 29

Today’s high speed video analysis is the first Browning-style pistol that was at hand when I took out the camera: a Star Model B Super. Manufactured in Spain for many years, this basic pistol was […]

Colt All-American 2000 (Video)

October 27, 2014 Ian McCollum 71

The All-American 2000 was Colt’s attempt to break into the polymer high-cap pistol market in the early 1990s, when Glock was dominating that field. Colt took what appears to have been a pretty good pistol […]