Spain - Forgotten Weapons

Colt Checks out the Spanish Wondernine: the Star 30PK

November 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 29

This pistol sold for $3,163 at Rock Island in December 2, 2018. Star entered the Wondernine era in 1978 with their Model 28 pistol, a double action 9mm offering with 15-round magazines. It was one […]

Special Presentation: Semiauto Pistols of the 1800s

September 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 11

Today’s Special Presentation is an overview of all the semiautomatic pistols that were actually put into serial production before the year 1900. We have looked at these individually before, but I think it is worthwhile […]

Catalonia’s Attempt at a Pistol: the Blowback Isard

September 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 20

The Republican factions in the Spanish Civil War had much more trouble obtaining arms than the Nationalist elements, and this led to several attempts to build pistols in small-scale workshops. The best known of these […]

The Original CETME Mars Importation

August 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

RIA’s catalog page for this rifle The CETME Model C would be the basis for the wildly successful H&K 91 / G3 rifle, and a small batch of CETME rifles was brought into the United […]

Star Z-70B: Spain’s Improved SMG

August 4, 2018 Ian McCollum 24

The Star Z-70B was an incremental improvement on the earlier Z-62 and Z-63 submachine guns adopted by the Spanish military and security services. It remains an open bolt, selective fire design, with an underfolding stock. […]

Pistola PRESSIN: Llama’s Sneaky Self-Defense Weapon

July 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 35

Developed in 1978 and produced by Llama until 1995, the Pressin was a two-shot derringer made to be disguised as a pair of glasses. It was intended for use by politicians, military officers, and other […]

Astra 600/43: A Straight Blowback 9mm for the Wehrmacht

June 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 46

The Astra in this video is coming up for auction here… When Germany acquired a land border with Spain after the French capitulation in 1940, they took advantage of the opportunity to purchase Spanish firearms, […]

Astra 300 – A Pocket Pistol Bought Mostly By Germany

May 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

The pistol in this video is coming up for auction here. The Astra 300 was introduced in 1923, copying the layout, mechanics, and handling of the Astra 400 military pistol in a much more convenient […]

Full Auto at 1000m: The 7.92x41mm CETME Cartridge

January 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

The US insistence on a full-power rifle cartridge for the NATO standard in the 1950s derailed a couple potentially very interesting concepts – including the 7.92x41mm CETME cartridge. This round was developed by Dr. […]

Shooting the ZB-26: A Jewel of an Interwar Light Machine Gun

October 27, 2017 Ian McCollum 18

Today we have a chance to do some shooting with a ZB-26, a German-occupation 8mm light machine gun made at Brno in Czechoslovakia. The ZB-26 does not get nearly as much attention as LMGs made […]