Russia - Forgotten Weapons

GPMG Firing Comparison: PKM vs UK vz.59

May 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 43

Since I had the opportunity to do some shooting with both a Yugoslav PKM and a Czech vz.59 general-purpose machine gun, I thought it would be interesting to compare them side by side. Which is […]

Reproduction RP-46 Belt-Feed Conversion from SMG Guns

May 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

InRange TV Operator’s Guide to the RP-46: You can order your own by contacting SMG Guns at smgguns@yahoo.com or placing an order online at SMGGunsStore.com. It’s very exciting to have these available, as they are […]

Book Review: The Kalashnikov Encyclopaedia by Drs. Cor Roodhorst

April 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 4

All three volumes available worldwide from: http://www.kalashnikov-encyclopaedia.com While there are several books available which showcase a decent number of different Kalashnikov variants (like Tokoi’s work), and there are good reference works on the history and […]

Book Review: Col Chinn’s 5-Volume Opus on Machine Guns

January 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 59

George Chinn’s 5-volume opus machine gun-icus is a massive and extremely valuable reference work on the development of machine guns, as well as aircraft machine guns and aircraft cannon. It also includes and entire volume […]

Dead Air PBS-1 Wolverine AK Suppressor

January 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

The Soviet Union produced and issued (on a quite limited basis) a suppressor for the AK platform, designated the PBS-1. It had a rather distinctive shape, and used a combination of baffles and wipes. Unfortunately, […]

Forgotten Weapons Field Test: 90-Round AK Magazine

December 25, 2017 Ian McCollum 30

Today I am joined by Forgotten Weapons Field Research Assistant Clay to test out one of those super-extended 90-round AK mags that are so often seen at the junk tables of gun shows. How bad […]

The Iconic “Burp Gun” – Shooting the PPSh-41

December 16, 2017 Ian McCollum 40

The Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun is most distinctive for its very high rate of fire – approximately 1250 rounds/minute – and large drum magazine. What may come as a surprise to those who have […]

Shpagin’s Simplified Subgun: The PPSh-41

December 15, 2017 Ian McCollum 37

After making the decision to mass produce a submachine gun, the Soviet Union adopted the Degtyarev PPD-38 and PPD-40, but this design was too expensive for the huge scale of production that the USSR […]

Shooting the Yugoslav M84 PKM: Arguably the Best GPMG

September 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 33

If I could have any one machine gun (but only one), it would be a PKM – in my experience thus far, this is the best universal machine gun that has been designed. Kalashnikov’s […]

Yugoslav M84 PKM: History, Mechanics, and Disassembly

September 29, 2017 Ian McCollum 53

The PK machine gun was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov’s engineering team right about the time they were putting the finishing touches on the AKM. The PK is in many ways an AK rifle action […]