ForgottenWeapons

Estonian M14 TP Sniper "Täitsa Paska" (Ad-free)

When Estonia took its independence in 1991, it had to form a new military essentially from scratch. Keeping the structure that existed before Soviet occupation in 1940, two separate forces were reinstituted. One was the Defense Forces - the formal Army, with a cadre of professional soldiers and annual classes of recruits serving their obligatory military service. They purchased Galil rifles from Israel as their primary infantry rifle. The other part of the Estonian armed forces was the Defens...

Virtual Tour of the Czech Army Museum in Prague (Ad-free)

I spent several days filming some fantastic Czech small arms with the VHU - the Czech Military History Institute. The Army Museum Žižkov is a part of the Institute, and they have a 3-story museum full of cool exhibits open to the public in Prague.If you have a chance to visit, it's definitely worth the time!

You can find all of their details (including their aviation and armor museums) here:

https://www...

BUG Match: Guns of James Bond

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/licensed-troubleshooter?ref=2al11o 

Licensed Troubleshooter: The Guns of James Bond is live on Kickstarter now - check it out for lots of super cool exclusive options!

Today my friend Tom joins me at the BackUp Gun (BUG) Match for a bunch of James Bond guns. We tried a new match division this month called Wil...

Sig P230JP: A Special Pistol for the Japanese Police (Ad-free)

The Japanese national police decided to replace their old Model 60 S&W revolvers in 1995. While traditionalist elements liked the use of a non-threatening compact revolver, others advocated for a modern sidearm - essentially a semiautomatic service pistol. Trials took place in 1995, and the SIG P230 in .32ACP was a compromise choice - semiautomatic, but compact.

The version of the P230 that SIG Germany submitted to these trials had a couple unique features. Namely a manual sa...

Steyr-Solothurn S2-200

Scheduled for September 23.

Announcing "Licensed Troubleshooter: The Guns of James Bond"!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/licensed-troubleshooter?ref=8r616s

Now available to preorder on Kickstarter, "Licensed Troubleshooter: The Guns of James Bond" is a celebration of the most fascinating small arms wielded by one of the world’s most acclaimed action heroes, 007. This in-depth analysis spans the entire collection of Bond films and the nov...

Black Hawk Down: Randy Shughart's M14 (Ad-free)

Sergeant Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were both awarded posthumous Congressional Medals of Honor for their actions in Mogadishu in October 1993. As portrayed in the film "Black Hawk Down", the two Delta Force men volunteered (demanded, really) to be dropped onto the wreck of Super 6-4 alone to defend it against a huge number of Somalis, with no idea when backup might arrive. Because of their heroism, pilot Mike Durant survived to make it home.

The Delta Force operators in Task Force R...

The New CZ Bren 3: What Did They Change? (Ad-free)

From the Mauser bolt action to the AK and AR, all new military rifles take time to perfect. With the Bren 3, CZ is now on the third iteration of the Bren platform, having gone from the original 805 to the much-improved Bren 2 and now a collection of less obvious changes to create the Bren 3. These changes have been directed by combat use of the rifle in Ukraine as well as the lessons of mass production. The main changes are around durability, taking a good system and making it better - along ...

The RK 62 M3 Clone I Used for Finnish Brutality 2024 (Ad-free)

This year at Finnish Brutality 2024, I was able to use a semiauto clone of a Finnish military RK 62 M3 rifle. This is the latest upgrade to the Finnish issued RK 62 rifle. Starting in 2015, the Finnish Defense Forces began a program to update some of their stock of RK62s. The goal was to add optics and mounting capability for lights and lasers, as well as giving the rifles adjustable-length stocks to fit different shooters and armored gear. The first RK 62 M model did this with an optics side...

Balloons, Bombs, and Sandbags: Finnish Brutality 2024 Day 2 (Ad-free)

Finnish Brutality 2024 took the standard for practical shooting matches and raised it again - this was the best match that I have ever had the chance to shoot. Run by Varusteleka, a Finnish military and outdoor good supplier, it was ten stages of shooting over two days and took place a bit north of Helsinki. There were 235 competitors this year, and two thirds of them were in the Armored division, shooting with rifle plates and other gear (mandatory minimum of 26lb total). Of those, a third a...

The Best Match Ever: Finnish Brutality 2024 (Day 1) (Ad-free)

Finnish Brutality 2024 took the standard for practical shooting matches and raised it again - this was the best match that I have ever had the chance to shoot. Run by Varusteleka, a Finnish military and outdoor good supplier, it was ten stages of shooting over two days and took place a bit north of Helsinki. There were 235 competitors this year, and two thirds of them were in the Armored division, shooting with rifle plates and other gear (mandatory minimum of 26lb total). Of those, a third a...

