Today we are taking the Remington M1903A4 out to the range for some shooting. This was the standard US sniper rifle during World War Two, and I'm curious to see how one actually handles...
2023-06-24 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Fabryka Broni originally dates to 1925, when it was set up as a factory to make small arms for the Polish military. It was occupied be German forces during World War Two and on the post-war Communist years it was designated Factory 11 - it's products are identified by an oval around the number 11. It reverted to a state-owned metalworks company in 1990, but went bankrupt in 2000 and was taken over by a private concern. It is currently under private ownership and produces the MSBS Grot for the...
2023-06-23 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEdit: Thanks for all the questions! We just finished the interview, and it turned into over two hours in two separate sessions. I'll get the first one posted promptly; I think you guys will really enjoy them!
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On Friday I'm going to be interviewing a fellow who fought in Iraq with the US military, and then with the Peshmerga a few years ago and recently in Ukraine. Anything particular questions or topics you would like to have me ask him about?
2023-06-21 22:00:23 +0000 UTC View Post
When Estonia declared independence from Russia in 1918, it had no formal military. After winning a 2-year War of Independence, the nation needed to set up its own armed forces. The rifles available in Estonia were a mix of Mosin Nagants, Arisakas, Pattern 1914 Enfields, and German Mausers. The most common were the Mosins, and Mosins would form the bulk of Estonian arms until World War Two.
The initial Estonian military work was to refurbish, repair, and clean the Mosins it had, which re...
2023-06-21 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm joined today by Jari, the CEO of Varusteleka to talk about one of the pieces of gear we both used in Lynx Brutality: Varusteleka's new Low Visibility Plate Carrier. It's designed to keep the shoulder straps tight in toward the neck and minimize weight, bulk, and profile - and it worked very well for both of us!
https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/sarma-tst-lvpc-plate-...
2023-06-20 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Today we are taking a look at a German G1 pattern FAL. The initial purchased of the G1 were actual made by the German Border Guard (the Bundesgrenschutz). In the aftermath of World War Two, the western Allies decided to perpetually disarm Germany, and German security was provided by French, British, and American forces. As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, that attitude softened - West Germany was on the front lines of the Cold War, and could be a valuable ally against Communism in the Eas...
2023-06-19 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Thanks to Creedmoor Sports for sponsoring this video, and providing a couple of fine shooting mats to experiment with. Check them out for all your long range competition needs!
https://www.creedmoorsports.com
The Ultima Ratio was the rifle that created PGM Precision as a company. It originated with a tender for a new sniper rifle by RAID (Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion), a French Police inter...
2023-06-17 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I'm visiting the Solomon Islands War Memorial Museum in Honiara (the capital city on Guadalcanal). This is a private museum run by two brothers on the island, and it is filled to the brim with artifacts recovered from the jungles and battlefields, both American and Japanese. From Coke bottles to 20mm cannons, everything conceivable off a battlefield is represented here, including some really interesting items you might not expect. A few things that stuck out to me include:
- WW1 V...
2023-06-16 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The United States Army entered World War Two with neither sniper rifles nor a sniper training program. As troops began to see combat, requests began to come back to the War Department that both were urgently needed. The newly-adopted dM1 Garand rifle was going to be a bit tricky to mount optics on, so while that program began a contract was made with Remington to product a scoped version of the M1903A3 Springfield rifles. This was designated the M1903A4, and it would serve as the US Army's st...
2023-06-14 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Continuing our look at the French submachine gun designs from the Chatellerault Arsenal, today we have the MAC48 and MAC48LS (lightened and simplified). In the development program that would eventually lead to adoption of the MAT-49, Chatellerault began with a couple of very light delayed blowback designs in 1947 (https://youtu.be/btyGG2wfwoY). When those were rejected, they turned to a style of gun more influenced by the St...
