ForgottenWeapons

Remote Brutality 2025: Burpees For Everyone! (Ad-free)

Grayman & Co Tailoring:

https://tidd.ly/3VFYqpp

Because of the scheduling of Finnish Brutality 2025 early this year and Finnish Brutality 2026 in late summer next year, there is a really drought of Finnish Brutality right now - so Varusteleka decided to hold a Remote Brutality. This is one rifle and one pistol stage that are designed for anyone to participate in from home. Everyone who joins in and sends a video o...

Larry Thorne Biography Part 2: Green Berets in Vietnam (Ad-free)

"Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne" by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne:

Törni/Thorne shirts & patches:

https://varusteleka.com/products/forgotten-weapons-lauri-torni-t-shirt-cotton

"Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne" by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne: 2025-10-04 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Lauri Törni Biography Part 1: Soldier of Three Armies (Ad-free)

"Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne" by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne:

Törni/Thorne shirts & patches:

https://varusteleka.com/products/forgotten-weapons-lauri-torni-t-shirt-cotton

"Born a Soldier: The Times and Life of Larry Thorne" by J. Michael Cleverley; recommended English language book on Thorne: 2025-10-03 11:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Bommarito: America’s First Toggle-Locked Battle Rifle (Ad-free)

Designed by Giuseppe Bommarito, this was one of the many independent rifle designs submitted to the US War Department in the 1910s hoping fo

Designed by Giuseppe Bommarito, this was one of the many independent rifle designs submitted to the US War Department in the 1910s hoping for military adoption. It is a short recoil operated, toggle-locked system chambered for .30-06 and using detachable 20-round magazines. It was tested (without much success) at Springfield and remained in develop...

An Interesting Silenced Bulgarian Makarov (Ad-free)

Today we are taking a look at an interesting silenced Bulgarian Makarov with a mechanism added to lock the slide. This sort of feature is us

Today we are taking a look at an interesting silenced Bulgarian Makarov with a mechanism added to lock the slide. This sort of feature is usually thought of as a sneaky way to avoid ejecting brass and leaving it behind, but it actually serves a much more practical purpose. One of the loudest elements of a suppressed pistol firing subsonic ammunitio...

BUG Match: Serbu Super Shorty vs MIL Thunder 5 (Ad-free)

Today at the Back-Up Gun Match we have a showdown between shotguns. But not proper shotguns; oh no - we are using only tiny shotguns! Friend of the channel (and regular BUG Match enjoyer) Matt Haught from Symtac Consulting is shooting a Serbu Super Shorty and I am shooting a MIL Thunder Five (a .410 revolver). Matt has three rounds of 12ga 9-pellet buckshot and then can reload; I have 5 rounds of .410 3-pellet buckshot but no reload (it's a slow enough reload as to be impractical in a 30-seco...

Full Conceal M3D

Scheduled for October 18.

Hotchkiss Model 1886 3-pounder Quick Firing Gun (Ad-free)

Small fast boats with torpedos (or other explosives) have always been a threat to large warships. One of the weapons the British Royal Navy adopted to counter that threat was the Hotchkiss Model 1886 "Quick Fire" gun. This meant that it was a breech-loaded gun that used self-contained cartridge ammunition, instead of separate powder bags and projectiles. Mounted on a recoil-adsorbing soft mount with a wide range of movement and steep depression angle, guns like this could fire at small mobile...

M1918A2 MOR: How to Make a Non-NFA BAR (Ad-free)

Check out Headstamp Publishing's extensive catalog of excellent firearms books:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten

Prior to 1986, Group Industries imported BAR parts kits and then manufactured and registered full-auto receivers for them. This produced transferrable guns which were subject to NFA registration and the $200 transfer tax - which was a much more significant sum at...

Where I Shop for Clothes & Gear (and why it's Varusteleka) (Ad-free)

I've been wearing Varusteleka clothing in my daily life and using their military kit for many years now, because t'swell made, high quality, and comfortable. They very much fit the Nordic stereotype of "buy once, cry once" and making things that will last a lifetime. They have just recently relaunched a new web store, which you should check out:

https://varusteleka.com/

And hey, if you are interested in some good For...