HK21 or Portuguese m/968: The H&K G3 Grows into a Light Machine Gun (Ad-free)

When Heckler & Koch produced the iconic G3 rifle, it was intended to be a parts of a complete small arms package. The G3 was the infantry rifle, and it was paired with the MP% submachine gun and the HK21 light machine gun for a complete set of weapons with the same manual of arms and disassembly/maintenance procedures. The first client for H&K was the West German Bundeswehr, and they were not interested in the HK21 - they had the MG3 already and were quite happy with it. Instead, Port...

SR3 Vikhr: Russian 9x39mm PDW (Ad-free)

The SR-3 Vikhr is mechanically based on the AS-VAL and LSS Vintorex rifles, but built to be a very compact personal defensive weapon instead of a silenced rifle. Still chambered for 9x39, the Vikhr is intended for roles like executive protection, where the priority is being compact and concealable. With elements like a top-folding minimalist stock and vz.61 Skorpion-like charging handle, the original model of SR-3 Vikhr fits this role pretty well. The later SR-3M model moved to a more traditi...

Spanish JoLoAr One-Handed Pistol at the BUG Match (Ad-free)

Today for the monthly BackUp Gun Match I am using a Spanish JoLoAr pistol in .380 ACP. It's an interesting piece designed with a lever on the side that allows it to be cocked one-handed. It has no trigger guard or safety, a single-action-only firing mechanism, and a tip-up barrel. They were made in four different calibers, with .380 and 9mm Largo being the two most common. Check out my previous videos on the system here:

.380 - 2024-08-31 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Estonian R20L DMR Clone at the Range (Ad-free)

Today we are out at the range with a semiauto clone of the Estonian R20L "Rahe" designated marksman's rifle. These rifles are based on the LMT MARS-H platform, with a few tweaks requested by the Estonian Defense Forces (like the bayonet lug). While LMT has a commercial semiauto copy of the 5.56mm R20 (the "Estonian Reference Rifle"), they don't make a clone of the 7.62mm R20L - so I asked them to put this one together for Forgotten Weapons. I then kitted out the rifle as the Estonaians have, ...

Type 63: China Makes an AK/SKS Hybrid (Ad-free)

Starting in 1960, China ran a program to develop an infantry rifle that would combine the accuracy of the SKS with the firepower of the AK. The result was the Type 63, which used the general layout of the SKS along with its short stroke gas piston and an SKS-like fire control system (with fully automatic capability) in combination with an AK-like rotating bolt and a detachable AK-style magazine. The rifle performed well in trials, and as best as I can tell about a million were produced. Mass ...

wz.35: Poland's Remarkably Misunderstood Antitank Rifle (Ad-free)

In the 1930s, Poland decided to develop an anti-tank rifle, and the young designer Józef Maroszek came up with the winning system be scaling up a bolt action service rifle he had already drawn up. The project was kept very secret, out of concern that Germany or Russia would up-armor their tanks if the Polish rifle's existence and capabilities became known. This secrecy has led to a lot of misconceptions about the rifle today...

Interestingly, the ammunition for the wz.35 used a plain l...

Estonian R20L Designated Marksman's Rifle in 7.62x51mm (Ad-free)

Alongside their new 5.56mm R20 infantry rifles, Estonia has recently adopted the LMT 7.62x51mm MARS-H as its new designated marksman's rifle; the R20L. These rifles were part of a single rifle contract, with the vast majority of the rifles being the smaller 5.56mm ones. The larger 7.62mm rifles have basically all the same features (including bayonet lugs and select-fire trigger groups), but scaled up for the larger caliber. Initial batches were fitted with Vortex scopes, but more now are bein...

The Axe in Viking Age Iceland: Both Weapon and Tool (Ad-free)

While I was in Iceland, I had an opportunity to visit the National Museum of Iceland and take a look at a couple of historic axes found on the island. Since these are really outside my area of expertise, two experts generously offered to join me on the video to help explain the history and context of these swords. First we have Ármann Guðmundsson, an archaeologist with the Museum who can speak to the weapons of the time as they are found today. Second is Reynir Óskarsson, a Viking combat r...

H&K USC: Civilian Version of the UMP Submachine Gun (Ad-free)

Heckler & Koch introduced the UMP submachine gun as a successor to the MP5, with a particular focus on American law enforcement agencies (hence its initial development in .45 ACP). The UMP never has come close to the popularity of the MP5; it is a very basic polymer molded simple blowback SMG, albeit a hammer-fired, closed-bolt one. However, H&K did release a civilian version of it in semiautomatic only; the USC. These were initially made in a grey color like the SL-8, but demand was ...

WF-54: The Swiss FG-42 Scaled up to 7.5x55 (Ad-free)

After World War Two the Swiss needed a new self-loading military rifle to replace their K-31 bolt actions. Two major design tracks followed; one being a roller-delayed system based on the G3 at SIG and the other being a derivative of the German FG-42 at Waffenfabrik Bern. Bern, under the direction of Adolph Furrer, had been experimenting with intermediate cartridges since the 1920s, and they used this as a basis to develop an improved FG-42 using an intermediate cartridge (7.5x38mm). The prog...

