France - Forgotten Weapons

Project Lightening Episode 03: Walking Fire

February 21, 2019 Ian McCollum 17

Project Lightening is a collaborative series with Othais and Mae of C&Rsenal in which we test all seven light machine guns and automatic rifles of World War One and put them through a series of […]

Bernardon-Martin: France’s First Commercial Semiautomatic Pistol

February 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

The Bernardon-Martin was the first commercially viable semiautomatic pistol manufactured in France; a .32ACP (7.65mm Browning) striker-fired pocket pistol competing with the FN Browning 1899/1900. The first model was introduced in 1907 with a fixed […]

Zeroing the FR-F1

December 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 20

After about 2 years or working and waiting, my FR-F1 has arrived from France – so it’s time to get it zeroed! I am using the only commercial ammo available in the us; PPU 139gr […]

One Million Subscribers: The French 75 Special!

December 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 51

Holy cow, a million subscribers! When I started Forgotten Weapons, I never for a moment suspected it would end up this popular. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed! I think this required a celebratory […]

Vickers-Berthier 1919 US Trials Rifle (Second Type)

November 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This rifle sold for $31,625 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. After designing the bolt action rifle that bears his name, Andre Berthier went on to experiment with self-loading designs. He developed a light […]

Romagne 14-18 Museum Tour

October 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 5

Jean-Paul de Vries runs a very interesting private World War One museum in the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon in the Meuse region of northeastern France – the Romagne ’14-’18 Museum (in France, World War One is […]

Forgotten History: A German Bunker at Montfaucon

October 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

When one visits the Montfaucon American Monument (to the soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne offensive), one finds the road in flanked by a pair of (mostly) surviving German bunkers. These standing artifacts of 20th-century warfare are […]

Forgotten History: Glade of the Armistice

September 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 1

Here at a forested railroad crossing outside Compiègne in Picardy, France, two rail cars met in November of 1918 – one with members of the Allied/Entente high commend and ones with representatives of Imperial Germany. […]

M1918 Chauchat: Testing a New Magazine

September 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 12

Today I am testing out a new .30-06 Chauchat magazine converted from a Johnson M1941 machine gun magazine. The workmanship on this new mag is excellent, and much more extensive than I had initially realized […]

Shooting the MAS-38 Submachine Gun: Second Try

September 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

Take 2! I have some ammunition loaded up for me by awesome viewer Cameron, and we’re going to try it out in the MAS-38 submachine gun. This is loaded hot enough to properly cycle Mle […]