Commentary
The Truth Behind the Great G36 Controversy
Is the G36 a great rifle unfairly maligned? Or is it mealy and inaccurate? Let’s look at the question, and find out what was really going on with the Great G36 Controversy.
Germany
Competition
French Resistance 2-Gun: FG-42 & Mle 1935A (Prep for Desert Brutality)
Next week is Desert Brutality 2020, the big annual 2-Gun “nationals”. I’ll be shooting it in the Classic division (guns from 1946 and earlier) this year, with an SMG semiauto FG-42 rifle and a French […]
Vehicle
SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad: Germany’s Halftrack Motorcycle
The Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkraftrad (aka Kettenrad) is a deliciously German sort of vehicle, a small utility tractor made with a pair of treads and motorcycle front wheel. It was powered by a 4 cylinder Opel […]
Prototype
Mauser-Norris Prototype: Origins of the Mauser Legacy
Today we are looking at one of the rarest and earliest rifles built by Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, a design which would set in motion all the events that led to the Mauser company becoming […]
Semiauto pistol
H&K’s Hydrocephalic P7M10 in .40 S&W
Everyone has an off day eventually, and for H&K one of those off days took the form of the P7M10. Introduced in 1991, the M10 was based on the frame and magazine body of the […]
Semiauto pistol
SS-Contract Walther PP and PPK Pistols
Today, courtesy of Tom from Legacy Collectibles, we are taking a look at Walther PP and PPK pistols made specifically for the SS and RSHA. These guns comprised several special contracts, distinct from general military […]
Submachine Guns
H&K’s Experimental SMG and SMG II for the US Navy
In the 1980s, the US Navy requested a new submachine gun to replace the MP5 then in use. In particular, the Navy wanted a gun that was optimized for use with a suppressor. H&K built […]
Semiauto Rifles
Prototype Mauser 1917 Trench Carbine
In the latter stages of World War One, the German military was looking for new arms for its Sturmtruppen. Without a reliable self-loading rifle design to use, they instead focused on pistil caliber arms. The […]
Semiauto pistol
Ballester-Molina Pistols from German Pocket Battleship Armor?
There is an old gun shop tale that Argentine Ballester-Molina pistols were made form the salvaged armor plate of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. The Graf Spee was scuttled in the Rio de la […]
Artillery
3.7cm PAK – Germany’s Basic WWII Antitank Gun
Germany developed its first 37mm (or as German designations put it, 3.7cm) antitank gun in the last months of World War One; a very simple design built using barrels from obsolete Hotchkiss revolving cannons. In […]