United States - Forgotten Weapons

Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919: the First Commercial BAR

April 26, 2024 Ian McCollum 16

Several patents were taken out on the BAR during World War One, but they were all kept unpublished and secret during the war. Just days after the Armistice, Colt patent attorney CJ Ehbets wrote to […]

‘Murican 2-Gun: M1918A3 BAR and M1911A1

April 20, 2024 Ian McCollum 3

Today I’m taking a brand new Ohio Ordnance M1918A3 semiauto BAR to the 2-gun match, along with a Tisas M1911A1 clone. The BAR is the WW2 configuration, but I followed the footsteps of many a […]

M14: America’s Worst Service Rifle – What Went Wrong?

April 15, 2024 Ian McCollum 141

While the US never adopted a significant variation of the M1 Garand (excluding sniper models), testing continued on new iterations and features throughout the war. By the time the war ended, the US military had […]

A Guns to Save Lives: Winchester 1886 Line Thrower

April 14, 2024 Ian McCollum 5

Line-throwing devices have long been an important part of maritime safety, and many different have been guns adapted to launch ropes from shore to ship or ship to ship. Usually they are inexpensive obsolete surplus […]

Colt Viper: A Rare Snake and a Great Revolver

April 8, 2024 Ian McCollum 0

Colt has released seven different revolvers named after snakes, and they have become a popular niche collection for many people. The Python is by far the best known, but several others are very rare. One […]

Boombox / Clarion Thermal at MOGO24: Zee Goggles! Zey Do Nuthink!

April 6, 2024 Ian McCollum 0

For my Passive Division run during the staff match portion of Moons Out Goons Out 2024, I used a borrowed prototype Boombox from Q, with an AGM Clarion thermal scope. The Boombox is essentially a […]

Bonus: Ian’s Boombox Shootoff with Mitch from Q

April 2, 2024 Ian McCollum 3

Mitch, design engineer at Q, challenged me to a shutoff at Moons Out Goons Out 2024. If I win, I get a Boombox from Q. If he wins, I have to embarrass myself on the […]

Hi-Point / MAWL at MOGO24: Wheels Come Off the Struggle Bus

April 1, 2024 Ian McCollum 0

For my Active Division run during the staff match portion of Moons Out Goons Out 2024, I set up a 9mm Hi-Point carbine with a BE Meyers MAWL last unit. Great laser; terrible gun. My […]

Now Available: VHS-2 w/ 20-inch Barrel (aka Springfield Hellion)

March 3, 2024 Ian McCollum 6

Springfield Armory is now importing a version of the the VHS-2 bullpup (commercially named the Hellion here in the US) with a 20-inch barrel. This is the barrel length used in the most common military […]

Tale of a Heroic Sailor: Ensign Stannus’ M1911A1

February 26, 2024 Ian McCollum 24

Robert “Dickie” Stannus was , in technical terms, a total stud. So much so that he was awarded an inscribed M1911A1 directly by Colt as a prize for being the top sailor in his Naval […]