ForgottenWeapons

SSG-98k: Austria Repurposes German Sniper Rifles (ad-free)

In the aftermath of World War Two, the Austrian Army was basically disarmed and disbanded. When it was allowed to reform in the 1950s, it needed new armaments, and in 1958 it adopted the SSG-98k as a new sniper's rifle. This replaced the leftover German K98k snipers that had been used by the small post-war Austrian police and border guard forces.  

Essentially, the SSG-98k was a surplus German Kar 98k Mauser with a new 7.62x51mm barrel (Austria was not a NATO member, but used the N...

Ian's Custom SIG P365 at the BackUp Gun Match (ad-free)

Yesterday over on Utreon we took a look at the design choices I made for my P365, and how I put it together with ModGuns (https://utreon.com/v/VXMSAFffTqK). Today, I've got it out at the BUG Match for a trial run! Let's see how it handles...

Building a Custom SIG P365 With ModGuns.com

https://utreon.com/v/VXMSAFffTqK

Today's video is about my project to build a custom SIG P365 at ModGuns (www.ModGuns.com). Like the P320, the P365 is built around a steel Fire Control Unit as the legal, serialized firearm. Everything else - barrels, grip frames, slides, etc - can be changed around like Legos. Now, there isn't as much aftermarket support for the P365 as the P320 (yet), but there are still some inte...

Ask Ian: Why So Few Reproduction Historic Guns? (Audio Only)

From Paul on Patreon:

"I’ve always thought there were a lot of older guns that deserve to be reproduced, many of which could be really simple to manufacture. PSA is planning the release of their StG44 repro which is exciting. But why don’t we see this sort of thing more often. I suppose not everyone in the firearms community is going to want this sort of thing, but I think there are a lot of guns that would sell well enough to justify their reproduction."

Fundamentally, we don...

Ask Ian: Why So Few Reproduction Historic Guns? (ad-free)

From Paul on Patreon:

"I’ve always thought there were a lot of older guns that deserve to be reproduced, many of which could be really simple to manufacture. PSA is planning the release of their StG44 repro which is exciting. But why don’t we see this sort of thing more often. I suppose not everyone in the firearms community is going to want this sort of thing, but I think there are a lot of guns that would sell well enough to justify their reproduction."

Fundamentally, we don...

Germany Adopts the PPSh in 9mm: the MP-41(r) (ad-free)

During World War Two, both he German and Russian soldiers often thought that the other side's weapons were better than their own. In particular, both sides often preferred their opponents' SMGs. In late 1941, a group of German officers formally requested that Germany simply copy and produce the PPSh-41. This led to the HWA formally studying the question of PPSh-41 vs MP-40...and they found that the German gun was better, but the Russian magazine was better.  

Naturally, as a result...

Apocrypha Feb 19, 2023: Diving Vacation

Almost immediately after getting home from filming at Morphys and photographing at Springfield Arsenal, I left for a weeklong vacation. I am currently on the Dutch Antilles island of Bonaire scuba diving. So, probably not much work is going to get done this week - but of course I have videos pre scheduled for you! :)

TCCC: Trauma Medicine for Military and Civilians w/ Archangel Dynamics (ad-free)

I recently spent a weekend taking a TCCC (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) course from Myles Francis at Archangel Dynamics. TCCC is a program originally developed by the Naval Special Warfare School to improve battlefield survivability by specifically modernizing immediate pre-evacuation care doctrine. Retrospective studies showed that a significant number of fatalities had been potentially savable, and three specific condition showed through in the data:

- Massive hemorrhage

- Bloc...

Roth Theodorovic Prototypes: From Very Awkward to Mostly Ungainly (ad-free)

Today we are going to take a looks at a series of six prototype Roth Theodorovic pistols. These were a design that competed in Austrian pistol trials around the turn of the century, and eventually lost out to the Roth Krnka (adopted as the Roth-Steyr M.7).

For details on the political background to these pistols, I recommend the C&Rsenal video on the M.7:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQTexxPSszU...

Darne Model 1933: An Economic & Modular Interwar MG (ad-free)

The Darne company was one of relatively few private arms manufacturers in France, best known for shotguns. During World War One they got into the machine gun trade, making licensed Lewis guns for the French air service. After making a few thousand of those, Regis Darne designed his own belt-fed machine gun in 1917. A large order was placed by the French military, but it was cancelled before production began because of the end of the war.

Darne continued to develop this design in the 192...

