Russia - Forgotten Weapons

Vintage Saturday: Lever Actions in the Trenches

June 22, 2013 Ian McCollum 51

Russian soldiers in World War One armed with Winchester 1895 lever action rifles chambered for 7.62x54R. In addition to the gas masks and long bayonets, note the fellow at the back left reloading with a […]

Vintage Saturday: Nazi Zorro

June 8, 2013 Ian McCollum 41

German Skijäger troops with Sturmgewehr rifles in the Ukraine, February 1944. Note how two of the guys in the background are using ski poles as shooting sticks. If there had been more of these guys […]

Vintage Saturday: Rank Hath its Privileges

June 1, 2013 Ian McCollum 33

A Soviet M1910 Maxim (early version, without the snow cap) on the Mannerheim Line, 1940.

Russian Silent Ammunition

May 29, 2013 Ian McCollum 33

Pistols Firing Internally Silenced Ammunition Guns of the Spetsnaz Pt III By Maxim Popenker As discussed in previous articles on the subject, Soviet Spetsnaz troops played a key role in Soviet military doctrine, in both […]

M1895 Nagant Followup: Manuals

May 22, 2013 Ian McCollum 19

It isn’t unusual for me to learn additional things about a particular gun from various folks after I write a post, which sometimes calls for an addendum to my original post or article. Well, after […]

Russian 1895 Nagant Revolver (Video)

May 20, 2013 Ian McCollum 32

One of the mechanically interesting guns that is really widely available in the US for a great price (or was until very recently, it seems) is the Russian M1895 Nagant revolver. It was adopted by […]

Vintage Saturday: Faye Schulman

May 4, 2013 Ian McCollum 35

Faye Schulman was born in the small Polish town of Lenin in 1919 to a large Jewish family. After the German attack on Russia, the town was occupied, and in August 1942 the town’s roughly […]

Arkady Shipunov and the GSh-18 Pistol

May 3, 2013 Ian McCollum 51

We learned (thanks, Denny) that Arkady Shipunov passed away last week. He began work at Tula arsenal in 1950, and was chief designer of its instruments bureau from 1962 until 2006 – quite the long […]

Vintage Saturday: Italians in the Snow

April 27, 2013 Ian McCollum 25

Italian soldiers on the Russian Front, with a Breda M30 machine gun and a Carcano carbine. Thanks to Max Popenker for the photo!

Russian APB Silenced Machine Pistol

April 3, 2013 Ian McCollum 15

Soviet Spetsnaz Guns, Part II By Maxim Popenker As discussed in a previous article on the PB pistol, Soviet Spetsnaz troops played a key role in Soviet military doctrine, in both local operations (mostly in […]