ForgottenWeapons

DSA's Unique Titanium FAL Project (Ad-Free)

DS Arms got some billet titanium and decided to make a batch of titanium receivers and other parts. This turned out to be a nightmarish amount of work, and two of the receivers had to be scrapped, leaving only 10 completed. They also made a number of other titanium parts, including flash hiders (which this rifle has) and gas blocks (which this one does not). Between the titanium and aluminum parts and the choice of a lightweight configuration, this FAL tips the scale at just UNDER 7.5 pounds ...

Haenel's Prototype Simplified Sturmgewehr StG45(H) (Ad-free)

In December 1944, the Haenel company received permission to produce a simplified version of the StG-44 Sturmgewehr. The idea was to keep the mechanical system and controls as similar as possible to the design in use, but simplify the design to reduce the cost and time of production. The design was never completed, and this is the only known surviving prototype. It was most likely captured by American forces when they occupied the Haenel factory in April 1945, although that is not documented. ...

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 11: The Snider-Enfield (Ad-free)

Full video with reloading segment available here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/ep-11-snider-app

Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so much for the Trapdoor) makes them seem...

ASAC Presentation: Bullet Strikes From the First Day of the American Revolution (Ad-free)

This lecture was presented at the Spring 2025 meeting of the American Society of Arms Collectors. It was given by Joel Bohy, coauthor of a new book of the same name, published by Mowbray. You can find his book here:

https://gunandswordcollector.com/product/bullet-strikes-american-revolution/

or

https:...

Q&A Question Request: Guns & YouTube

I am going to be shooting Lynx Brutality at the end of the month, and that means I'll be around folks from several other channels. Bloke and Chap form Bloke on the Range, the whole crew from Polenar Tactical, Calvin from Firepower United, and Print Shoot Repeat, in particular. If I have all of us in a room together, what would you like to ask?

Stamm-Saurer Model 1913 Long-Recoil Prototype Rifle (Ad-free)

Hans Stamm developed a series of firearms in Switzerland in the early 1900s, and today we are looking at a second-pattern Model 1913 semiauto rifle. This was developed while Stamm was working for the Saurer company, where he headed its small arms division. Stamm's Model 1907 straight pull rifle failed to win military adopted, and so in 1910 he began working on a quite complex long recoil system. The first prototype was finished in 1912, and by 1913 another seven examples were made.

The...

AK4: Sweden's Beefed-Up Take on the G3 (Ad-free)

Order your copy of Small Arms of the Cold War: Battle Rifles of NATO today:

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

Or if you are in Europe, please order through our European site:

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

When Sweden decided to replace its bolt action Mausers a...

Q&A: All About Submachine Guns (May 2025) (Ad-free)

Today's Q&A is brought to you by the fine folks at Patreon! Join us to help support Forgotten Weapons, get videos without ads, and to submit your questions for future Q&A videos:

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

This month's Q&A theme is submachine guns:

0:00:41 - Do different nationalities have culturally distinctive submachine guns or gun features?

0:04:25 - What was th...

Audio Only: Q&A - All About Submachine Guns (May 2025)

Today's Q&A is brought to you by the fine folks at Patreon! Join us to help support Forgotten Weapons, get videos without ads, and to submit your questions for future Q&A videos:

http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons

This month's Q&A theme is submachine guns:

0:00:41 - Do different nationalities have culturally distinctive submachine guns or gun features?

0:04:25 - What was th...

Beretta Model 1934: Italy's Unassuming Workhorse Service Pistol (Ad-free)

The Beretta Model 34 was basically the final iteration of a design by Tullio Marengoni that began all the way back in 1915. That pistol was updated in the early 1920s, and that one was updated in 1931. The Model 1931 was converted to .380 ACP (aka 9mm Short) as the Model 1932, which became the Model 1934 with the addition of a hammer half-cock notch and steel grip panel backing. Police and military contract began in 1935, with the Italian Army formally adopting it in 1936 and purchasing nearl...

Book Launch! Small Arms of the Cold War: Battle Rifles of NATO (Ad-free)

Glock 26: Glock's First Sub-Compact Pistol (Ad-free)

The Glock 26 was introduced in 1995 alongside the Glock 27. These were sub-compact pistols with 3.43 inch barrels chambered for 9x19mm (the 26) and .40 S&W (the 27). These were Glock's first foray into. the subcompact market, and they offered a compelling package. These were small, lighter than the all-metal options available at the time, had the simple operation of the other Glock pistols, and magazine compatibility with other Glocks. Introduced just after the magazine limitations of the...

