Semiauto Rifles
Semiauto FG-42 at the Range: 1st and 2nd Patterns
Today we have both 1st and 2nd pattern semiauto FG-42s from SMG out at the range for some comparative shooting. Which is the better one to get?
Month: August 2023
Uncategorized
Romanian ZB-30 LMG: Improving the Already-Excellent ZB-26
Brno’s ZB-26 was one of the best light machine guns of the 1920s, and it was widely adopted by countries that did not have domestic arms design and production capacity (and it would eventually become […]
Submachine Guns
Pleter M91: Croatia’s High Quality STUzi
The Pleter M91 is a simple design, but a high-quality one that was manufactured by a proper factory production line. The company making it was planning on (hoping for?) large-scale production, and they invested to […]
Light MGs
AMELI: Spain’s Not-Mini-MG42 in 5.56mm
The AMELI (which is a contraction of “ametralladora ligera”, or light machine gun) was introduced by CETME in 1981, and adopted by the Spanish military as the MG82. It was a counterpart LMG to the […]
Modifications
Pacific Theater USMC-Modified Johnson M1941 Rifle
Johnson M1941 rifles were used in limited numbers by the US Marine Corps in the Pacific theater of World War Two, but they were used – and generally well liked. Interestingly, there was a fairly […]
Commentary
The Post-War Legacy of the FG42
If the FG-42 was such a great gun, then why didn’t it get used after the war? Well, two answers… 1) It was crazy expensive to make and there weren’t very many lying around for […]
Semiauto Rifles
Taiwan’s Retro Gas Piston AR: the Type 65
When Taiwan decided to move from the M14 platform (the Type 57 in Taiwanese service) to a 5.56mm rifle, they decided to develop a domestic gas-piston version of the AR. Development began in 1973, with […]
Competition
Ugly Pistol Day at the BUG Match: CZ38
For this month’s BackUp Gun Match, I decided to bring out the CZ38 – one of the top contenders for ugliest service pistol ever adopted. It’s a single-stack, double-action-only .380 with a weirdly bulky grip, […]
Semiauto pistol
Llama M87: Everything You Would Want for IPSC (at the time)
The Llama M87 was Gabilondo y Cia’s high-end competition pistols based on the M82 action, and made in both 9mm Parabellum and 7.65mm Parabellum. This was mechanically a copy of the Beretta 92 system, and […]
Select-fire Rifles
Original FG42: A Detailed Comparison of the 1st and 2nd Patterns
Today we are looking at examples of the 1st pattern (Type E) and second pattern (Type G) FG42, comparing their construction and disassembling both to get a close look at the internal differences. Despite sharing […]