ForgottenWeapons

SR-88A: Singapore's Final Evolution of the AR-18 (Ad-free)

Chartered Industries of Singapore was founded in 1967, and started making M16 rifles under license in 1970. These were sold to the Singaporean military as well as Thailand. To get out of their licensing agreement with Colt, the company purchased the rights to Frank Waters' the SAR-80 rifle, and then iterated that design to the SR-88 internally. The SR-88 was manufactured from 1988 until 1995, and the improved SR-88A was introduced in 1990 and manufactured until 2000. It was used by Singapore ...

Book Review: ERMA Erfurter Maschinenfabrik 1924–2003 (Three Volumes) (Ad-free)

Available from Schiffer Publishing as three separate volumes:

https://www.schiffermilitary.com/collections/military-new-releases/products/erma-erfurter-maschinenfabrik-1924-2003-vol-1

2025-01-19 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

PSA/H&R Clones the Department of Energy Colt 9mm SMG (Ad-free)

Palmetto State Armory, under their Harrington & Richardson brand, has released a particularly neat model of 9mm AR. They talked about doing this "at some point" at SHOT Show 2024, but lo and behold it's here and available on the cusp of SHOT 2025! Specifically, this is the Colt 633, an extra-short version of the Colt 9mm SMG. Originally released in 1985, Colt's 9mm adaptation of the AR/M16 platform was never hugely successful against competitors like the MP5. This particular model, with a...

PSA/H&R Clones the Department of Energy Colt 9mm SMG (Ad-free)

https://youtu.be/ZEb2o_RemVMPalmetto State Armory, under their Harrington & Richardson brand, has released a particularly neat model of 9mm AR. They talked about doing this "at some point" at SHOT Show 2024, but lo and behold it's here and available on the cusp of SHOT 2025! Specifically, this is the Colt 633, an extra-short version of the Colt 9mm SMG. Originally released in 1985, Colt's 9mm adaptation of t...

Rate of Fire: What Determines it and How to Change It (Ad-free)

What determines the rate of fire of a machine gun, and how can that rate of fire be determined or changed from a design perspective? Let's talk about pressure, mass, and distance...

Rate of Fire: What Determines it and How to Change It (Audio Only)

What determines the rate of fire of a machine gun, and how can that rate of fire be determined or changed from a design perspective? Let's talk about pressure, mass, and distance...

Praga I: A Blow-Forward Bullpup Semi-Auto-Selectable Vickers Gun (Ad-free)

The Praga I was the first machine gun design from noted Czech arms designed Vaclav Holek. Three examples were made for Czech military testing in 1922, but they were not acceptable. Instead, this design served as the first stepping stone to the eventual development of the ZB-26, perhaps the best of the interwar light machine guns.

Mechanically, the Praga I is largely based on the Vickers/Maxim system except with a locking wedge instead of a toggle joint. It also uses a forward-moving gas...

Aimpoint's New COA: Clever Optics Advancement (Ad-free)

Let me first mention something that I didn't cover in the video: what does "COA" stand for? Well, nothing. They just wanted a name that they could trademark that wasn't already in use. So go ahead and make up your own acronym.

It may be hard to see how a pistol red dot sight could be exciting, but if you're into this sort of the, the new Aimpoint COA has some really neat features. Specifically:

* Really excellent mounting system that fixed the problems of recoil lugs and screw hol...

BD-44: The New Semiauto Sturmgewehr from D-K Productions (Ad-free)

D-K Productions is a collaboration between the rGerman company Sport System Dittrich (SSD) and an American partner. SSD has been making reproductions of German World War Two small arms for something like 20 years - including Sturmgewehrs. Their guns are really good recreations of the 1940s originals, but there have long been issues importing them into the US. This was solved at last by forming a US company and doing the receiver manufacturing here in the States. While the company has plans to...

2-Gun: Dillinger Gang Special! Winchester 1907SL and M911 (Ad-free)

Yesterday we took a look at a reproduction of the Winchester 1907 Self Loader made for the Dillinger gang (and others) by Hyman Lebman. Today, I'm taking it out to a 2-gun match, paired with a Tisas M1911A1. Let's see how it'll do!