Arming God's Battalions: a Papal States Rolling Block (ad-free)

The Remington Rolling Block was a very popular rifle in the 1860s and 1870s, and probably would have been a better choice than the Trapdoor Springfield for the US military. But among the nations that did adopt is were the Papal States. While Vatican City is a tiny sovereign enclave today in Rome, in the 1800s the Pope directly controlled a much larger area, roughly the size of Switzerland early in the 1800s.

Three different models of Rolling Block were adopted by the Papal States in the...

Apocrypha: Behind the Scenes Feb 12, 2023

I've spent this week at the Morphy auction company in Pennsylvania, filming a whole series of videos for you guys. As usual, my main focus was on machine guns (including a Vollmer VMP-1930, a DShK-38, a Sten Mk4(S), and an MG-3) but also supplemented by antiques and C&R type arms. So I also covered a Short Land Pattern Brown Bess (marked to a regiment that was in the American War of Independence), a Confederate Tallassee carbine, and much more. I'm filming this from a hotel in Springfield...

Austrian Troop Training: Erma EL-24 .22 Kit for the Steyr M95 Carbine (ad-free)

The German company Erma (Erfurter Maschinenfabrik) developed a .22 rimfire kit for the Mauser 98 for the German Army in the 1920s. It was used for training, both to allow for more effective fundamental practice without the noise and recoil of full size cartridges but also to reduce ammunition cost of training and to allow the use of much smaller indoor training ranges that would not be safe to use with full-size ammunition. An Austrian military delegation saw these kits (designated the EL-24 ...

Felk TF919: Australia and Spain Team Up to Make a Lousy Pistol (ad-free)

Edward Felk was an Australian who decided to produce semiauto pistols in Australia. In 1994 he patented a couple features of his new design, and set about finding a way to produce it. He ended up subcontracting with Star of Spain to produce barrels and slides, while the polymer frames were produced in Australia. The Star parts were pretty well done, but the frames were fairly poor quality. The original translucent polymer magazines were also a problem; they tended to crack.  

The f...

Meetup: Springfield MA, Tuesday Feb 14

I am going to be spending some time next week at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, and have an evening free to do a meetup. So, I'll be at Student Prince  and the Fort (8 Fort Street Springfield, MA 01103) from 6pm until about 8pm (gotta get to bed early) on Tuesday the 14th. Come stop by, have a beer, and say hello if you are in the area!

Ask Ian: "Last Ditch" Rifles for World War III? (ad-free)

From Thunderchild on Patreon:

"How would you see a modern major nation (US, USSR/Russia, China, etc) simplify their small arms in a large scale war, WW3 or Cold War gone hot? You've mentioned in the past how most nations end up having to simplify to meet demands, so why not start simplified?"

The reason for simplified small arms is to increase production speed. During peacetime deployment of new arms, it generally doesn't really matter how long manufacturing takes, and enough...

Ask Ian: "Last Ditch" Rifles for World War III? (Audio Only)

From Thunderchild on Patreon:

"How would you see a modern major nation (US, USSR/Russia, China, etc) simplify their small arms in a large scale war, WW3 or Cold War gone hot? You've mentioned in the past how most nations end up having to simplify to meet demands, so why not start simplified?"

The reason for simplified small arms is to increase production speed. During peacetime deployment of new arms, it generally doesn't really matter how long manufacturing takes, and enough...

Chrysanthemums in the Snow: Finnish Arisaka Rifles (Ad-free)

When Finland took its independence, the most common type of firearms in the country was the Mosin Nagant - and the second most common was the Arisaka. An assortment of Type 30, Type 35, and Type 38 Arisaka rifles and carbines were left to the Finns by former Russian occupying soldiers. Where did they come from? Well, a few were captured by Russian during the Russo-Japanese War. But most of them were rifles purchased by the British from Japan early in World War One to free up scarce SMLE rifle...

Apocrypha: Behind the Scenes (February 5, 2023)

This week has been mostly preparing for a couple weeks of travel - I'll be going to Morphy's Auctions next week to film, and then on to Springfield Armory for some book photography after that. Both have some really cool stuff in store for me to work with. In addition:

 - Got a really gratifying letter from a Ukrainian Foreign Legionnaire

 - Brownells has big discounts on WWSD uppers and lowers

 - Did some collaborative filming with Administrative Results

February Q&A Questions?

I've got a couple slots for single-video Q&A questions in February, and I will be doing another supporter-only livestream Q&A next Sunday. So, what would you like to ask me?

