Light MGs
Hotchkiss Portative video
The Hotchkiss Portative was the British variation of a light machine gun used widely in World War I. It was also used by the French, Belgian, and American armies (In the US, it was adopted […]
Uncategorized
Uncategorized
Benet-Mercie photos
Thanks to a reader, we have a handful of vintage photos of US troops training with the M1909 Benet Mercie light machine gun, including a couple of its use on early military motorcycles. You can […]
Uncategorized
Stgw-57, aka SIG AMT
In 1957, the Swiss finally adopted a self-loading infantry rifle after more than ten years of development and experimentation. The SIG Stgw57 was an improvement of the roller-delayed system designed by the Germans during WWII, […]
Uncategorized
Unit photographs
One of the more common type of vintage military photos you’ll see around is the formal unit portrait. The kind where that whole platoon or company stands at attention in a neat and orderly manner, […]
Uncategorized
SGM in Afghanistan
We received an email from a trooper in Afghanistan whose unit found a buried IED stash that included an SGM machine gun. There are a lot of interesting old weapons floating around Afghanistan, and we’re […]
Uncategorized
SGM photos from Aberdeen
The SG43 was a medium machine gun developed in Russia during World War II (1943, as you might have gathered from the designation). The initial development was done by Degtyarev, who was responsible for the […]
Manuals
Lewis info, and some site changes
Okay, I promised I’d be posting some Lewis gun documentation – and I’ve got it ready for you today. There’s a very nice selection – some in English, some in Russian, brief handbooks, detailed manuals, […]
Manuals
Prototype FAL manual
The FN FAL was in development very shortly after the conclusion of World War II, during the height of assault rifle fever. Everyone (more or less) was very interested in the concept of the sturmgewehr […]
Uncategorized
Taking video requests…
This coming weekend, I’m going to have the opportunity to shoot some video with a Bren gun and a Lewis gun at the range. I’d like to make this more interesting than your typical YouTube […]
Manuals
Ultimax 100 manual
The Ultimax 100 was designed in the late 1970s in Singapore as a lightweight squad automatic weapon. It’s a gas-operated design, with special attention paid to reducing felt recoil. The receiver is longer than most […]