Commentary
The FG-42 as a Sniper Rifle?
The FG-42 was specifically made with a scope attachment on every rifle, and intended to serve as a marksman’s or sniper’s rifle. But how much of that actually happened during World War Two? And was […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Prototype Ross “H5” from 1909
The Ross MkII (aka Ross 1905) was a reasonably successful rifle design, but it lacked a few elements that the Canadian military would have preferred. Most significantly, it was not compatible with the charger clip […]
Shotgun
Duckbill Done Right? Testing the A&W Diverter Shotgun Barrel (w/ Matt Haught)
The A&W Diverter was designed by Clifford Ashbrook and Wilson Wing to change a shotgun’s circular pattern into a horizontal linear one. They applied for a patent in 1967, and it was granted in 1970 […]
Mystery
Winchester Mystery Prototype: Melvin Johnson does Project SALVO?
This rifle is a Winchester semiauto prototype that has no documentation I could find in any source. So, today we will take a look at what we can possibly extrapolate from its various features. It […]
Q&A
Q&A 48: Magnetic Guns, Electronic Guns, and Fake Guns
00:35 – Automatic rifles in .250 Savage in WW1? 04:21 – Why did stripper clips stay around so long? 07:24 – Modern military responses to body armor 09:17 – M1 Carbine in 5.7×28? 11:08 – […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Prototype Jungle Carbine: A No1 MkV Becomes a No5 MkI
When the British began developing a shortened version of the No4 Lee Enfield in 1943 (which would become the No5 MkI “Jungle Carbine”), the development process included work with some rather older rifles. What we […]
Ammunition
Max Popenker on Russian Pistols and Ammunition: 7N21, 9x21mm, 9x18mm, and more
Today I am again joined by Max Popenker, Russian small arms historian and researcher. Max is explaining the basic history of Russian handguns and ammunition, starting with the adoption of the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge to […]
Prototype
Britain’s Experimental Viper No.3 SMG/PDW
A series of very compact submachine guns – possibly better described as personal defense weapons – was made in Britain at the end of World War Two under the name Viper (as an interesting aside, […]
Reproduction
2-Gun with SMG’s 1st Pattern Semiauto FG-42
Today I am taking the SMG first pattern semiauto FG-42 out to a 2-gun match to give it a try on the clock. This particular match has two rifle-only stage and one pistol-only stage, so […]
Uncategorized
Fallschirmjäger Style: SMG’s Semiauto 1st Pattern FG-42
The early pattern (Type E, specifically) FG-42 is one of the most eye-catching military rifles ever made. Designed to be a universal paratrooper’s rifle capable of acting as sniper’s rifle, light machine gun, hand-to-hand weapon, […]