ForgottenWeapons

The US Adopts A Maxim: The Colt Model 1904 (Ad-free)

The US Army spent nearly 16 years languidly testing the Maxim gun, but was never willing to actually make a decision until a final trial in 1903 finally settled the matter. The Maxim was deemed the bet available machine gun and a contract was signed with Vickers, Sons, & Maxim to purchase 50 (later increased to 90). Eventually a total of 287 were procured; 90 from VSM and a further 197 made by Colt in the US. The first British guns were chambered for .30-03, with the Colts all made for th...

German Troop Trials "Push-Button" Gewehr 41(W) (Ad-free)

When the German Army wanted a new semiauto service rifle in 1941, it received submissions from two companies; Walther and Mauser. Walther’s design didn’t strictly meet the criteria set forth, but it was clearly the better rifle and would eventually win the competition. This involved conducting troop trials, and Walther got an initial contract for 5,000 rifles for those trials. That first batch of rifles differed in several ways from the version that was ultimately put into mass production...

M240 Bravo: America Replaces the M60 (Ad-free)

In 1977, the US military adopted the FN MAG as the M240 in vehicular configuration to replace the less-than-successful M73/M219 machine guns. The USMC would get an early start adapting the 240 to ground configuration (the M240G), but it wasn’t until 1995 that the Army formally replaced the M60 with the MAG in M240B layout. The M240B has a number of differences from the standard MAG:   

- Single-position gas regulator, giving about 600 RPM  

- Picatinny rail on the...

An Early .45 ACP Reising Model 50 at the Range (Ad-free)

The Reising was adopted by the US Marine Corps and used in campaigns through 1942 and early 1943, and it garnered a pretty poor reputation for reliability on the islands of the Pacific. However, it's a design with a number of advantages, including light weight, good accuracy, and soft shooting. It was excellent for use outside of front-line combat.

First to the Fight: The Marines' Reising M50 SMG (Ad-free)

Eugene Reising developed a .45 ACP submachine gun in the late 1930s that was basically the opposite of the Thompson - it was light and handy, fired from a closed bolt with a delayed blowback action, and was inexpensive to produce. Reising contracted with Harrington & Richardson to produce the gun, and when it entered the market in early 1940 it found immediate interest form the USMC. Looking initially to equip the Marine Paratroop Regiment (Paramarines), the Corps wanted a gun that was li...

Thompson SMG Cases: Police, FBI, and Secret Service (Ad-free)

The Auto Ordnance company made a couple different types of cases for the Thompson SMG, and today we are going to look at two of the most common and one exceptionally cool type. The two most typically found are the Police and FBI cases. Both other these hold the gun along with the detached stock, one drum, and four box magazines. The Police type has the drum and box mags separated for balance and was lined with purple velvet; the FBI cakes was generally blue velvet and had all the magazines on...

Belgian Gendarmerie FAL Parts Kits from FN America

Someone digging through the warehouses an FN in Herstal found 400 FAL rifles turned in by the Belgian Gendarmerie when they upgraded to newer arms...and they decided to send them to the US as parts kits. So FN America has these 400 kits now, and they are selling them off via lottery (free entry for a chance to purchase a kit). This is done to prevent them all from being bought up by speculators to flip on GunBroker, and I am happy FN chose to do it...check out FN America's web site for full d...

Futurama's Lee Lemon Runs the MDP-9 (feat. John McClane) (ad-free)

It's time for the annual Halloween PCC/shotgun match! By popular demand, I went as Futurama's Lee Lemon this year, with the Angstadt Arms MDP-9 PCC. Since the last time I was shooting it, I've gotten a replacement bolt hold-open to hopefully fix the failures to lock open, and a Wilson Combat "Tactical Trigger Unit" to replace the stock FCG. That new trigger is really good, but unfortunately the replacement hold open actually made things worse - I had several times when the bolt locked open on...

Beretta 38/42 at the Range (Ad-free)

The pre-war Beretta Model 38A was a magnificent SMG, but it included a fair number of fancy elements that would prove to costly to justify once wartime production needs grew. Beretta would simplify the design progressively over the course of the war. What we have today is a Model 38/42 with a much simpler fixed-firing-pin bolt and a smooth barrel without jacket.   

Is the 38/42 as nice to use as the original 38A? In my opinion, no - but it's pretty close. The Beretta 38 family...

Beretta 38/42: Simplified But Still Excellent (Ad-free)

The Beretta Model 38A was an outstanding SMG at the beginning of World War Two, loaded with features and very easy to shoot. However, it was expensive and complex to produce, and pressures of war forced Beretta to progressively simplify its construction. This happened incrementally, but the most obvious set of changes was the adoption of the Model 38/42 pattern. This involved shortening the stock and removing the magazine cover and the barrel shroud. A series of different barrel and bolt asse...

