France - Forgotten Weapons

The French FR-F2: Best of the Cold War Sniper Rifles

November 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 24

In 1986, the French Army adopted the FR-F2 (Fusil à Répétition F2) as its standard sniper rifle. The F2 was never manufactured new; it was an improvement made on existing FR-F1 rifle by giving them […]

“FUSTAN” – The Competition Rimfire MAS-36 for North Africa

November 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 11

While the French military adopted a .22 rimfire training version of the MAS-36, that rifle (the “Tir Réduit 5.5mm”) was intended for military training, and not for formal competition. During World War Two, the design […]

BUG Match with a 98-Year-Old 6.35mm Le Français

October 16, 2021 Ian McCollum 39

Today I’m at the BackUp Gun Match in Tucson with a first model Le Français made in 1923. This is an early French semiauto pistol design intended for pocket carry. It has a 7-round magazine […]

A Tour of PGM Precision: Home of the Ultima Ratio and Hecate II

October 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 3

Today, I have the opportunity to take a look inside PGM Precision, in Annecy France. Ever been curious about where the Ultima Ratio and Hecate II come from? Let’s have a look! Note: PGM’s US […]

A Tour of Chapuis Armes: Home of the MR-73 Revolver

October 5, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

With the MR-73 revolvers finally becoming regularly available in the US, I figured it would be really interesting to see how they are made! So, I headed over to Chapuis Armes, where the Directeur Général, […]

Vietnamese MAT-49 in 7.62mm Tokarev at the Range

September 11, 2021 Ian McCollum 30

While I have filmed a MAT-49, I have not had a chance to actually try one out at the range until today. But today I don’t just have a normal example; I have one rebarreled […]

Ethiopian Oddities – Single Shot French Mle 1878 Marine

September 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 9

Among all the standard rifles that are coming into the US from Ethiopia through InterOrdnance, there are a handful of really unusual oddballs, and we are going to look at several of them. We have […]

Marius Berger’s Ring-Trigger Tube-Magazine Pistol

August 18, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

The 1880s and 1890s were a fertile period of experimentation with repeating handguns. One such example is this design by Marius Berger, manufactured in France by St Etienne in 1880 and 1881. It uses a […]

Hotchkiss Universal SMG at the Range

August 14, 2021 Ian McCollum 21

I have previously filmed a semiauto Hotchkiss Universal, but until today I’d not had a chance to try shooting an intact, original automatic one. Thanks to Battlefield Vegas, I have the chance today! Turns out, […]

The Three Types of Chassepot Cavalry Carbines

August 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 8

There are few records I have been able to find on production of the original Mle 1866 Chassepot cavalry carbines. However, Royal Tiger / InterOrdnance just recently brought in a crate of 200 Gras and […]