A Thoughtful & Nuanced Take on SIG's P320 Nightmare (Audio Only)

Here's the video I did 2 years ago on this topic. I stand by my conclusions in that video, but with the caveat that it assumes the parts are all made to designed spec (I didn't think I would have to specify that...):

https://youtu.be/QusWrho19zE

So which camp am I in? "I found a way to stick it to a big company and now that's my entire personality" or "Look at these morons, SIG makes a flawless pistol!". Neither,...

A Thoughtful & Nuanced Take on SIG's P320 Nightmare (Ad-free)

Here's the video I did 2 years ago on this topic. I stand by my conclusions in that video, but with the caveat that it assumes the parts are all made to designed spec (I didn't think I would have to specify that...):

https://youtu.be/QusWrho19zE

So which camp am I in? "I found a way to stick it to a big company and now that's my entire personality" or "Look at these morons, SIG makes a flawless pistol!". Neither,...

Dutch Navy Luger: From World War One to the End of Neutrality (Ad-free)

The Dutch Navy first acquired Luger pistols in 1918 specifically for its aviators. They has 12 German P04 Lugers taken from a German submarine stranded in the (neutral) Netherlands, and 28 more were purchased from DWM in 1918 to round out the 40 guns needed to equip the Naval Air Service. The pistol was formally adopted as Automatische Pistool Nr.1. In 1928, the Dutch Army adopted the 1906 New Model Luger for its own service, and the Navy decided to update its revolvers at the same time. The ...

Fenian Needham Conversion: Just the Thing for Invading Canada (Ad-free)

The Fenian Brotherhood was formed in the US in 1858, a partner organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The groups were militant organizations looking to procure Irish independence from the British, and they found significant support among the Irish-American immigrant community. In November 1865 they purchased some 7500 1861 and 1863 pattern muskets left over from Civil War production, and used them to invade Canada in April 1866. The idea was to capture the country and then trade it...

Jennings 5-Shot Repeating Flintlock Pistol (Ad-free)

Isaiah Jennings patented an improvement to the Belton repeating flintlock system in 1821 - but we don’t know exactly what his idea was because the Patent Office lost his patent (and many others) in a large 1836 fire. Jennings' system was used by several gunsmiths, though. In 1828/9 the State of New York contracted to convert 521 of their muskets to Jennings'-pattern repeaters. We also have a few examples like this custom 5-shot pistol made by John Caswell of upstate New York.

Jennings...

MG38: Colt's Interwar Water-Cooled Machine Gun (Ad-free)

After World War One, Colt was the sole owner of license to produce Browning machine guns. With production tooling well established form the war, the company set about looking for international sales. The water cooled .30 caliber (the M1917 in US service, essentially) was designated the Model 1919 Automatic Machine Gun. In 1931, it was renamed the MG38, although basically the same gun as in 1919. It had a few distinctions from the US military pattern, including:

- Manual safety on the b...

P38K: The Real One, not the Nazi Fantasy Piece (Ad-free)

The P38K is both a fantasy WWII concept and also a real pistol made in small numbers by Walther in the 1970s. The idea is simple; just cut down the barrel on a P38 to barely in front of the slide (2.8 inches on the real ones). This does make for a shorter gun, although it retains the large frame and limited capacity of the standard P38, and it’s not really much more concealable than the original.

The real P38K went into preproduction in 1972, with several dozen guns made for Munich an...

Japanese 3-Barrel Palanquin Swivel-Breech Pistol (Ad-free)

This is a very rare style of Japanese matchlock, with three separate barrels on a revolving axis. It has all the design and decorative elements of a tanegashima musket, but built more as a self-defense piece for home or perhaps when traveling by palanquin. Think of it like the Edo-period Japanese equivalent of a Howdah pistol or coach gun. The barrels are approximately .40 caliber (~1.5 monme) and smoothbore. Each one has its own set of sights and priming pan and cover. They were held in plac...