Water-Cooled .50s: The US Navy Mk22 Pedestal Mount (Ad-free)

In 1942, the US Navy adopted the Mk22 Pedestal mount, which fitted a pair of water-cooled Browning M2 machine guns (one left-hand feed and one right-hand). It was used for antiaircraft use primarily, and was also adopted by the Army as the M46 in 1943. The mount was an update to the previous single-gun MK21.   

The gunner was protected by a 3/8” (9.5mm) hardened steel shield, and the mount could rotate a full 360 degrees, with elevation from -10 degrees to 80 degrees. They w...

Rogers & Spencer .44 Army: Possibly the Best Civil War Revolver (Ad-free)

Amos Rogers and Julius Spencer ran a company making mostly farm equipment in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1859, they took on a firearms manufacturing contract (as mechanical fabrication companies often do) to make Pettengill revolvers. The Pettengill was not a fantastic design, but it was good enough that after the Civil War broke out, the Union gave Rogers & Spencer a contract to make 5,000 of them and also 25,000 standard muskets. The musket production went well, although the revolvers had p...

USMC Johnson LMG at the Range (Ad-free)

The Johnson LMG was adopted by the US Marine Corps for specialist units like Paramarines and Raiders, and saw use in some of the fiercest island campaign of the Pacific (in addition to use in Europe by the 1st Special Service Force and others). It was a light and hard-hitting weapon that was well-liked by the men who used it. I've been wanting to try one for a while, and this was a great opportunity to do so.  

While the Johnson is light and handy compared to similar arms like the ...

Forgotten Web Gear: Johnson LMG Magazine Backpack (Ad-free)

While the Johnson LMG was issued in limited quantities throughout World War Two, notably to Marine Raiders, Paramarines, and the 1st Special Service Force, the US never issued web gear made for its uniquely-sized magazines. However, a small number of 12-magazine backpacks for the Johnson did find their way into US service, probably originally made for the Dutch East Indies Army.

Late-Production Degtyarev PPD 34/38 at the Range (Ad-free)

A crash program to produce the PPD 34/38 after the initial battles of the Winter War, even as the improved PPD 40 was being rapidly developed. These are very rare gun today, and we have the chance to take the example out to the range and see how it handles...

The Soviet Union Adopts an SMG: Degtyarev's PPD-34/38 (Ad-free)

The Soviet Union adopted its first submachine gun in 1935 after trials of some 14 different design in 1932/33. The winner of the trials was Vasily Degtyarev, once of the Soviet Union’s most prolific firearms designers. His model 1934 was a simple blowback gun reminiscent of the MP-28,II albeit with different trigger and magazine systems. The PPD34 und a 25-round box magazine, chambered for 7.62x25mm Tokarev. It was put into slow production, with just 3,300 or so produced by the end of 1938....

Colt Model 621: An Attempt at an AR-Style Export SAW (Ad-free)

During the 1970s and 1980s, Colt wanted to sell not just standard M16 rifle and CAR-15 carbines to foreign military customers, but also wanted to supply support weapons. They put together the Model 621, aka M16A1 “HBAR” (Heavy Barreled Assault Rifle - not the same idea and the HBAR target rifles much more commonly seen) as a sort of LMG sister to the M16A1 rifle. It was essentially the exact same idea as the RPK - a support machine gun with parts interchangeability and identical handling ...

Older Gun With Newer Ammo: A Centerfire Winchester 1866 (Ad-free)

The Winchester 1866 was chambered for the .44 Henry rimfire cartridge, like the Henry rifle before it. Before too long, however, centerfire ammunition began to take over as the best and most common type of cartridge. The Model 1866 continued to sell for decades, but some buyers wanted to use centerfire ammunition in them. A centerfire version of the .44 Henry was developed, and conversions of the 1866 were done by both the Winchester factory and professional gunsmiths. Mechanically, the chang...

Valmet M76: Finland's Stamped Receiver AK (Ad-free)

Finland adopted the AK in 1962, as the m/62 - a milled receiver pattern. By the late 1960s the Valmet factory was experimenting with stamped receiver design to reduce costs. The first stamped Valmet rifle was the m/71, which used forward-mounted open sights like a regular AK instead of rear-mounted aperture sights. The m/71 was rejected by the military, and so Valmet put the stamped receiver into its m/62 instead. This was approved for military used a the m/62-76 in 1976 and production began ...

Remington 1890: A Half-Hearted Attempt to Dethrone the Colt SAA (Ad-free)

In 1886, the Remington company fell into financial insolvency. It was reorganized as the Remington Arm Co under the leadership of Marcellus Hartley, and in 1890 the company made an attempt to compete once again with Colt. Remington introduced the Model 1890, which was essentially their tried-and-true Model 1875 revolver reimagined a bit to look more like a Colt SAA. Available in .44-40 with either a 5 3/4” or 7 1/2” barrel, the gun was a complete flop. Only 2,020 were made and sales laste...