Lebman 1907SL Conversion video:

https://youtu.be/7q5JDX0CHag

Dillenger Gang's Winchester 1907 Self-Loader: The Lebman Conversion (Ad-free)

Hyman Lehman was a gunsmith in Texas who made a variant of firearms for some of the most notorious gangsters of the 1930s. One of his specialties was to take the Winchester Model 1907 Self-Loader and cut the barrel down, attach a Cutt's Compensator, and a Thompson gun vertical front grip on a replacement metal handguard. Dillinger's friend and compatriot Homer Van Meter was particularly fond of this sort of rifle.

When Dillinger was arrested in Tucson in January 1934, two of these rifle...

Steyr AUGs of the Falkland Islands Defense Force (Ad-free)

The Falkland Islands Defense Force is a small organization independent of the British military, run directly by the Falkland Islands government. When it decided to update its small arms form the L1A1 SLR (aka British FAL) in the early 1990s, the British assumed they would purchase the new L85A1 rifles. However, by that time the flaws in the L85 were pretty well known, and the Islanders exercised their independence and chose to adopt something different. After investigating a number of differe...

Q&A Question Request: WW2 British small arms

In an effort to make the Q&A videos a bit more focused, I'm going to give each one a specific theme going forward 9or at least, I'm going to give that a try). For January, that theme is small arms of WW2 Britain. What would you like to ask me on that subject?

You Can Copy Anything: Chinese Bolt Action M1 Carbine (Ad-free)

This is a copy of the M1 Carbine made in China late in the Chinese civil war - likely between 1945 and 1949. While there was an attempt at factory production of a true M1 Carbine copy in northern China later, this example is actually a bolt action which simply copies the look and handling of the M1 Carbine (and uses M1 Carbine magazines). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing exactly who made it or where, but we can see fake German markings as are typical of warlord-era pistols.

Development of the Uzi Family: Standard, Mini, and Micro (Ad-free)

The Uzi was originally designed in the 1950s, and it was on the technological cutting edge at the time. The stamped receiver, telescoping bolt, and compact magazine-in-grip layout made it an inexpensive and effective weapon. Its sedate 600 round/minute rate of fire helped as well, making it easy to shoot effectively. Uziel Gal experimented with a compact version at that time, but dropped the idea when he proved unable to make a smaller version with the same low rate of fire as the standard pa...

Q&A: The Falklands War of 1982 (Ad-free)

Want a patch or t-shirt with our adorably heavily armed rockhopper penguin? Both are available from Varusteleka:

https://www.varusteleka.com/en/search?q=penguin

Since I spent a couple weeks hiking across the Falklands and then visiting battlefields (and penguins), it seems reasonable to do a Q&A video about the place and the 1982 war there between Argentina and the UK. All the questions wer...

Field to Table: Harvesting, Butchering, and Preparing Wild Game w/ Outdoor Solutions (Ad-free)

You can get Outdoor Solutions' ebook and companion videos along with their whole upcoming class schedule at:

https://www.fromfieldtotable.com

My freezer is getting low, so it was time to refill it - and I chose to do that this year at one of Outdoor Solutions' "Field to Table" classes. Set up with hunting outfitters around the country, this is a class where a professional chef who is also a hunter is brought ...

How Is Ammunition Made? A Tour of Sellier & Bellot's Factory (Ad-free)

Today I am in Vlašim in the Czech Republic, where Sellier & Bellot has allowed me to film a tour of their ammunition plant. This is one of the largest ammo manufacturers in the world, and they start with basic raw material like lead, copper, and brass and ship out complete case ammunition. The machines involved in this process are really interesting - let's have a look!

In the Footsteps of 45 Commando: 60 Miles Across the Falklands (Ad-free)

Want a patch or t-shirt with our adorably heavily armed rockhopper penguin? Both are available from Varusteleka:

https://www.varusteleka.com/en/search?q=penguin

I was recently joined my friends Les Winner (Polaris Logistics) and Jari Laine (Varusteleka) for an epic trek across Eat Falkland in the footsteps of 45 Commando of the British Royal Marines. In 1982, the Marines landed to rebuff t...

Estonia's Much Better Sniper: the M14 TP2 (Ad-free)

The first Estonian sniper rifle built on the M14 was the "TP" - a very poorly done model with a lousy scope, worse mount, and unhelpful stock. These were made in 2000, and in 2008 a new iteration came out. This was the TP2, which now used a B&T mount, standard stock (with cheek riser), and excellent Schmidt & Bender PMII scope. The TP2 was still a rifle limited by the basic capabilities of the M14 platform, but it was far more effective than the original TP. It did see combat use with...

