United States - Forgotten Weapons

Model 1871 Ward-Burton Rifle

December 2, 2013 Ian McCollum 10

The Model 1871 Ward-Burton was one of the early experimental rifles trialled by the US military in its search for a new breechloading rifle to replace the theoretically-interim Allin conversion that made muzzle-loading rifles into […]

Book Review: Allied Rifle Contracts in America

November 21, 2013 Ian McCollum 6

One of the characteristics that often leads me to be particularly interested in a given gun is a long and convoluted history. I really enjoy finding firearms that have found their way across the world […]

Streetsweeper Shotgun (Video)

November 11, 2013 Ian McCollum 51

It may seem sometimes that I’ve never met a gun I didn’t like…but I can assure you that isn’t the case. The Streetsweeper, for example, is a pretty terrible gun. Originally designed in 1980 by […]

Vintage Saturday: Rifles? What Rifles?

November 9, 2013 Ian McCollum 50

US World War I doughboys with M1911 pistols on display. Trigger discipline wasn’t what it is today.

North & Skinner Revolving Rifle

November 4, 2013 Ian McCollum 19

The North & Skinner was an early 6-shot percussion-fired revolving rifle design. Its design was patented in 1852 by Henry North and Chauncy Skinner (US Patent #8982), and the guns were manufactured from 1856 to […]

US Army Rifle and Carbine Adoption 1865-1900

October 23, 2013 Ian McCollum 43

Courtesy of reader Mike, we have today a copy of a Master’s thesis written by Major John Davis in 2007, as a part of a Staff College degree. The title of the paper is “U.S. […]

The New York Times, on Smokeless Powder

October 22, 2013 Ian McCollum 29

I ran across this brief article from the September 17, 1896 edition of the New York Times. They seem to have gotten things pretty well figured out… THE NEW SMOKELESS POWDER Change of Tactics Made […]

2-Gun Action Challenge Match: SVT40 vs M1 Garand

October 21, 2013 Ian McCollum 23

So, after the hype about setting the FG-42 up against the M1 at a practical action match, I unfortunately have to let you down. We had a bit of a mishap right before the match […]

Book Review: Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993

October 17, 2013 Ian McCollum 18

The Iver Johnson company doesn’t get much respect or recognition these days, but they made a staggering number of generally very good, inexpensive handguns for many decades. The “cheap” image of the brand has largely […]

Vintage Saturday: Double the Fun

October 12, 2013 Ian McCollum 45

I would probably be willing to compromise with one bazooka and a heavier winter coat. Updated to include the back of the Jeep too (thanks, Ray):