Evolving the Cheek Pistol Concept: Calico M950 (Ad-free)

I have found the "cheek pistol" concept from Rhett Neumayer at Demonstrated Concepts to be pretty interesting. When I was thinking about what pistol designs might be suitable for this sort of use, the Calico M950 jumped out as a really neat candidate. It's a downward-ejecting design that doesn't have a external moving slide, and the magazine would make a very good cheek rest. So I talked my friends at Diamondback Tactical in Tucson, and voila! We have a Calico Cheek Pistol.  

I am ...

My Favorite Chinese Warlord Pistol: the Luger Grip Type (ad-free)

"Pistols of the Warlords" is available and shopping now from Headstamp Publishing:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/chinese-pistols

My favorite pattern of domestic Chinese pistol form he Warlord Era is the one I have termed the "Luger Grip Type". The Luger was not a very common pistol in this period in China, and it is rare to see elements of it copied on Chinese designs. This pattern, h...

Something Completely Different: Ian Tries Hákarl; Icelandic Fermented Shark (Ad-free)

On my recent trip to Finland for Finnish Brutality, I spent a few days first in Iceland, with my friend Dr. Jackson Crawford (https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford/). Some Icelandic gun videos are coming, but we also took a moment to try out one uniquely Icelandic foods, most notably hákarl (pronounced "how-cath"). This is arctic shark buried and fermented for several months, and it has a reputation for ...

MAC Model 1947 Prototype SMGs (Ad-free)

Immediately upon the liberation of France in 1944, the French military began a process of developing a whole new suite of small arms. As it applied to SMGs, the desire was for a design in 9mm Parabellum (no more 7.65mm French Long), with an emphasis on something light, handy, and foldable. All three of the French state arsenals (MAC, MAS, and MAT) developed designs to meet the requirement, and today we are looking at the first pair of offerings form Chatellerault (MAC). These are the 1947 pat...

How's It Made: A Giant Machine That Make MG Links (Ad-free)

When I got a tour of Arex Defense in Slovenia, one of the really neat things I saw (which I had not seen elsewhere before) was a machine for making MG links. It's a single really long piece of hardware where a spool of sheet steel goes in one end and hardened links plop out the other end, with just tempering and surface treating still needed. 

I thought it would be a cool subject for a short video, walking you through the process from one end to the other...enjoy!

Grendel SRT: KelTec SU-16 Meets Sako Hunting Rifle (ad-free)

George Kellgren is the brains behind KelTec and all their unorthodox designs. But before he formed KelTec, he created Grendel Inc, where he began his long career in the firearms industry. The first gun that Grendel brought to market was the SRT rifle, a Sako bolt action hunting rifle action mated with an underflowing polymer stock of Kellgren's design. The stock foreshadows the KelTec SU-16, but with lots of room for refinement.

The SRT was available in four calibers (.22-250, .243, .30...

VG45K: Rheinmetall's 8mm Kurz Volksgewehr (Ad-free)

As the end of World War Two loomed close, the German arms industry turned to a number of Volkssturm rifle designs. These were the crudest and simplest rifles that could be made to work with minimal time, labor, and raw materials. Most were bolt action rifles chambered for 8x57mm, like the Walther VG-1 - but in December 1944 a Rheinmetall design in 8x33mm was tested and approved.  

This design, designated the VG-3 by the military but also known as the VG45K by the company, was a sim...

Belgian Congo Force Publique FN49 Sniper (ad-free)

One of the rarest versions of the FN49 rifle is the Belgian Congo contract, made to equip the Force Publique there - the military force in the territory when it was a Belgian colony. A total of 2,795 of them were delivered (all actually AFN-49s, chambered for .30-06); 1,500 rifles in 1951, 1,100 more in 1952, and 185 scoped sniper models in 1954. Some of the standard rifles (including this particular one) were later scoped, though. They replaced Mauser Model 1930 bolt action rifles, but only ...

Ask Ian: Most Changed/Updated Rifle of the 20th Century? (Audio Only)

From Nick on Patreon:

"What small arm of the 20th century do you think got the most updates and changes from first production model to last? Was the effort worth it? Or should this country/company have adopted an entirely new design at some point before that last production?"

After initially jumping to the Mosin Nagant and then the Enfield, I realized that I think this really comes down to a question of AR vs AK. Both of those two rifles have been adapted and redesigned (updated a...

Ask Ian: Most Changed/Updated Rifle of the 20th Century? (ad-free)

From Nick on Patreon:

"What small arm of the 20th century do you think got the most updates and changes from first production model to last? Was the effort worth it? Or should this country/company have adopted an entirely new design at some point before that last production?"

After initially jumping to the Mosin Nagant and then the Enfield, I realized that I think this really comes down to a question of AR vs AK. Both of those two rifles have been adapted and redesigned (updated a...