United States - Forgotten Weapons

Remington-Lee Model 1899: A Final Smokeless Version

November 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 15

This is Lot #1230 in the upcoming December 2020 RIA Premier auction. The Model 1899 was the last pattern of the Remington Lee Military Rifle, following the models of 1879, 1882, and 1885. In this final […]

Model 1881 Trapdoor Forager: Cheap Entertainment for the Troops

November 20, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

This is Lot #1236 in the upcoming December 2020 RIA Premier auction. At the suggestion of Colonel J.C. Kelton (Assistant Adjutant-General, Military Division of the Pacific and Department of California), the US Army adopted a […]

Russian World War 1 Contract Colt 1911

November 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 22

During World War One, the Russian Government purchased some 51,000 Colt 1911 pistols. These were standard commercial production guns, chambered for .45 ACP, and were shipped in 1916 and 1917, with JP Morgan acting as […]

Marlin 7MG aka Model 1917 Aircraft Machine Gun

November 9, 2020 Ian McCollum 24

John Browning’s original Model 1895 gas-lever machine gun was still in production by Colt when World War One broke out. It was not the most modern gun around by then, but it was available – […]

Ruger AC-556 at the Range: How Does it Compare to the M16?

November 7, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

Yesterday we took a look at the internals of Ruger’s select-fire AC-556, and today we have it out at the range. The main question for me was, how does it compare to the M16/AR-15? And […]

Ruger’s M16 Alternative: the Select-Fire AC-556

November 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 41

Ruger introduced their semiauto Mini-14 rifle in 1973, and followed it in 1979 with the AC-556, a select-fire version intended for military and police sales. Offered with either an 18.5 inch barrel and solid wood […]

Königliche Marine (Prussian Navy) Colt 1851 Rig

October 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 25

In 1855, Prussian customs officials discovered a shipment of 3,000 Colt 1851 Navy model revolvers (and their accouterments) hidden in bales of cotton being shipped from New York to Russia. Prussia was a neutral power […]

WW1 British Contract M1911 in .455 Webley Self-Loading

October 27, 2020 Ian McCollum 12

On the eve of World War One, the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Flying Corps had both adopted the Webley Self-Loading Pistol, chambered for a special .455 caliber semi-rimmed cartridge. With the needs of wartime, […]

Rollin White’s Single Shot .38 Rimfire Pistol

October 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 14

Rollin White was the inventor who patented the bored-through cylinder in the US, and sold an exclusive right to this patent to Smith & Wesson. They would use it as the basis for their own […]

Shooting an Original Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon

October 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 6

Several years ago, my friend Joe Lozen had an opportunity to fire an original Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon. He kindly sent me this clip – it is the only footage of one of these actually firing […]