"Howth" Mauser 1871: Irish Volunteers Gunrunning into Dublin (Ad-free)

On July 14th, 1914 the 50 foot pleasure yacht “Asgard” sailed into Howth harbor in Dublin with its cabin completely filled with arms. It has 900 Mauser 1871 rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition for the Irish Volunteers, and there is a crowd of a thousand people turned out to unload them - just daring the British authorities to try a crackdown. These rifles would ultimately become some of the most iconic weapons used in the 1916 Easter Rising.

Video on Ulster gunrunning:

2025-05-02 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Unique British Crankfire .58 Morse Manual Machine Gun (Ad-free)

This is a really interesting piece with a mostly unknown origin. It was manufactured in the UK (the barrel was deemed Enfield-made by former Royal Armouries curator Herb Woodend) and is chambered for the .58 Morse centerfire cartridge. The date of production is unknown. It uses a gravity-feed magazine and fires via hand crank. Turning the crank cycles the bolt forward and back, not completely unlike a Maxim gun but without the automatic operation. It cam out of a small Canadian museum in the ...

German Occupation FN High Power Pistols (Ad-free)

When Germany occupied Belgium in the summer of 1940, the took over the FN factory complex and ordered production of the High Power pistol to continue. It was put into German service as the Pistole 640(b), and nearly 325,000 of them were made between 1940 and 1944. The first ones were simply assembled from finished Belgian contact parts, and included all the features like shoulder stock slots and 500m tangent rear sights. As the war continued, however, production was simplified. The stock slot...

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 10: Model 1871/88 Beaumont-Vitali (Ad-free)

Full video with reloading segment and clip solid file available here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/ep-10-beaumont-vitali-app

Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so...

Type 79 SMG: China's MP7 At Home (Ad-free)

The Type 79 is an overly-complex submachine gun that uses a scaled-down AK operating system chambered for 7.62x25mm Tokarev. In many ways, this is akin to the H&K MP7 - it's a miniaturized combat rifle. The locked breech system allows the reciprocating parts to be arather lighter than a simple blowback design would be, but at the cost of cost and complexity. Is this really a good design? Well, you can judge for yourself - but don't forget that it was replaced only 6 years after its adopti...

Military-Issue Colt Model 1839 Paterson Revolving Rifle (Ad-free)

The first rifle made in Sam Colt’s Paterson NJ factory was the 1837 “ring lever” rifle. These were rather fragile and underpowered and while they were used successfully in the First Seminole War, they needed improvement. Colt set about doing this with his 1839 pattern, which was more robust and more powerful. It had six chambers of .525”, with much greater powder capacity than the first Colt revolving rifles. A total of about 950 were made before the Paterson company failed in 18...

Save the Date! Moons Out 2026: March 6-8

Mark your calendars; Moons Out 2026 will be March 6-8 at the Echo Valley Training Center, in WV. Practiscore registration will open December 1:

https://practiscore.com/moons-out-26/register

M1922 BAR Cavalry Light Machine Gun (Ad-free)

After World War One, there was a lot of tinkering with the BAR by the US military. It was recognized as being a very good platform, but the original M1918 configuration left a lot to be desired. It was deemed to heavy to use effectively form the shoulder, but also not really well suited to sustained fire. In an effort to optimize it for use as a dynamic support weapon by a small squad, the Infantry & Cavalry Board requested a model with a heavier barrel and lightweight bipod in 1920. Six ...

Ada Blackjack: Real History Vs Insulting AI Slop (Ad-free)

"Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic" by Jennifer Niven: https://amzn.to/42UBKpG

In the past couple days, I have had two people send me two different images, asking me to identify the odd rifles in them. Both were posted claiming to be Ada Blackjack, and Inuit woman who survived stranded alone on Wrangel Island for about 9 months in 1923. Both were actually AI-generated fake slop. This is particularly irr...

Model 1875 Officer's Pattern: The Finest Trapdoor Springfield (Ad-free)

As the main national armory, Springfield got a number of requests to make specialty rifles for commissioned officers and important dignitaries each year. These were essentially all custom sporting rifles, and the orders were duly filled. In 1875, however, the decision was made to standardize a formal pattern of Officer's rifle - the Model 1875. This was mechanically a standard Trapdoor Springfield, but made to a very high standard of fit and finish. They were given very nice wood for stocks, ...