Competitions are one of my favorite ways to enjoy my firearms outside of getting to test and review them. Often I like to combine those two things and test out new or unfamiliar equipment at matches. Moons Out Goons Out 2024 is exactly this type of match which is why [Read More…]
This week Ian from Forgotten Weapons joins me on the show to talk about his own thoughts on this year’s Finnish Brutality competition. Ian is one member of the core group of people that started up the Brutality Matches here in the United States so I was excited to [Read More…]
If you love history and old firearms there are a few YouTube channels you probably follow. For many, two of those will definitely be Forgotten Weapons and C&Rsenal. Ian, Othais and Mae have come together to put seven original World War One vintage light machine guns [Read More…]
For many of us, the first things that spring to mind about the Rhodesian Bush War are bush shorts and FN FALs. Thankfully, only the latter is covered in two videos recently posted by the Vickers Tactical channel and Forgotten Weapons. In the videos, Ian McCollom and [Read More…]
If you’re not following both C&Rsenal and Forgotten Weapons you are missing out on some of the best gun history videos around. With C&Rsenal’s current World War One focus, systematically working their way through the weapons of the Great War, and [Read More…]
The Russian PKM: Arguably the best general purpose machine gun in the world, it combines a robust reliability with best-in-class light weight. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons recently released two video overviews of the weapon, giving us a good enough excuse as any to [Read More…]
Where most equate the post World War 2 British Army with the FAL, it should not have been and should not have come to pass. Experimenting with surprising alacrity and inspired by German designs, the British Royal Arsenals went straight to work on the development of [Read More…]
Despite using the arguably backward L85A2 (which Ian did a great series on that Nathan S. covered), after World War II, the British were one of the foremost thinkers in terms of individual small arms. Almost immediately after the war, the British Army and start [Read More…]
Perhaps wrapping up what must have been a gun nerd’s dream visit to the UK Royal Armouries National Firearms Centre, Ian at Forgotten Weapons has moved from the main SA-80 rifle into the sub-variants, which is a fascinating topic in and of itself. In this video, [Read More…]
I’ve had more than one e-mail from our dear readers on why I continue to write up Forgotten Weapons’ L85 Series. Outside the complaints of repetitiveness, the complaint that struck as the reason why I am publishing them came out – that no one wants to [Read More…]
Often more fascinating than the weapons developed is the history of developing weapons. In almost all cases, weapons are frought with initial troubles, constantly moving mechanical targets, and perhaps most trouble – politics. While today’s politics is well [Read More…]
Most of the time Forgotten Weapons takes a look at weapons that are indeed largely forgotten. Sometimes they cover modern weapons and some of their history, and at other times they cover weapons that many wish were just forgotten. This is one of those latter times, [Read More…]
I love it when Ian over at Forgotten Weapons falls off the actual “forgotten” weapons and delves into well-known and respected designs. His brain housing group is replete with an encyclopedia of facts and history on weapons and when applied to even [Read More…]
As weapons technology has progressed through generational leaps, it has bee historically common for notoriously frugal militaries to look to adapting their current standard issue to the new development. Generally speaking, these attempts are disasters as the [Read More…]
If one cannot find a minigun to go shoot, a fully-automatic 22LR is a very close second. While the tiny little can-do cartridge can pack a tiny wallop with well-placed shots, there is something to be said to hitting with a swarm of the rimfire rounds. One, perhaps two [Read More…]
After the first two World Wars, Lugers were plentiful. Highly sought after by troops, the weapons made it back in droves to the United States where they were a commodity for some time before gaining the status us an uber-collectors item today. Given this, a poor (or [Read More…]
A few weeks back Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons released a teaser photo of him shooting the Walther WA2000 semi-auto sniper rifle. When we posted about it many of you were upset because the WA2000 video wasn’t done quite yet, and if I admit, I was [Read More…]
The Sterling L2A3 was the iconic Cold War submachine gun of the British Army. Inexpensive to make, compact and rugged, it was a design that incorporated the experience from the Sten submachine gun, a weapon which though inexpensive really left a lot to be desired. In a [Read More…]
Almost all of our modern weapons can trace some part of their lineage to World War II. The STG 44 was (and still is) a major influence on modern weapons design. However, there are many weapons from the war that do not share the same influence. One may certainly claim [Read More…]
Ever lusted after the obscure and ultra-scarce Walther WA 2000 semi-auto sniper rifle? You aren’t alone, I have often wondered how they shoot, what the trigger feels like and so on. Well, my friend Ian over at Forgotten Weapons had a chance to get behind one of [Read More…]
The Puckle Gun is one of those firearms of which only a couple of examples exist in the world, but which is covered in a great deal of introductory firearms books, usually in their section on the history of machine guns. This has led many to assume the Puckle Gun was [Read More…]
Color me just slightly jealous of Ian and crew over at Forgotten Weapons. In their latest hands-on, they go fully neck-deep into one of the most revered modern full-power shooters, the M134 Minigun. While yes, I have gotten the chance to see and shoot one, Ian is able [Read More…]
I know I grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s when as soon as I see or hear the word “Crossfire” the little BB game theme song immediately pops into mind (and then never leaves). All nostalgia aside, the Crossfire MkI combination rifle/shotgun is a [Read More…]
Back in September, TFB reader Brandon took us through the history and variations of Russian Kalashnikov magazine patterns in a two part article that’s well worth reading if you haven’t already. Having said that, if you don’t have the patience for [Read More…]
In the fourth part of the series of articles I am writing on the Lightweight Rifle program of the 1940s and ’50s, we looked at some of the experimental rifles that were being tested and evaluated during and just after World War II as potential replacements for or [Read More…]
What was the first double-stack .45 ACP handgun in the world? Well, Springfield Armory Inc might have you believe it was their XD (originally called the HS2000 – and then and now made in Croatia), but more plugged in gun nuts will point to the Para Ordnance [Read More…]
With millions of weapons available post World War I, there was a significant push from various militaries to convert their bolt-action weapon systems to semi automatic. Few of these attempted upgrades were ultimately successful, but with the significant reduction in [Read More…]
I like to think of myself as one learned in many things guns. In my “day job” role I get to interact with many designs, both new and old. Occasionally, one drops a knowledge bomb on a platform I know little about, but rarely does one drop the equivalent of a [Read More…]
By this point, it’s impossible to hide my affinity for early selfloading rifles, and today we have another great video from Forgotten Weapons on an early Italian model that made it all the way to adoption. Though the program was cancelled before it could be [Read More…]
The first nation to begin serious work on the problem of an infantry rifle that could load itself between shots was none other than the then-military superpower of France. In 1886, the French revolutionized the infantry weapon by introducing the smokeless-power, [Read More…]
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