United States - Forgotten Weapons

AR-16: Armalite’s Lost Battle Rifle

December 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 25

The AR-16 was developed in the late 1950s as a less manufacturing intensive option to the AR-10. It began with the AR-12, which was a prototype intended to use a stamped receiver with the Stoner […]

Tanki Maraka: the US Radar Base 50 Miles from Venezuela

December 21, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

Just as today, the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao had oil refining infrastructure back in World Wa rTwo. After some German naval action in the Caribbean early in the war, the Dutch […]

M1E5 Experimental Paratrooper Garand

December 17, 2025 Ian McCollum 53

In January 1944 men of the 93rd Infantry Division field-modified an M1 to give it a shorter (18″) barrel, and the rifle was sent back to the US and tested by the Infantry Board. The […]

Knight’s Armament Silent Revolving Rifle

December 15, 2025 Ian McCollum 45

In the early 1990s, Knight’s Armament was approached by an unnamed agency looking for a very specialized weapon. It needed to be a repeating firearm that left no brass behind while being effectively silent and […]

T31: Garand’s Bizarre Bullpup

December 10, 2025 Ian McCollum 17

The T31 was John Garand’s last project during his employment at Springfield Armory. It was proposed in 1948 as a bullpup configuration rifle to minimize muzzle blast and flash. It was a select-fire rifle with […]

Why the M7 and 6.8x51mm are Bad Ideas: Welcome to my TED Talk

December 6, 2025 Ian McCollum 62

NATO Cold War Battle Rifles and much more: https://www.headstamppublishing.com Cappy Army video on the SIG M7A1: CBJ Armor Piecing ammunition: The plan to replace the 5.56mm M4 Carbine with the 6.8mm M7 as the US […]

The First M60 Prototype: FG42 + MG42 = T44

December 1, 2025 Ian McCollum 56

The FG-42 caught the attention of a lot of countries at the end of World War Two. The British and Swiss both used it as the starting point for some developments. The US went one […]

Aly & Kaufman AKB-23: Better Than the SA80 / L85

November 19, 2025 Ian McCollum 47

Penguin Brutality t-shirt available from Varusteleka: https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-penguin-brutality-t-shirt The Aly & Kaufman AKB-23 is a set of parts that allows one to use a Brownells BRN-180 upper to create an SA80 / L85 lookalike. It’s a […]

T20 Family: Springfield Makes the Garand a Grenade Launching Sniper Machine Gun

November 17, 2025 Ian McCollum 29

Late in 1944 the Ordnance Committee recommended adoption of a magazine-fed, select-fire version of the M1 Garand as a new standard US infantry rifle. Both Springfield and Remington developed rifles to meet the requirement, with […]

Rideout Arsenal Dragon: A New Low-Bore-Axis Lever-Delayed Pistol

November 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 37

Wauser t-shirt available from Varusteleka: https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-wauser-cotton-t-shirt The Rideout Arsenal Dragon is a very interesting new pistol from an independent entrepreneurial designer, Travis Rideout. It is a lever-delayed action with a very low bore axis and […]