France - Forgotten Weapons

“Grey Ghost” – The French Occupation Production P38 Pistol

November 23, 2024 Ian McCollum 34

When the French took over control of the Mauser factory complex in May 1945, the plant had some 85 tons of pistol parts on hand – 7.3 million individual components in various stages of production. […]

Spoils of War: French Occupation-Production Mauser K98k svwMB

November 11, 2024 Ian McCollum 9

Allied troops occupied the Mauser factory complex in Oberndorf in April of 1945, right at the end of the war. The factory was put under French administration and by May that same year production lines […]

New Imports: French MAS 49/56 and MAS 36/51 Rifles

October 30, 2024 Ian McCollum 35

Yeah, I’m a sucker for nice French rifles. So when Old Western Scrounger brought in another batch of them, I offered to do a video. These are rifles taken out of French long-term storage, having […]

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 2: The Modele 1874 Gras

June 29, 2024 Ian McCollum 3

For the full episode with the hand loading instructional section, click here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/black-powder-episode-2-gras-app-cut Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, […]

McCann Industries MAS 49/56 in the Elbonian Royal Air Service

May 20, 2024 Ian McCollum 38

Elbonian Royal Air Service merch: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/forgotten-weapons-royal-air-service-elbonia-t-shirt-cotton/78756 In the early 2000s, the Elbonian Royal Air Service was looking for an aerial interdiction rifle – something to arm snipers in dirigibles, for shooting down light aircraft and […]

Modernizing Le Clairon: the FAMAS Valorise

May 20, 2024 Ian McCollum 1

The FAMAS was the best bullpup rifle of its era, but it was a difficult platform to modernize with optics. In 1995, the “FELIN” (Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons INtégrés; Integrated Infantry Equipment and Communications) […]

.30-06 M1918 American Chauchat – Doughboys Go to France

May 4, 2024 Ian McCollum 28

When the US entered World War One, the country had a grand total of 1,453 machine guns, split between 4 different models. This was not a useful inventory to equip even a single division headed […]

Romanian Berthier Carbine Conversions

March 22, 2024 Ian McCollum 10

Romanian had more than a million rifles in its inventory after World War One, but they were mused between Mannlicher 88/90, Mannlicher 95, Mosin Nagant, and Berthier patterns – and they were almost all rifles […]

Early Development of the MAC 1950 Pistol

March 15, 2024 Ian McCollum 10

Today we have a short look at two of the predecessors of the French MAC 1950 service pistol. The first is the Type SE MAS 1948, which retains many of the characteristics of the previous […]

Prototype Matra Manurhin Compact SMG at the Range

March 9, 2024 Ian McCollum 13

https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/matra-manurhin-smg-at-the-range I came across this prototype (serial number 7) PDW/compact SMG in a collection, and had the opportunity to take it out to try on the range. I don’t have any specific data about it, […]