France - Forgotten Weapons

Testing 7.65mm French Long Ammo (Reed’s and Buffalo Arms)

April 26, 2018 Ian McCollum 36

I am on the search for suitable ammunition for the Mle 1935A and Mle 1935S French pistols, as well as my MAS-38 submachine gun. They are chambered for the 7.65mm French Long cartridge, aka […]

Remington Split Breech – Before It Was Famous

April 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

The Remington Rolling Block was one of the most widely successful and popular military rifles of the late 1800s, and its development began with the Remington Split Breech carbine during the American Civil War. The […]

Darne “Canardière Portatif” Shoulder-Fired Punt Gun

March 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 19

In the days when market hunting was a normal practice, hunters would use pretty huge shotguns to harvest large numbers of waterfowl. These were called punt guns, named after the small shallow-draft boats which they […]

A Rare World War One Sniper’s Rifle: Model 1916 Lebel

February 28, 2018 Ian McCollum 9

Unlike Great Britain and Germany, the French military never developed a formal sniper doctrine during World War One – they had no dedicated schools or instruction manuals for that specialty. The three major arsenals did […]

King Louis XV’s Magnificent Engraved Lorenzoni Rifle

February 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This Lorenzoni-pattern rifle was presented to King Louis XV of France in the mid 1700s, and is an exquisite example of firearms deemed suitable for royalty at the height of the European kings. It is […]

MAT 49: Iconic SMG of Algeria and Indochina

January 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 31

The MAT-49 was developed by France after World War Two to satisfy the need for a more modern submachine gun to replace the MAS-38. The military had come around to standardizing on the 9x19mm cartridge […]

MAS-38 Shooting Fail

January 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 48

I have been getting a lot of comments asking when there will be a shooting video with my MAS-38 submachine gun. If has cleared the NFA transfer process, so it’s not actually in my possession. […]

Book Review: The Modele 1866 Chassepot

January 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

Until now, there has really been nothing substantial and scholarly printed on the Chassepot needle-fire rifle in English – but now that has changed, thanks to Guy & Leonard A-R-West. Their just-released book on […]

Meunier A6: France’s First Semiauto Battle Rifle

January 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 59

France began experimenting with self-loading rifle designs in the late 1890s, although most of this work is mostly unknown today. The work was done by the State arsenals, and kept as military secrets, without […]

Lepage Wax-Bullet Dueling Pistols

January 3, 2018 Ian McCollum 28

In the early years of the 20th century, before the Great War tempered society’s interest in the martial arts, dueling came into the popular vogue. Not the lethal kind, but rather a more sporting style […]