Russia - Forgotten Weapons

Rocket Surgery: Inside the Russian Nikonov AN94 (Video)

April 11, 2017 Ian McCollum 75

https://youtu.be/gtMssTSnRHU Armament Research Services (ARES) is a specialist technical intelligence consultancy, offering expertise and analysis to a range of government and non-government entities in the arms and munitions field. For detailed photos of the guns […]

Review: Semiauto DPM by SMG Guns

March 7, 2017 Ian McCollum 11

I have had a parts kit for a Soviet DPM light machine gun (actually a Polish one, but the design is identical) stashed away for many years now, with the hope to eventually have it […]

American Mosin Nagant Rifles (Video)

January 30, 2017 Ian McCollum 12

Everyone is aware of the Mosin Nagant rifle, but not everyone realizes that about 2 million of them were actually manufactured in the United States. Russia had been producing M91 Mosin Nagant rifles in their […]

Finnish Mosin Nagant Overview (M91/24, M27, M28, M28/30, M39)

January 22, 2017 Ian McCollum 24

Finland found itself with nearly 200,000 Mosin Nagant rifles in its possession after breaking away from Russian rule in 1917, and those rifles would for the basis of Finnish infantry arms until the adopted of […]

Slabs and Waffles and Bakes, Oh My! A Brief History of AK Mags

December 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 32

In recent months, a couple of interesting developmental varieties of AK mags have appeared on the market here in the US, and I figure folks might be interested in learning about the history of where […]

Vintage Saturday: Austrian Prisoners

October 29, 2016 Ian McCollum 43

This photo is an original color picture, not a modern colorization – taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a pioneer of color photography. Also of interest, note that the Russian guard on the far left is […]

Book Review: The Makarov Pistol – Soviet Union & East Germany

October 25, 2016 Ian McCollum 16

Until recently, the only good reference book on the Makarov pistol has been Volume 16 of Fred Datig’s Soviet Arms series – which is hampered by the lack of public information available to the author […]

Weapons of the Spanish Civil War

October 4, 2016 Ian McCollum 34

The Spanish Civil War is a relatively un-remembered conflict here in the US, but it is a fascinating event for firearms enthusiasts because of the huge variety of arms used. Both sides were supplied by […]

Kalashnikov vs Sturmgewehr

September 17, 2016 Ian McCollum 86

The German Sturmgewehr and the Soviet Kalashnikov are widely and rightly considered the two most influential and iconic of the modern military rifles. While the German rifle certainly influenced the Soviet design, the two were […]

RIA: Russian M1870 Galand Revolver (Video)

September 5, 2016 Ian McCollum 40

The Galand was an innovative revolver design created by Frenchman Charles Francois Galand and patented in 1868. It is most notable for using a long lever system to eject cartridges by throwing the cylinder and […]