Hovea M44: Husqvarna Makes a Submachine Gun (Ad-free)

The Hovea M44 was tested by the Danish and Swedish militaries in 1945, competing agains the Carl Gustaf M45. It was designed and produced by

The Hovea M44 was tested by the Danish and Swedish militaries in 1945, competing agains the Carl Gustaf M45. It was designed and produced by Husqvarna (yes, the chainsaw company) and just 10 of them were made for testing. It was designed around the Suomi quad-stack magazine, which was also originally a Swedish design. Sweden chose the Carl Gustaf, ...

September 2025 Q&A: All About Battle Rifles (Ad-free)

NATO Battle Rifles book:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/cold-war-battle

00:30 - What is a "battle rifle"?

03:02 - What is the specific definition of "full power cartridge"?

07:59 - Will the US 6.8x51 lead to more widespread battle rifle adoption?

10:54 - Full auto practicality in battle rifles (w/ FRTs and such)

12:40 - Favorite hypothetical boutique AR-10 chamb...

Prototype vz.38 "Nutcracker" in 9x19mm (Ad-free)

The Czechoslovakian military adopted the vz.38 pistol as a simple blowback action chambered for .380 ACP (well, the Czech military version of .380 ACP). Other countries were interested in other calibers though, and the factory looked at making the gun in 9x19mm Parabellum as well. They first tried a simple blowback version, but that was not satisfactory. So next they developed a locked breech model using a rotating barrel locking system. It also had several other features beyond the Czech pat...

FAMAS G1: Simplified for Export (Ad-free)

The FAMAS G1 was developed as a lower-cost option for FAMAS export sales. The original F1 model had been offered for international sale, but

The FAMAS G1 was developed as a lower-cost option for FAMAS export sales. The original F1 model had been offered for international sale, but it attracted little interest largely because of its high price. In response, GIAT created the G1 with many of the extra features left optional. This allowed them to reduce the price by up to 40%. Specific feat...

S.R.E.M.: Britain's Experimental WW2 Bullpup Sniper (Ad-free)

Want to know more about the S.R.E.M. and other British bullpup rifles? Check out Jonathan Ferguson's book on this subject, "Thorneycroft to SA80":

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/bullpup-rifle-book

The Sniper Rifle Experimental Model (S.R.E.M.) was designed by the "Czech Section" of small arms designers who had taken refuge in the UK to escape German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The...

French Marine Commando 2-Gun: CETME-B & MAC-50 (Ad-free)

There is a well-documented incident of the French intercepting a couple hundred CETME-B rifles being smuggled to the FLN in Algeria, and putting them into service with the Marine Commandos. I managed to get a CETME-B parts kit and have it built into a complete rifle (thanks, Parabellum Combat Systems!) and I figured that a 2-Gun match would be a good place to try it out, complete with French lizard camo and a MAC-50 pistol. And it turned out it performed great!

The CETME-B is a really n...

Czechoslovakian Flare Pistols: vz 44/67 and vz 44/81 (Ad-free)

In 1951, Czechoslovakia received the technical data package for the Soviet SPSh flare pistol. This was a simple single shot break-action 26.5mm signal flare launcher, and they put it into production from 1952 through 1958. However, it was made with mediocre materials and the guns wore out in as few a 1,000 rounds fired. In 1966 the CZ factory at Uhersky Brod began a program to improve the guns and make a new batch.

They improved the steel alloy used, enlarged the barrel pivot hinge, chr...

French Trials FN CAL: Adding Rifle Grenade Capability (Ad-free)

Check out Headstamp Publishing's extensive catalog of excellent books:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten

In the 1970s when the French Army was looking for a new rifle 5.56mm, they tested a number of foreign rifles alongside development the FAMAS at St Etienne. These included the HK33, the M16, and the FN CAL - and today we are looking at the FN CAL. It already had a four-pos...