Welrod .32 at the Range: British SOE's Silent Assassin's Pistol (Ad-free)

I had the chance to take a .32ACP Welrod MkII out to the range for a bit of shooting. These use a combination of baffles and rubber wipes, and the suppressor's effectiveness quickly drops from "fantastic" to merely "very good" after a few shots put a hole in the front wipe. This example already had 2 or 3 rounds through it when I started shooting, and the sound changed from a muffled thump to a more gunshot-like crack over the course of the 8 or so rounds I fired. In practice, this was really...

CZ's New P09 Nocturne: DA/SA Polymer Frame Now With Optics (Ad-free)

CZ has just released their new P09 Nocturne pistols, an update to the previous P07/P09 pairing. These guns fundamentally go back to the classic CZ-75. While that was (and still is) a very popular design, military and police tenders more recently have required more modern elements. So in 2007 the P07 Duty was released; essentially CZ75 mechanics with a modern look and a polymer frame. This was only offered as a compact model, until in 2009 the design was overhauled. At that point, the compact ...

R20 "Rahe" - Estonia Modernizes its Infantry Rifles (Ad-free)

In 2017, the Estonian military began the process of replacing its infantry rifles. At that time, the primary rifle in use was the Galil, which had been purchased from Israel shortly after Russian occupation ended and Estonia regained its independence in 1992. The Galils had made sense at the time, but now something more modern was desired. Specifically, a pairing of a 5.56mm infantry rifle and 7.62mm DMR rifle which shared the same basic platform. All of the major players in the firearms mark...

The Experimental SOE Welrod MkI Prototype (Ad-free)

The Welrod was a program to develop a silent assassination pistol for British SOE (Special Operations Executive) late in 1942. It needed to be chambered in the .32 ACP cartridge, be effective to a range of 15m, and have its firing not recognizable as a firearm at 50m distance. The project was led by Major Hugh Quentin Reeves, who developed much of SOE's inventory of gadgets.

The Welrod concept was ready in January 1943, and it was not quite the Welrod that we recognize today. This initi...

Hunting in Communist Romania: Nicolae Ceaușescu's Finnbear 61 (Ad-free)

Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled România through much of its communist period, from 1967 until 1989. Ceaușescu was a passionate hunter, and owned more than 100 firearms, mostly for hunting. These included some gifts from foreign dignitaries, but also plenty of more humble examples. Under his rule, conservation was actually fairly well done in Romania, and hunting was possible for the regular folk. Today we are taking a look at one of his personal rifles, a Sako Finnbear 61...

Thanks to MP Ar...

Kalthoff 30-Shot Flintlock: The First Repeating Firearm Used in War (1659) (Ad-free)

The first repeating rifle used in combat by a military force was a flintlock system developed by the Kalthoff brothers. It was adopted in the 1640s by the Danish Royal Guard, who purchased a bit more than 100 of the guns, and used them successfully in the Siege of Copenhagen in 1659. The Kalthoff is a .54 caliber flintlock rifle with a magazine of 30 balls under the barrel and a powder storage compartment in the buttstock. A lever under the action is rotated forward 180 degrees and then back ...

WF-51: A Swiss Intermediate-Cartridge Copy of the FG-42 (Ad-free)

After World War Two the Swiss needed a new self-loading military rifle to replace their K-31 bolt actions. Two major design tracks followed; one being a roller-delayed system based on the G3 at SIG and the other being a derivative of the German FG-42 at Waffenfabrik Bern. Bern, under the direction of Adolph Furrer, had been experimenting with intermediate cartridges since the 1920s, and they used this as a basis to develop an improved FG-42 using an intermediate cartridge (7.5x38mm). The prog...

Original US Military Machine Guns on the Civilian Market (w/ John Keene) (Ad-free)

Today Ian is back with NFA specialist John Keene of the Morphy Auction Company to talk about US military machine guns. Specifically, how intact and original examples end up in the civilian market. Some models, like the Reising, as very easy to find in completely original condition (almost hard not to, really). Others, like the belt-fed Browning 1917 and 1919 models are very rare in original condition, and are almost always found as parts kits built on newly-registered receivers. What drives t...

How Companies Bend US Import Laws (An Example) (Ad-free)

Part of the 1968 Gun Control Act in the US put restrictions on importation of small handguns. These rules intended to protect US manufacturers and prevent people from having access to particularly inexpensive and concealable firearms, and these rules remain in place today. In particular, revolvers with barrels less than 3" long are prohibited form importation. So how is it that we have Brazilian-made Taurus revolvers with 2" barrels (among many other examples)? Well, today we have a factory o...