United States - Forgotten Weapons

DeserTech 7.62mm MDR Teardown

December 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

The DeserTech MDR (“Micro Dynamic Rifle”) has been in the works for several years now, after being initially announced at SHOT Show in 2014, if I recall correctly. While it was probably prematurely unveiled, the […]

XM29 OICW Mockup

December 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 39

The OICW – Objective Individual Combat Weapon – was part of a program in the 1980s and 1990s to replace the whole lineup of uS small arms with a consolidated group of new high-tech ones. […]

Shooting the Stoner: Mk23, Bren, and 63A Carbine

December 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 38

Is the Stoner 63 really as good of a gun as everyone says? Today is my first opportunity to try one out on the range, and I’m going to look at it in three different […]

Stoner 63, 63A, & Mk23: History and Mechanics

December 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 2

The Stoner 63 is a firearm surrounded by a tremendous amount of mythology. It was Eugene Stoner’s big project following on the AR-15, and it was a brilliant piece of engineering – a single modular […]

A .50 Caliber 1911: Guncrafter Industries Model 1

November 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 35

This pistol sold for $2,300 at Rock Island on November 30, 2018. Guncrafter Industries is a custom handgun company formed by one Alex Zimmerman in 2002 after many years working for Wilson Combat. Among other […]

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 […]

The Israeli Galil

November 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 35

These rifles are selling at Rock Island on November 30 and December 1, 2018 – the 5.56mm Model 392 brought $4,600 and 7.62mm Model 323S brought $3,738. The Galil was the result of a program to […]

When M14 Meets M16: The Fort Ellis XR-86 Frankenrifle

November 22, 2018 Ian McCollum 33

This rifle failed to sell at Rock Island on November 30, 2018. This rifle is the home shop creation of one Wilfred Ellis, a talented gunsmith form Pennsylvania. It is basically a combination of an […]

MC58: A USMC Semiauto Trainer 22 for the M14

November 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

This rifle sold (for some reason) for $10,925 at Rock Island on December 2, 2018. When the USMC adopted the M1 Garand in 1942, they decided they would like to have a new semiautomatic training […]

The Mini-14: A Cost-Effective Scaled-Down M14

November 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 56

Folding Stock rifle sold for $2,300 (the fixed-stock Texas Ranger one is selling in a future auction – sorry for the mistake! There is a folding stocked Ranger’s rifle in this auction, however). The Ruger […]