Japanese Last-Ditch Pole Spear Bayonet (Ad-free)

Japanese bayonets followed the same trend of simplification as Arisaka rifles towards the end of World War Two, culminating in what is today called the "pole bayonet". Abandoning even the fittings to mount to a rifle, these bayonets were intended to be lashed to a pole to create a spear. The Japanese government did not have the military forces to pulse an American invasion of the home islands, and was actively planning to sacrifice millions of Japanese civilians in a hopeless defense, literal...

Steyr's New Modular Pistols: AT-C Competition and AT-D Defense (Ad-free)

Steyr has just released its first new handgun since the M9. This new design is call the AT (Austria), with a competition model (AT-C) and a service/carry/defense model (AT-D). The gun is a Browning short recoil system that takes a lot of cues from the original Sig P226 handling and design. In fact, part of the concept is to fill the market gap left by the shuttering of European Sig production. The AT series is a modular system, but unlike most such new releases it actually comes with a number...

September Q&A Question Request: Battle Rifles

Maybe this is too specific a subject, but let's give it a try. For the September Q&A, how about the topic of battle rifles...what would you like to ask?

SIG SP2009 & SP2022

Scheduled for October 3.

The Best Operational Briefcase: American 180 & Laser Sight (Ad-free)

The “American 180 Security Briefcase” is the best execution of the operational briefcase concept that I have yet seen. The idea is simple; hide a submachine gun inside an ordinary looking briefcase so that it can be carried in the open by VIP security without arousing attention. Sometimes this is done strictly for stowage (see the Uzi coming out of a Secret Service briefcase during the attempted Reagan assassination) and sometimes it is designed to fire from within the case (see the H&...

Knife-Gun Monday: Sigaud-Barnerias 5mm Pinfire (Ad-free)

Bommarito

Scheduled for October 1.

Registered Bolt vs Registered Receiver Uzis (Ad-free)

Most of the transferrable Uzis in the US are not factory original guns, but rather semi autos that were converted and registered as machine guns in the US before 1986 (when such activity was legal). There were several different ways to do this, with the two main ones being the registered bolt route and the registered receiver route. Today we are looking at what these different methods were, and what someone looking to get an Uzi ought to know about them.

M2 Carbine vs MP44 Sturmgewehr (w/ John Keene) (Ad-free)

Today we are considering two late World War Two rifles: the American M2 Carbine and the German MP-44 Sturmgewehr. Which would you take into combat? The Sturmgewehr is certainly iconic, with a more powerful cartridge, easy controllability, and a solid combat record. The M2 Carbine is much lighter and shorter, but often considered underpowered and difficult to control in full automatic fire. Which do you think is the better choice?

Webley .22 Target Model Mk IV Revolver (Ad-free)

Webley made a variety of .22 rimfire revolvers and revolver conversions for most of its history. Rimfire conversions were used by the military for reduced-cost training, and they were popular on the civilian market for sport and competition shooting. When Webley introduced its MkIV small-frame revolver, it was available in .38 and .32 caliber, and in 1932 they introduced a factory .22 rimfire model. It was intended specifically for target shooting, with a 6” barrel (the longest standard Web...

Potato Digger at War: Marlin Model 1917 Machine Gun (Ad-free)

John Browning’s first machine gun design was a gas operated system that used a swinging lever instead of a linear piston. He presented the first prototype to Colt in 1890, and it went into production in 1895. The US Navy bought a couple hundred, but the Army opted not to adopt it (much to Colt’s surprise). It was offered for sale internationally, but didn’t become very popular until World War One broke out.

By this time, Colt had improved it a bit with a finned detachable barrel, ...

"The World's Assault Rifles": Essential for any Firearms Library (Ad-free)

Available from Chipotle Publishing:

https://chipotlepublishing.com/product/the-worlds-assault-rifles/

I am often asked about what books someone interested in firearms should get. That's a really hard question to answer because most good books have a pretty narrow focus, but there are a few that are both wide in scope and deep in detail and "The World's Assault Rifles" is one...