United States - Forgotten Weapons

Semiauto Portuguese AR-10 on a Sendra Receiver

March 23, 2018 Ian McCollum 31

So, you would like to get an original AR-10 rifle to shoot? Well, the original Armalite AR10 rifles were almost all manufactured by Artillerie-Inrichtingen in the Netherlands, and they were virtually all machine guns. They […]

Stoner 63A Automatic Rifle – The Original Modular Weapon

March 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 43

The Stoner 63 was a remarkably advanced and clever modular firearm designed by Eugene Stoner (along with Bob Fremont and Jim Sullivan) after he left Armalite. The was tested by DARPA and the uS Marine […]

Scoped Sharps 1874 Buffalo Rifle

March 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

This 1874 Sharps rifle is a great example of a been-there, done-that authentic western buffalo rifle. It was shipped from Sharps in 1879 with double set triggers, open sights, and a medium-weight .45 caliber barrel, […]

Browning M1917: America’s World War One Heavy Machine Gun

March 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 40

When the United States entered World War One, its military has a relatively tiny handful of machine guns, and they were divided between four different types, as the military budget was small and machine guns […]

First Variation Flatside Winchester 1895 Musket

March 12, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

When Winchester first began producing Model 1895 rifles, they made a model that only lasted a short time. Between serial numbers 5000 and 6000, the first pattern 95s were replaced by a second pattern of […]

George Hyde’s First Submachine Gun: The Hyde Model 33

March 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

George Hyde was a gun designer who is due substantial credit, but whose name is rarely heard, because he did not end up with his name on an iconic firearm. Hyde was a German immigrant […]

Shooting the M3A1 Grease Gun

March 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

The M3 (and its followup improved M3A1 model) was the United States’ answer to the high cost and manufacturing complexity of the Thompson submachine gun. The M3 “Grease Gun” (because really, that is what it […]

M20 75mm Recoilless Rifle: When the Bazooka Just Won’t Cut It

March 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 46

The M20 75mm Recoilless Rifle was developed starting in 1944 as a replacement for the 3.5” bazooka in an antitank role. It was developed and produced in parallel with a 57mm recoilless rifle (the M18), […]

Porter Turret Rifle (2nd Variation) – Unsafe in Any Direction

March 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 13

The Porter Turret Rifle was patented in 1851 by Perry W. Porter, and is a vertical turret design – meaning that it has a revolving cylinder in which the chambers are aligned pointing outward radially […]

Colt R75A: The Last Commercial BAR (With Shooting)

March 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

The R75A was the last version of Colt’s commercial BAR, with 832 made between August and December of 1942 for the Netherlands Purchasing Commission. It was a derivative of the commercial R75 BAR, with a […]