China - Forgotten Weapons

Chinese Mystery Pistol at RIA

September 4, 2014 Ian McCollum 16

Many unique and interesting pistols were made in China in the 1920s and 1930s, and this pistol is a good example of them. It is not a copy of any specific Western handgun, although mechanically […]

Ole Krag’s Experimental Pistol: Made By Norinco

July 18, 2014 Ian McCollum 38

In 1908, Ole Krag (the same man associated with the Krag-Jorgensen rifle) applied for a US patent on an automatic pistol design. This design, along with many others, would be submitted to the Norwegian military […]

North China Type 19

July 9, 2014 Ian McCollum 44

Many years prior to the attack on the US Navy that marks the beginning of World War II for the United States, the Empire of Japan had invaded China. This war of occupation was a […]

Book Review: China’s Small Arms of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War

July 3, 2014 Ian McCollum 6

I picked up a copy of this book a couple years ago when Bin Shih first published it, but by the time I got around to doing a review it had sold out – so […]

Small Arms of China – Update

June 22, 2014 Ian McCollum 7

Several years ago I had the opportunity to interview Bin Shih, who had just published a book in both English and Chinese on Chinese small arms – China’s Small Arms of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War […]

What I Didn’t Buy Last Weekend

February 25, 2014 Ian McCollum 18

So this past weekend was a Regional auction at the Rock Island Auction house, which I neglected to post about beforehand. The Regional auctions are the ones with typically lots of less valuable guns packaged […]

Movie Review: Assembly (2007)

January 16, 2014 Ian McCollum 49

The past year’s lineup of blockbusters from Hollywood has been pretty light on war movies, so here’s one you may not have seen to fill the gap. Produced in China by director Feng Xiaogang, it […]

Vintage Saturday: Mausers on the Silk Road

November 30, 2013 Ian McCollum 19

Commentary from the photographer: Full-length portrait of the four men, standing in a line with rifles. ‘While halting for the night I had an interesting opportunity of becoming acquainted with a small party of well-armed […]

Book Review: The Early Arisakas

September 26, 2013 Ian McCollum 10

Are you interested in Japanese weapons and militaria? There is a group you should be aware of – Banzai. Formed in 1982, Banzai has been publishing a newsletter full of Japanese-weaponry-related articles for more than […]

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! […]