Rifles on the Danube: Hungarian Kalashnikov Firearms 1959-2002 is available now on Kickstarter:
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Nic Jenzen-Jones, Director of Research for Headstamp Publishing, spent some time in Budapest speaking with László Becz, a...

The United States adopted the M1911 pistol just in time for the First World War, and between Colt and Springfield Arsenal some 643,000 of these pistols were made by the end of 1918. During that production and the gun's field service in France, a number of potential improvements were recognized. T...

The Sten Mk5 (sometimes written Sten MkV) was really the Cadillac of the Sten series. It was designed in 1943, and featured a full wooden buttstock patterned after the No4 Enfield rifle, as well as a front sight abductor bayonet lugs for the Enfield. It has a wooden pistol grip as well (and earl...

In 1967, the Tula arsenal introduced a specialized silenced version of the Makarov for covert use. This was a very effective pistol, and its design was also very heavily changed from that of the regular pistol. With a two-part silencer surrounding the barrel, the recoil spring had to be moved to ...

The Argentine factory FMAP-DGFM was first set up to produce a copy of the Colt 1911, and in 1954 they began production of the PAM-1 (after demonstration of the first prototype in 1950). The PAM-1 was a copy of the American M3A1 "Grease Gun" chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum. Production ran until 19...

Join our Kickstarter for "Rifles On The Danube" today and get your copy of the best book on Hungarian AKs!
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In 1978, as AMD-65 rifles in service were starting to get worn out, FÉG launched a program to refurbish the ol...

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Hungary began importing semiautomatic civilian versions of FÉG's AK-63D into the United States in the 1980s. As more restrictions were put on importati...

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The Hungarian AMD-65 (Automata Módosított Deszantfegyver - "Modified Paratrooper Automatic Rifle") was requested first in 1964 because the standard AKM-63 rifles in Hunga...

In the early 1990s, Israeli Military Industries (IMI) developed the Galil MAR (Micro Assault Rifle) and the MAGAL at the same time. Both were intended to be very compact rifles, with the MAR in 5.56mm and the MAGAL specifically for police in .30 Carbine. The MAGAL offered the same handling and er...

Detonics was founded as a company in the 1970s, making high-end 1911 pistols. Their first product that really put them on the map was their 3" micro-compact 1911; something that just wasn't available on a production basis at the time. After the .45 Winchester Magnum cartridge was introduced in 19...

"Firearm Anatomy Book III: The Remington Double Derringer" by David S. Findlay
Available through Amazon:
https://amzn.to/4daGdYy

David S. Findlay is a firearms designer with extensive experience - a decades-long career in the field working for Remington, Marlin, S&W, and Kimber and two dozen pat...

Except for the .22 rimfire Glock 44, all the pistols from the Austrian powerhouse Glock have shared the same fundamental mechanical system. They use the Browning tilting-barrel action, which has been long proven by many companies. With the Glock 46, however, they completely changed, and opted for...

The Kord was developed to replace the Soviet NSV heavy machine gun. The NSV was developed in 1969 to replace the DShK, and it was a pretty good gun - but it was manufactured in only one factory and that factory was located in Kazakhstan. When the Soviet Union crumbled, that left the new Russian F...

Lines Brothers was a company in the UK that made sheet metal childrens' toys prior to the war. When production of the Sten guns began, Lines Bros was a parts subcontractor. