When Armalite designed the AR-180, they needed a factory to produce it, as their own production capacity was limited. Initially a license was granted to How in Japan, but this only lasted a few years before US involvement in the Vietnam War led Japan to cease allowing arms to be shipped to the US. In 1974, Armalite instead ga...
2023-10-28 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Today we are taking a look at an assortment of gas-delayed pistols, from South Africa to China to Europe. There is one predominant style of gas-delay execution, but also some variations and some substantially different takes on the concept...
2023-10-27 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostSorry! I made a scheduling goof, and have to move the meetup to tomorrow, Thursday the 26th. Same place and time (Cravan; 17 Rue Jean de la Fontaine, 16th Arr; 6:30pm-8pm).
2023-10-25 15:25:35 +0000 UTC View Post
During the Croatian Homeland War - as in all wars of independence - a wide variety of cobbled-together firearms were used by people who could not access proper factory arms for one reason or another. Today I'm as the Sisal Municipal Museum looking at four different examples from specifically the Sisal area in Croatia. Two are...
2023-10-25 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Gevarm was the gun-making subsidiary of Gevelot, a long-standing French ammunition manufacturer. In 1956 they brought a simple new submachine gun to market. It was chambered for 9mm Parabellum, with a simple blowback action. The construction was very basic, a combination of a tube receiver, stamped and flat components. There ...
2023-10-23 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWant to come hang out for a cocktail? I'll be at Cravan (17 Rue Jean de la Fontaine, 16th Arr) from 6:30pm until 8pm. Stop by and say hello if you are in the area!
2023-10-22 18:37:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I'm taking the new Laugo Alien out to the range to see if it matches up to the original. Spoiler, it does - and it's even better. The new grip angle is much more natural for me, and the trigger is actually a bit better than the original...
2023-10-21 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The SAFN, aka FN-49, is one of the classic post-war European battle rifles, and was sold to nine different countries in the early 1950s before the FAL became FN's primary combat rifle offering. What is often forgotten is that despite being limited to a fixed 10-round magazine, nearly half of all FN-49s produced were actually ...
2023-10-20 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Zastava M51 is a prototype Yugoslav submachine gun developed before the adoption of the M56. It uses elements of the Beretta M38 (namely the captive recoil spring system) and PPSh-41 (the selector switch and magazine well) along with a collapsing stock reminiscent of the Polish PM63 machine pistol. Documentation on the M5...
2023-10-18 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
#1: The AK is copied from the Sturmgewehr
#2: Mattel made M16s
#3: Chinese jackets in Korea stopped .30 Carbine rounds
0:00 Introduction and discussion on the Lynx Brutality match in Slovenia
0:28 Debunking and comparison of firearm myths: AK vs Sturmgewehr
3:11 The history and development of AK ...
2023-10-16 12:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Yesterday we looked at the history and mechanics of the South African Vektor SS-77 general purpose machine gun, and today I have it out at the range to do some shooting. It's really as nice of a gun as I had expected from taking it apart - controllable and comfortable to shoot. I would put this up against any of the best GPMG...
2023-10-14 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
In the 1970s, South Africa began looking for a domestic-production GMPG to replace its inventory of FN MAG machine guns. The MAG was an excellent weapon, but the ones in South Africa were getting old and worn out, and with the country under international embargo over Apartheid, new guns and parts were not available from FN. 2023-10-13 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
When the original Laugo Alien came out, it was designed with a grip angle rather steeper than a lot of people (including most Americans, it seems) preferred. In response, Laugo redesigned the grip to be more like a 1911, and made the whole grip assembly modular in the process. Original magazines are still compatible, but the ...
2023-10-11 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Interested in more pistols from the Chinese warlord era? Check out my book "Pistols of the Warlords", now in stock and shipping at:
https://www.headstamppublishing.com/chinese-pistols
One of the professional f...
2023-10-09 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
We just looked at the Rasheed (and it's Iraqi sibling the Baghdad) and today I'm taking it out to the monthly 2-Gun match. I'm pairing it with a United Arab Republic contract Browning High Power, and some period Egyptian camouflage. Fun! Unfortunately, the Rasheed gave me a number of malfunctions, and its tiny sights were def...