Modernizing Le Clairon: the FAMAS Valorise (Ad-free)

The FAMAS was the best bullpup rifle of its era, but it was a difficult platform to modernize with optics. In 1995, the "FELIN" (Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons INtégrés; Integrated Infantry Equipment and Communications) was commissioned to create a next-generation weapons platform for the French soldier. This used a computerized multi-function optic mounted to a lowered rails system and a control keypad on a new front grip on the rifle. Like the American Objective Force Warrior and ot...

ZB47: A Truly Weird Czech SMG (Ad-free)

The ZB47 was developed at Brno as a contender for Czech military submachine gun adoption in the late 1940s. The Czech Army had technically adopted a submachine gun prior to World War Two (the vz.38; video on that is coming a bit later) but production did not begin before the arrival of German troops. After the war, the Army was eager to add a submachine gun to its arsenal, and the vz.38 was no longer a practical option as it was chambered for the 9x17mm cartridge.

The ZB-47 is chambere...

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 6: Berdan II (Ad-free)

Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so much for the Trapdoor) makes them seem like a daunting prospect, but for a pretty simple investment in tools and time one can make up ammunition and have a lot of fun with rifles like this.

 That's the idea behind a new series here on ...

The End of the Mamba: A Tale of Manufacturing Incompetence (Ad-free)

The Mamba was a pistol that had a pretty decent design, but failed because of incompetent manufacturing. Today we are taking a look at a handful of surviving Mambas including the only know Green Mamba, courtesy of Val Forgett at Navy Arms. In addition, we have the minutes of a June 13, 1978 meeting of the whole Mamba team along with the senior Forgett and his factory manager. Those minutes really shed some light on why the project failed so badly. You can download the PDF and read them in ful...

P320 Flux Legion Raider at the Range (Ad-free)

Today I am taking the SIG P320 Flux Legion (aka the SIG Legion edition of the Flux Raider) out to the range. I'm a big fan of PDW systems, and the Raider is one of the best - in my opinion it is better than some purpose-built PDWs, much less other pistol chassis conversions. Anyway, I registered this one as an SBR and I am curious to try out the three different lengths of stock attachment that Flux makes for it. Let's see how they handle...

SIG P320 Flux Legion / Flux Raider: The Best Pistol-PDW System Yet (Ad-free)

The Flux Raider is a chassis system designed to turn the SIG P320 into a very compact PDW. The design concept began as a desire to improve the practical accuracy of a handgun by adding a collapsing stock while keeping the weapon holsterable. Flux' first product, circa 2019, was a spring-loaded stock that could be attached to the back of a Glock pistol. This had some clear shortcomings, and it led to development of the MP17 in 2020. This was a SIG chassis, something made feasible by the use of...

Daniel Defense H9: The Hudson Reborn and Completely Reengineered (Ad-free)

In 2017, Hudson released a new pistol that was the darling of the firearms industry. It purported to offer a radically low bore axis and 1911-style trigger in a striker-fired system that would be fast and simple to use.

In 2019, Hudson went bankrupt, out of money and having started to scavenge parts off returned pistols to fix other customers' broken guns. It was an ignominious end to a product with such potential.

About that same time, Daniel Defense was looking for a way to exp...

Moons Out 2025 Launch: Prepare Your NODs! (Ad-free)

https://practiscore.com/moons-out-25/register

Moons Out 2025 is a Brutality-style night vision rifle match. It consists of 10 stages physically and mentally challenging stages over two nights, all shot in the dark with night vision equipment (Gen 3 highly recommended).

For details on the Polenar Tactical events, check their site here: 2024-12-15 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Soviet Small Arms of WWII: Now Shipping! (Ad-free)

Now in stock and shipping! Order your copy here:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/ww2-soviet-union

Please note: we will do our best to get as many preorders as possible out before Christmas, but we cannot guarantee everyone's arrival date. New orders should not be expected to arrive before Christmas.

And if you have a copy of the US volume and would like a slipcase for it, you can...

Rhodesian Mamba at the Range: Will it Work? (Ad-free)

Today we are taking the Mamba out to the range to see just how badly (or how well) it works. This is one of the Mambas that was assembled in the US by Navy Arms - only a very small number of these went on the market before the whole project was abandoned.