2023-06-12 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
It's time for Lynx Brutality 2023! Polenar Tactical presented this match again at the Lynx Pro Training Center in Slovenia, and they outdid themselves. It was a really excellent match, with both great physical challenges and good shooting challenges, well run and with a group of shooters who were uniformly fun and friendly.
I ran this year with a low-profile sort of rig - Varusteleka's new Low Visibility Plate Carrier, elastic cummerbund magazine pouches, an Arex Delta L pistol b...
2023-06-09 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Day Two at Polenar Tactical's 2023 Lynx Brutality! My Arex Delta L and Perun X16 continue to run flawlessly in today's final five stages. Despite making plenty of mistakes today, I ended up placing 27th overall, which I'm quite happy about.
Thanks to Sellier & Bellot for supplying ammunition, and all the other sponsors who made the match possible!
2023-06-09 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
The MG 08/18 was developed at the very end of World War One as a lighter alternative to the MG 08/15. It used an air-cooled barrel, and between not needing water and having lighter parts it managed to be about 6 pounds less weight than the 08/15. Only a few hundred appear to have been produced before the end of the war, and they were not used by the German military during the Weimar era (the Mg 08/15 was). The 08/18 barrel jacket served as the basis for the MG34 barrel shroud, interestingly.<...
2023-06-07 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Chang Feng is named for the company that developed it, the Chongqing Chang Feng Company Ltd in (you guessed it) Chongqing. It was designed by one Qing Shangsheng, who had ample prior firearms design experience (including the Type 64 and 67 pistols and Type 80 SMG). The design is based around a helical magazine inspired by the Russian Bizon and the American Calico. Early patterns used the magazine as a buttstock, but it was moved up on top of the weapon. The early versions were also chambe...
2023-06-05 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Finns developed several difference scopes rifles in the 1930s, but none were made in large quantities, and they were not really much used during the Winter War or Continuation War. The first post-war consideration was given to a new model in 1954, but that led instead to a decision to make a competition version of the M28 rifle using nice diopter sights; the M28/57. These were later modified by cutting down their stocks to be better biathlon rifles...up until international biathlon moved ...
2023-06-03 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Star introduced their first compact tilting-barrel pistol (the Model D) in 1922. The Spanish military was interested in something along these lines, but the Model D was intended to be a civilian pocket-carry gun, and was just too small for military use. What was needed was something still compact, but with a full-size grip - a gun that could serve as a pilot's emergency pistol, for instance. Star developed this as the Model S, still chambered for the .380ACP cartridge, but with an 8-round cap...
2023-06-02 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
In the early 1970s, Poland wanted to replace their 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov rifles. The Soviet Union was developing the 5.45mm AK-74, but the Poles wanted to make a more ambitious advance in small arms systems. They launched Project Lantan (Polish small arms programs were code named after minerals and periodic table elements). The plan was to create a modular system similar in concept to the Stoner 63 - a single universal receiver that could be fitted with different components to create variety ...
2023-05-31 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government helped smuggle arms to potential revolutionaries in Russia, in hopes of provoking a domestic crisis that would divert Russia military force form the war. This included a plot to buy many thousands of surplus Vetterli rifles (as well as C96 Mausers, Webley revolvers, and a few other odds and ends) and ship them to St Petersburg. The Japanese provided the freighter SS John Grafton , and it loaded up the weapons in Copenhagen.
Th...
2023-05-29 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
When the Slovenian Army decided to adopt a new infantry rifle in the mid-2000s, the Arex Defense company decided to submit the F-2000 into the trials. The H&K G36 was widely expected to be the winner, but Arex had already been involved in making F2000 parts as a subcontractor for FN, and wanted a chance at a domestic-production rifle for Slovenia.
The one major hurdle was that the Army tender required the rifle to have a carry handle, which the F2000 does not. At the request ...
2023-05-27 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN!
https://go.getenteredtowin.com/forgottenweapons
DEADLINE to ENTER is TONIGHT 05/26/23 @ 11:59pm (PST).