2023-10-07 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Like the smaller 105mm field gun, the Imperial Japanese Army essentially copied a French Schneider design for their 150mm howitzer, adopted in 1936 as the Type 96. It was produced by the Osaka Arsenal from 1936 until 1944, with about 600 being made in total. Capable of firing at extremely high angles, the Type 96 was a practi...
2023-10-06 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
In 1974, Iraq and Egypt were still on good relations, and Egypt sold Iraq a batch of 300 Rasheed carbines and the production tooling to manufacture them. Iraq quickly set up production and began making their own copy of the Rasheed in 1974 or 1975, named the "Baghdad". Production ran until 1978, with about 9,000 or 10,000 car...
2023-10-04 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The first version of the new MSBS "Grot" rifle purchased by the Polish government was actually a special version for ceremonial parade use. In order to make the gun suitable to that role, a surprising number of changes were made to it - almost every element is different than the standard service version. The stock is fixed an...
2023-10-02 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The fine folks at DSA had this rather mysterious MP5 in their reference collection, and we decided to take it out to the range to see if it would run. It's an MP-5, but chambered for .45ACP using altered M3 Grease Gun magazines. The original manufacturer is unclear; it's marked as being imported form Turkey, but does not appe...
2023-09-30 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I am out at the range with Matt Haught from Sym-Tac to test out our original WW1 Winchester 1897 Trench Gun with some original WW2 GI buckshot. While the US did buy some shotgun ammunition specially packaged for military use, the majority was simply commercial off-the-shelf ammunition stamped "US Property". We are using...
2023-09-29 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Egypt purchased tooling for the Swedish AG-42 Ljungman in 1952, and adapted it to their 8mm Mauser caliber as the Hakim rifle. Later, they scaled the rifle down to 7.62x39mm as the Rasheed, and manufactured about 7,300 of them between 1966 and 1968. These rifles were issued to the District Ward Reserve Army (essentially a Nat...
2023-09-27 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I took a few minutes at Finnish Brutality 2023 to chat with Derek, a former Range and SF medic who overcame some quite daunting personal challenges to come shoot the match despite stage 4 cancer. It was great to hang out with him at the match, and to take inspiration from his story!
2023-09-26 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Stanley Bull-Dog revolver is an English-production revolver which is marked as being "Hill's Patent". The gun uses an interesting simultaneous ejection system similar to the Fagnus - which one assume was the subject of Hill's aforementioned patent. The guns were made in a variety of configurations (blue, nickeled, various...
2023-09-25 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
We've all heard about how the Winchester 1897 is capable of slam fire, but is that really a useful feature? Or is it just a cost-saving safety hazard? Well, Matt Haught of Sym-Tac consulting and I are at the range today to find out...
2023-09-23 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
When France decided to adopt a new 9x19mm submachine gun after World War Two, all three of the main French arsenals (St Etienne/MAS, Chatellerault/MAC, and Tulle/MAT) developed designs to compete for adoption. Tulle would eventually win and their design became the MAT-49, but the other lines of development are quite interesti...
2023-09-20 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Authentic World War One 1897 trench guns will have:
Serial number between E613,000 and E705,000
High quality rust blue finish
Solid frame
20-inch cylinder bore barrel (with no bead)
Muzzle in lone with bayonet lug
Handguard with six rows of holes
Bayonet lug with a bead sight and eith...
2023-09-19 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
The Model 607 was Colt's first attempt at a carbine version of the AR-15 rifle, shortening both the barrel and stock. The action is identical to a standard AR, but the barrel is only 10 inches (254mm) long, and the stock uses a collapsing design unique to this model. Most examples used a small suppressor to reduce the very su...
2023-09-18 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI'm on my way to do some filming at the Morphy auction company this week, and I expect I will have some time to do another Q&A with John Keene, machine gun guru extraordinaire. What would you like to ask him?
2023-09-17 15:24:41 +0000 UTC View Post
We are going live now with a Q&A about the new streaming video app, History of Weapons and War. Hop in if you have any questions!
2023-09-17 00:57:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Courtesy of DSA, I'm out at the range today with a Vektor CR-21 to see just how it handles compared to a regular Galil...
2023-09-16 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
