Select-fire Rifles
Some Brief Shooting with a SIG 553R
Some of my last footage from my trip to Switzerland last year; a bit of shooting with a SIG 553R. This is the model in 7.62x39mm, and the guns here are set up with 3-round […]
Select-fire Rifles
Prototype
AAI 2nd Gen SPIW Flechette Rifles
The SPIW program began in 1962 with entries from Colt, Springfield, AAI, and Winchester. The first set of trials were a complete failure, and both Colt and Winchester abandoned the project at that point. AAI […]
Select-fire Rifles
South African R2 and its Special Furniture
In South African military service, the R1 was the FN FAL and was the preferred infantry combat rifle until the adoption of the Galil as the R4 rifle. So what were the guns in between? […]
Interview
Developmental History of the AK with Max Popenker
I am very happy to be joined today via Skype by Russian small arms researcher Max Popenker. You may know Max from his nearly 20 years publishing Modern Firearms, one of the original small arms […]
Select-fire Rifles
The Soviet Jackhammer: Shooting an AVS-36
This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. Yesterday we looked at the history and mechanics of the Soviet AVS-36 battle rifle, and today we are taking it out to the range. As […]
Select-fire Rifles
AVS-36: The First Soviet Infantry Battle Rifle
This rifle is lot #1019 at Morphy’s April 2019 auction. The AVS-36 was the first self-loading rifle adopted by the Soviet Union to be a standard infantry rifle, and it was not just semiautomatic, but […]
Select-fire Rifles
SIG AK-53: A Truly Weird Forward-Operating Rifle
One of the most mechanically unusual rifles I have had the chance to examine is the SIG AK-53. One of a long line of interested experimental self-loading designs made by SIG between the 1920s and […]
Select-fire Rifles
HK-32 Prototype in 7.62x39mm
Among the large family of roller-delayed rifles produced by Heckler & Koch, one of the rarest and least known is the HK32. This was the select-fire shoulder rifle chambered in 7.62x39mm. These rifles appeared in […]
Select-fire Rifles
AMP 69: Hungary’s Grenade-Launching AK
The Hungarian AMP-69 is, I think, the undisputed ugliest military AK variant ever fielded. It is truly an example of function over form, designed specifically for the role of dedicated rifle grenade launcher. To this […]
Select-fire Rifles
CETME Modelo A: First Step Towards the G3
The Modelo A was the first series production version of the CETME rifle, following a series of successful trials in Spain. It was developed by a team of ex-Mauser engineers led by Ludwig Vorgrimmler, and […]