Submachine Guns
Romanian Orita Model 1941/48
The Orita SMG was designed by a Romanian Army Captian Marin Orita in 1941, and went into service in 1943. It was used primarily in Southern Europe in late WW2 with Romanian forces. It was […]
Machine Guns
Prototype
Bechowiec: Polish Teenager Makes a Resistance SMG
The Bechowiec (or Beha) is a fascinating SMG produced in small numbers in southern Poland under German occupation during World War Two. It was made for use by the Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasant Battalions) by a […]
Grenade Launcher
Inkunzi Strike 20mm Grenade Machine Gun
Tony Neophytou developed this for Denel Land Systems, which has completely fallen apart as a company and left it now as his own independent design, with no manufacturer. I filmed this video in 2018, to […]
Aircraft MGs
Parabellum 1914/17: Germany’s Ultimate Aircraft Maxim
Forgotten Weapons merino wool hoodies from Varusteleka: https://www.varusteleka.com/en/product/forgotten-weapons-sarma-merino-wool-hoodie/72488 The DWM company in Germany had a license on the Maxim gun design prior to World War One. They produced the rather old-fashioned MG08 for the German […]
Submachine Guns
Błyskawica: The Polish Home Army’s Clandestine SMG
The Blyskawica (“LIghtning”) is an SMG developed in occupied Poland to be issued out to Home Army units during Operation Tempest; the liberation uprisings planned for the advance of the Red Army into Poland. The […]
Conversion
From Aircraft to Improvised Infantry: the Vickers MkI No2
The Vickers MkI No2 was an improvisation of the British Royal Air Force. They needed arms for airbase defense, without unduly impacting the production of weapons for the infantry. Wheat they had a good supply […]
Light MGs
Vektor Mini-SS: South Africa’s Answer to the FN Minimi
While under international embargo and at war in the late 1970s, South Africa needed a new 7.62mm GPMG. The answer was Vektor’s SS77, a design which would replace the FN MAG in South African service […]
Prototype
Frommer Pistolen-MG Model 1917: A Crazy Villar Perosa Copy
After encountering Italian Villar Perosa machine pistols in the field, Austro-Hungarian troops requested a similar weapon. The project was given to FÉG to work on, and the result was the Pistolen-MG Model 1917: a pair […]
Submachine Guns
Leningrad’s Emergency-Production PPS-42 at the Range
Yesterday we looked at the history of the PPS-42 and how it was developed into the much more common PPS-43. Today we are taking it out to the range – the only time one of […]
Submachine Guns
Born in the Heart of Besieged Leningrad: the PPS-42
One would think that the Shpagin PPSh-41 was as simple as a submachine gun could get, but that wasn’t the case in World War Two USSR. Barely had the PPSh gotten into real production than […]