Conversion
Semiauto ZK-383 on the Range
The Czech ZK-383 is a magnificent submachine gun, but sadly very scarce in the United States. So when I saw the semiauto example, I wanted to take it out to the range for some plinking. […]
Antiques
Howard’s Thunderbolt: A Remarkably Compact Carbine
Designed by brothers Charles and Sebre Howard and first patented in 1862, this is a single shot lever action produced by the Whitneyville Armory between 1866 and 1870. It is a really neat compact design […]
Light MGs
The Swedish m/21 BAR in 6.5x55mm
Sweden was a remarkably early adopted of the light machine gun, for a nation not involved in World War One. Looking over the designs that existed right after the war, Sweden opted to purchase 700 […]
Bolt Action Rifles
MAS-45: The French .22 Trainer Designed by Mauser
When the French occupied the Mauser factory in April 1945, they found all the tooling to produce .22 caliber rifles still in place and in good order (among other things). The French military did not […]
Semiauto pistol
Fritz Mann Model 1921: Chamber-Ring-Delayed Blowback
In 1920, Fritz Mann of Germany patented the idea of cutting a shallow ring in the chamber of a pistol as a delaying mechanism. When fired, a cartridge case would expand into this groove, thus […]
Heavy MGs
Colt’s Model 1915 Vickers Gun in .30-06
After extended testing in 1913 and 1914, the US formally adopted the Vickers gun as the Model 1915. A contract was placed for licensed production of 125 guns by Colt, who had also taken contracts […]
Light MGs
LAD: The Soviet Pistol-Caliber SAW that Could Have Been
This guest article written by Andrey Ulanov. In 1942, the Red Army was experiencing big problems with machine guns. Before the war, great hopes were pinned on Dyagterev’s brand new DS-39 heavy machine gun. But […]
Aircraft MGs
Savage M1918 Aircraft Lewis at the Range (With Rare Tripod Mount!)
Yesterday we looked at the Savage M1918 aircraft version of the Lewis gun, used by American aviators during World War One. Today, we are taking it out to the range along with a very scarce […]
Aircraft MGs
Savage M1918 Aircraft Lewis Gun
As an open-bolt machine gun, the Lewis was not well suited to synchronization on WW1 aircraft – but it was an ideal gun for flexible mounting. To suit this use, a series of aircraft-specific Lewis variations were […]
Antiques
Springfield Model 1795 Musket: America’s First Military Production
The first US-production military arm was the “US musket, Charleville pattern” – known today as the Model 1795 Springfield Musket. Copied from the French 1766 model Charleville which made up the bulk of existing US […]