Heavy MGs
MG08: The Devil’s Paintbrush
The MG08 was the German Army standard Maxim gun in World War One. The Germany Navy adopted the Maxim first in 1894, followed by the Army in 1899, then a new pattern in 1901, and […]
Germany
Aircraft MGs
Maxims in the Skies: the German LMG 08/15
As soon as the MG08/15 “light” machine gun was adopted by Germany, it was recognized as an ideal basis for an aircraft gun. Weight was of the essence for WW1 aircraft, and a lightened Maxim […]
Book review
Book Review: Vickers Guide H&K Volume 2 (SMG & PDW)
Available direct from Vickers Guide: https://www.vickersguide.com/hk-vol-2 Or from Headstamp Publishing: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/purchase?tag=hkv2 About a year ago Larry Vickers and James Rupley published the first volume of a series on H&K firearms, beginning with handguns. After some […]
Semiauto Rifles
HK43: The 5.56mm “Paramilitary” Rifle
Before the H&K 90 series of rifles – the civilian semiautomatic versions – existed, there was the 40-series; the paramilitary rifles. Originally intended for German reservist purchase, the HK41 and HK43 were G3 and HK33 […]
Accessories
L41: Arado’s WW2 Experimental MP40 Silencer
The German military tested several designs of silencer for the MP40 submachine gun during late World War Two. Designated the L4x series, they were made by the Arado and Opel-Schneider companies. This example is an […]
Semiauto Rifles
Can the Honey Badger a Replace the MP5SD?
The .300 Blackout cartridge and the rifle we now know as the Honey Badger were originally developed by AAC by request of a US special forces military unit. They wanted to replace their MP5SD submachine […]
Commentary
Battle Rifles of World War Two: Overview
Today we are going to take a look at the three main battle rifles of World War Two – the M1 Garand, the SVT-40, and the Gewehr 43. We will also consider the SVT-38, Gewehr […]
Semiauto pistol
Adventures in Surplus: From German Imperial Navy to Ethiopia
I really enjoy finding guns that can be positively traced through multiple different parts of history, and Lugers can be a great source for that sort of story. Today I have a Luger from Royal […]
Machine pistol
Mauser Schnellfeuer: The Official Full Auto C96 Broomhandle
Contrary to what you might expect, Mauser was actually the last company to produce a fully automatic model of the C96 “broomhandle” pistol. The C96 was very popular in China (Mauser sent hundreds of thousands […]
Handgun
HK P11: NATO’s Secret Underwater Pistol
0:00 Introduction and History of Underwater Firearms 0:55 Engineering Challenges and Russian Underwater Firearms 2:07 Development, Adoption, and Global Usage of the H&K P11 3:36 Examination of H&K P11: Fired Barrel Cluster and Firing Mechanics […]