AR57: Fun Times with a Tiny Carbine (aka FSS Hurricane) (ad-free)

Thanks to MagPul for sponsoring this video! I was happy to use one of their new Daka Grid rifle cases today - it's a very cool system that will be of great use for me both because of its modular configurability and its excellent security.

The AR-57 is a system developed by Rhineland Arms in the early 2000s which uses the FN P90 magazine (and its 5.7x28mm cartridge) in an AR upper. The magazine mounts on top of the barrel, and it ejects downward through what would normally be the AR maga...

Yugoslav M72: The Early Balkan RPK (ad-free)

When the Yugoslav Peoples' Army began AK development, they produced the M64 infantry rifle and the M65 support weapon. The M65 had a longer and heavier profile barrel and a bipod - and in its very early experimental iterations a quick-change barrel mechanism and a folding carry handle. By the time it entered regular service it was the M72, the carry handle was gone, and the barrel was fixed in place.  

The internal parts of the M72 were interchangeable with the standard M70 rifles,...

HS2000: The Perfected Croatian Pistol that Became the Springfield XD (ad-free)

With the HS95, Croatian manufacturer IM Metal (later to become HS Produkt) had learned how to effectively manufacture a good pistol. However, the design had some shortcomings and had not been accepted by Croatian police forces, nor had any commercial export contracts materialized. The company recognized that the way of the future was polymer framed, striker-fired pistols - so they set out to create just that.

Working with a variety of military and technical experts, they developed the p...

Romanian Orita Model 1941/48

The Orita SMG was designed by a Romanian Army Captian Marin Orita in 1941, and went into service in 1943. It was used primarily in Southern Europe in late WW2 with Romanian forces. It was a wood-stocked, simple blowback, 9x19mm weapon. As originally designed, the Model 1941 Orita was not drop-safe, and this was addressed in a 1948 upgrade program. That upgrade made a number of changes. It replaced the manual safety lever with a grip safety (which locked the bolt in place when not depressed, t...

Apocrypha: Behind the Scenes (January 29, 2023)

Normally I use these behind-the-scenes videos to talk about fun upcoming new projects, but this week you get a look at the YouTube sausage-making. By far the most overarching thing going on for the past week was YouTube's new rules and new rule interpretations, which have been causing consternation across the YouTube gun community. So let me give you the inside scoop, or at least the best information I have myself...

Edited to add: Iain Harrison's RecoilTV channel was just nuked this ev...

Steyr SSG-69

Scheduled for March 2.

Scrome J4F1: Scoping the FAMAS (ad-free)

The FAMAS was originally designed for iron sights only, as it predates the trend of issuing optics on standard infantry rifles (the marksman's rifle at the time of its development was the FR-F1). However, adaptations were made to mount optics, primarily the PGMP updated handguard, which locked more-or-less securely onto the barrel (the original handguard had no need to fit precisely) and had a proprietary mounting rail. While a variety of different optics saw field use (including EOTech and A...

HS95: Croatia Builds a Modern Pistol (ad-free)

The HS-95 was developed by HS Produkt to replace the PHP pistols. With the experience of producing many thousands of PHPs, the company had a much better understanding of how to design a pistol for production, which is immediately obvious in the HS95. It is a traditional tilting-barrel Browning action, with an external DA/SA hammer. It is largely copied from the Zastava CZ-99, but altered to look more like the SIG P229, and less Serbian (Serbia was not a particularly well-regarded country in C...

Bechowiec: Polish Teenager Makes a Resistance SMG (ad-free)

The Bechowiec (or Beha) is a fascinating SMG produced in small numbers in southern Poland under German occupation during World War Two. It was made for use by the Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasant Battalions) by a young man named Henryk Strąpoć.

Henryk built his first (quite illegal) gun at the age of 15 in 1937, and was promptly arrested for it. He avoided prison only on account of being a minor, and promised not to do it again. Well, at least he promised not to get caught again - he bui...

One Cartridge Two Zeros: SIG Romeo 9T (ad-free)

My full SHOT Show roundup is available for Patrons here:

https://youtu.be/u2wcd79nqsk

In its continuing effort to provide everything for the US military from shoelaces to fighter jets, SIG has developed an optic which resolves a challenge with .300 Blackout and other calibers which offer both supersonic and subsonic loadings. Namely, how does one zero an optic for such a rifle? SIG's answer was to build a red dot...