Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

CZ247: Experimental Swivel-Action SMG

July 16, 2025 Ian McCollum 11

The CZ247 was developed for Czechoslovakia’s post-war submachine gun trials, where it was pitted against the ZB47. It was a simple blowback 9x19mm SMG with a number of interesting elements, most notably the ability to […]

Valmet M78 vs FN-D (w/ John Keene)

July 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 46

If you had to pick one, would you take a Valmet M78 (in 7.62mm NATO) or an FN-D (in .30-06)? Both are reliable and well-made machine guns and they use essentially the same caliber. The […]

URZ: Czech Prototype Universal Modular Weapon

July 7, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

The URZ (Univerzální Ruční Zbraň, or Universal Hand Weapon) was a 1966 project designed by Jiří Čermák (designer of the vz.58 rifle). He envisioned a weapons system family with largely interchangeable elements that could be […]

Orita 1941: The Original Romanian Submachine Gun

July 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

The Model 1941 Orita was Romania’s first domestic submachine gun, but after World War Two the design was upgraded in many ways. The Model 41/48 improved the stock, sights, and controls – and virtually all […]

Samopal vz 38: Czechoslovakia’s Interwar Drum-Fed SMG in .380

June 25, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

Military interest in a submachine gun was late in Czechoslovakia, but by the late 1930s a development program was put into place. Interestingly, the main use case for an SMG was seen as being a […]

Swedish Kulspruta m/36 Double Browning MGs

June 18, 2025 Ian McCollum 17

Despite being a neutral power during World War Two, Sweden had a variety of very interesting small arms – like their dual-mount Browning m/36 machine guns. These were originally adopted because the Swedes wanted a […]

H&K MG4: Germany’s New 5.56mm Squad Machine Gun

June 7, 2025 Ian McCollum 27

Full video including range footage is available on the History of Weapons & War streaming app: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/mg4-4k Heckler & Koch released the MG4, a new 5.56mm squad machine gun in 2001. It was adopted by […]

Gerat Potsdam: Mauser Copies the Sten Gun

June 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 19

In the fall of 1944, the Mauser company was given a contract to develop drawings of a direct copy of the British Sten gun (code named Gerät Potsdam), and to manufacture 10,000 of them. In […]

Unique British Crankfire .58 Morse Manual Machine Gun

April 30, 2025 Ian McCollum 15

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 […]

Type 79 SMG: China’s MP7 At Home

April 25, 2025 Ian McCollum 15

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. […]