We regularly see the MP43/44/StG44 portrayed with an optical sight (a ZF-4). But was this really something that the German Army actually issued? Well, in a word...no. The first iteration of the Sturmgewehr, the MKb-42(H), w...
2023-05-26 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Lots of people put together significant gun collections over a lifetime, and want to see those collections preserved after they pass. This often manifests as looking for a museum that will keep a collection intact and display it - which is unfortunately a nearly impossible goal.
First, it is very rare to find a museum whose mission matches the collection focus of a specific private collection. Firearms cover a vast amount of history even firearms-specific museums are usually fairly narr...
2023-05-24 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Llama M82 was adopted as the new Spanish Army service pistol to replace aging Star Model B pistols. The design of the side is mechanically almost identical to a Beretta 92, while the frame and controls include a lot of DNA from the commercial Llama Omni. It was adopted in 1986, with the first military deliveries taking place in 1987.
2023-05-22 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
In 1962, Remington tried to exploit the popularity of pop-culture cowboys by introducing a lever-action version of its of its Nylon 66 semiauto .22 rifle. This new model was the Nylon 76, named the "Trial Rider". It used the same faux-wood styled polymer frame as the Nylon 66, and was actually a pretty good rifle. It has a fast bolt throw and is very handy...but a proper cowboys-and-Indians rifle it is not. Little Johnny, it turned out, didn't really want to play Lucas McCain with a plastic R...
2023-05-20 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
In the 1950s, Remington decided that it needed an inexpensive new .22 self-loading rifle to add to its catalog. In looking at how to reduce the cost of such a rifle, they hit upon the idea of using polymer to replace the wooden furniture typically used - and to replace the metal receiver as well. Remington was owned by DuPont at the time, and DuPont had developed an excellent strong polymer which they called "Nylon" - specifically, Nylon composition number 66.
Remington eng...
2023-05-19 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Special European shipping:
https://www.headstampbook.com/ww2-usa
For the preorder of "Small Arms of World War Two: United States", we have arranged a European contact where we can delivery books in bulk direct from the printer and then ship them to customers form within the EU. Specifically, books will be shipping form France. This allows us to dramatically reduce out European shipping rates - it will no...
2023-05-19 07:10:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Available now for preorder!
https://www.headstamppublishing.com/ww2-usa
Small Arms of WWII: United States of America is the first in Headstamp Publishing’s newest book series covering the myriad of weapons developed and fielded around the globe by the various participants in the Second World War.
This book series blends fresh historical commentary and beautiful photography to give readers a...
2023-05-18 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Enter to win this legendary PTR44 Sturmgewehr!
https://go.getenteredtowin.com/forgottenweapons
Deadline to enter is 05/26/23 @11:59 PM PST
Today I'm taking the PTR-44 Sturmgewehr out to the local 2-Gun match. I'm excited to get a chance to run it in a competitive environment - I have shot some original StGs, but only on very basic flat ranges. This should be a much mo...
2023-05-17 22:48:59 +0000 UTC View PostThere are three meetups that will happen on my trip to Lynx Brutality...
1: Zagreb, Sunday May 21st at the Vintage Industrial Bar at Savska Cesta 160, 10000, Zagreb from 1800-2000 (6pm-8pm). This is a Patron-only meetup, plus some cool local gun folks who will be joining us.
2: Lynx Pro Training Center, Slovenia Saturday and Sunday May 27th and 28th. This is Lynx Brutality itself, and there is a gun show/expo taking place alongside the match, open to spectators. I will be ru...
2023-05-15 16:14:33 +0000 UTC View Post
The British Sterling firm designed the SAR-80 (specifically, their engineer Frank Waters) as a very simple rifle to sell to countries outside the main NATO/Warsaw spheres of influence. Sterling ended up getting a license to produce the AR-18 though, and didn't put Water's design into production.
When the newly formed Chartered Industries of Singapore came looking for a rifle to produce, the SAR-80 design was a chance for Sterling to sell a production license. CIS needed som...
2023-05-15 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post