Optics
2-Gun: An Old-School “Ring Sight” Optic
This month at the 2G-ACM match, I thought it would be interesting to try out a “Ring Sight”. This is the same style of optics used on the FN P90 – the manufacturer marketed it […]
United Kingdom
Semiauto Rifles
L119A2: The New British SOF Rifle
Around 2013, the UK MoD began looking for a new rifle to replace the Special Forces’ L119A1. Those A1 rifles were getting old, and something new was needed – and there was some thought that […]
Semiauto Rifles
UK Special Forces’ M16 Variant: the L119A1
In 1999, the UK Ministry of Defense put out a tender for a new rifle for UK Special Forces (UKSOF). The elite units of the British military were definitely not going to be using the […]
Bolt Action Rifles
L8(T) Enfield: The British Army Fails to Make a Sniper
We looked at the 7.62mm conversion of the No4 Enfield into Rifle L8 yesterday. Part of that program was an attempt to develop a new sniper rifle on the L8 platform. To this end, six […]
Bolt Action Rifles
7.62mm Rifle L8: The Last Gasp of the Service Lee Enfield
After the British adopted the FAL as the L1A1 rifle, there was still an interest in converting stocks of existing No4 Enfield rifles to the new 7.62x51mm cartridge for reserve and training use. A conversion […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Ethiopian Oddities: A Long Lee / SMLE Hybrid
Today’s Ethiopian Oddity is a rifle that began its like as an early Lee Enfield MkI made by London Small Arms. It has the original buttstock, early style safety, volley sights, and magazine cutoff from […]
Submachine Guns
The Sneaky Silent Sten MkII(S) at the Range
Today we are taking an original Sten MkII(S) out to the range – something I am excited to be able to do! The suppressor on this Sten is all original, and about 80 years old…and […]
Submachine Guns
A Covert Weapons for Special Operations: the Sten MkII(S)
https://youtu.be/hcmVCb_ZgZA There are a fairly wide variety of silenced Sten guns that were made during World War Two, because many were needed for small Special Operations Executive missions. However, the British Army did also formally […]
Slow motion
ZX-7 American Sterling at the Range
Today we are taking the ZX-7 (essentially a Sterling SMG in .45 ACP) out to the range. It runs rather faster than I initially expected, but isn’t too hard to handle…
Submachine Guns
PAWS ZX-7: An American Sterling in .45 ACP
An American entrepreneur named Bob Imel found the Sterling SMG particularly interesting, and wanted to import them into the United States. He reached out to Sterling in 1967, but was unable to work out a […]