Video - Forgotten Weapons

North & Skinner Revolving Rifle

November 4, 2013 Ian McCollum 19

The North & Skinner was an early 6-shot percussion-fired revolving rifle design. Its design was patented in 1852 by Henry North and Chauncy Skinner (US Patent #8982), and the guns were manufactured from 1856 to […]

Swiss ZfK-55 Sniper (Video)

October 28, 2013 Ian McCollum 23

At the Rock Island Auction last month, there were several Swiss ZfK-55 sniper rifles up for sale. The rifle is basically a K31 action, with a bunch of modifications to convert it into a very […]

Book Review: Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993

October 17, 2013 Ian McCollum 18

The Iver Johnson company doesn’t get much respect or recognition these days, but they made a staggering number of generally very good, inexpensive handguns for many decades. The “cheap” image of the brand has largely […]

Gewehr 43 (Video)

October 14, 2013 Ian McCollum 55

German ordnance began looking for a military selfloading rifle to augment the K98k as early as the 1930s, although the pressures of war initially made that development a second priority. By 1941, though, two competing […]

Competition Skills Class with Russell Phagan

October 8, 2013 Ian McCollum 8

I had the opportunity recently to take a Competition Skills training class with Russell Phagan. Russell is a very accomplished multi-gun competitor and professional firearms trainer. He is a regular attendee at the 2-Gun Action […]

Evans Repeating Rifle (Video)

October 7, 2013 Ian McCollum 22

I had the opportunity to stop by the display day at the Rock Island Auction House prior to their recent Premier Auction, and had the chance to get my hands on a bunch of very […]

Remington Model 8 Ammo Test

October 6, 2013 Ian McCollum 47

I ran across this neat video a few days ago, and I think it might be of interest to some of you guys. One of the folks from the Remington Model 8/81 forum decided to […]

Warsaw Uprising

October 3, 2013 Ian McCollum 36

I normally have a book review on Thursday, but this week I’m pushing it to Friday. I meant to post this yesterday, but lost track of the date – which, 69 years ago, was the […]

Skorpion Scarab 9mm (Video)

September 30, 2013 Ian McCollum 22

In my defense, I want to point out that the only reason I wanted to get one of these pistols was to see how much it actually resembled the Czech vz.61 Skorpion, wich is a […]

2-Gun Match: Chinese 7.62x39mm Bren

September 24, 2013 Ian McCollum 32

Thanks to the folks at SMG Guns in Texas, I just got my completed semiauto Bren gun in 7.62x39mm. What the best way to break it in? Take it to a run-n-gun match, of course! […]