When the German military first requested rifles in the new 8x33mm Kurz cartridge, there were two companies that provided designs. One was Haenel, who would eventually win the competition. The other was Walther, who submitted this rifle - the MKb-42(W). Where the Haenel gun fired from an open bolt...

The Ruger Mini-14 is certainly not a “forgotten” weapon, but I think there are some valuable insights to be taken from it. As a company, Ruger has an outstanding track record of making not flashy and exciting guns, but rather guns that are economical and dependable. The Mini-14 is an excellent ex...

The MG34 was the first German implementation of the universal machine gun concept - and really the first such fielded by any army. The idea was to have a single weapon which could be used as a light machine gun, heavy machine gun, vehicle gun, fortification gun, and antiaircraft gun. The MG34 was...

The MG-15 was the first standard flexible-mounted aircraft machine gun adopted by the Luftwaffe in the 1930s. Both it and the MG-17 are evolved from a Rheinmetall/Solothurn design which would also become the Austrian and Hungarian M30 infantry light machine guns. As used by the Luftwaffe, the MG1...

One of Paul Mauser's lifelong projects was the design of a semiautomatic rifle for the German military. He would go through a multitude of different designs searching for something that would be sufficiently reliable, durable, and simple - and ultimately he would never fulfill the goal. But his e...

The DeserTech MDR ("Micro Dynamic Rifle") has been in the works for several years now, after being initially announced at SHOT Show in 2014, if I recall correctly. While it was probably prematurely unveiled, the rifle as it stands today looks to be remarkably well designed. It is one thing to des...

Samuel McClean was a medical doctor from Iowa who began tinkering with firearms designs in 1889, and formed the McClean Arms Company in 1896. He was an intelligent and talented designer, but never quite managed to get a gun good enough for military acceptance. His work included bolt actions rifle...

When the USMC adopted the M1 Garand in 1942, they decided they would like to have a new semiautomatic training rifle in .22 rimfire to go along with it. Eugene Reising, working for Harrington & Richardson, promptly produced a semiauto .22 LR version of his military submachine gun to fulfill that ...

The French FAMAS was one of the first bullpup rifles to be adopted and built in large numbers by a military power. It was adopted by France in 1978 at right about the same time as the Steyr AUG was being adopted by the Austrian military. Bullpup rifles offered a short overall length without sacri...

This rifle is a Steyr M95 straight-pull carbine that has been converted into a semiauto by adding a gas piston under the barrel connected to the bolt carrier, and an extension to the stock and receiver for the bolt to travel in. The pistol grip was added so that the trigger group could remain unc...

The MTR-8 was Emilio Ghisoni's first revolver design, predating the more popular and better known Mateba semiauto revolvers and the Chiappa Rhino. The MTR-8 was designed for competition shooting, and made in a variety of calibers and configurations, including long carbine versions, different barr...

A while back, I ran a 2-Gun match on my own with my MAS 49-56 (and a plain Glock 19), including the original APX L806 optic. It was not a particularly complex match, but it was fun to give the 49-56 a whirl.

Takeaways:

- The 10-round magazines of the MAS family are definitely a hindrance i...

Take 2! I have some ammunition loaded up for me by awesome viewer Cameron, and we're going to try it out in the MAS-38 submachine gun. This is loaded hot enough to properly cycle Mle 1935 pistols, unlike the ammunition available from Reed's and Buffalo Arms. However, it is a bit shorter than the ...

A new very light and portable mortar to replace the V-B rifle grenade was one of the facets of the French plan for rearmament and modernization after World War Two. The concept for the weapons that would become the L.Gr. Mle 37 was first requested in 1924 - but like so almost all the other parts ...

Once it became apparent that the MAS-36 was going to be used in a substantial amount of frontline combat (to the contrary of its intended role as a reserve or secondary rifle), it became important to provide it with grenade launching capability. The French military really liked rifle grenades as ...

There is a common assumption that the MAS-36 was a fool's errand from the outset - why would a country develop a brand new bolt action rifle in the mid 1930s, when obviously semiautomatic combat rifles were just on the cusp of widespread adoption? Well, the answer is a simple one - the French wer...

John Martz was a WWII US Navy veteran who spent a career in metalworking before turning his gunsmithing hobby into a full time occupation in the 1960s. He is best known for his custom Luger pistols, but also worked extensively with the P38. Today we are looking at an assortment of his custom P38s...

John Martz was a WWII US Navy veteran who spent a career in metalworking before turning his gunsmithing hobby into a full time occupation in the 1960s. He is best known for his custom Luger pistols, and today we have a selection of them to take a look at. They fall into three main categories - ca...

William Walker Marston was born in 1822, and would spend his career as a gunsmith and gunmaker in New York City. He produced a wide variety of firearms, including pepperboxes, multi-barrel derringers, percussion revolvers, and the breechloading single-shot pistol which we are looking at in this v...

Designed in 1936 by Melvin Johnson, the M1941 Johnson Automatic Rifle was a competitor to the M1 Garand, but not introduced in time to actually be adopted in place of the Garand. Instead, Johnson hoped to have his rifle accepted as a parallel second option for the US military in case something we...

In brief, the problem is that the guns will often run away if steps are not taken to prevent it. This is not a clever way to get a machine gun (although I'm sure plenty of fools will see it as such); it is a serious safety problem because it can often cause out of battery detonation of cartridges...

Patented in 1876 in both the US and UK, the Frankenau purse gun was a very small 5-shot, 5mm pinfire revolver hidden inside what appeared to be a normal small coin purse. One side of the purse would even open, with several accordion pockets, allowing to to be used for its nominal purpose. The oth...

The model 1895 Müller automatic pistol is an interesting and unusual design, despite being a simple blowback action. Where most pistols have a bolt or slide that moved directly rearward, the Müller pushes the bolt in a semicircular arc into its grip. This is similar to the Swedish Hamilton trials...

Welcome to your briefing on the new equipment we are issuing for the Spring Offensive of 1919. With this new secret weapon, we can finally push the Germans out of France and end the war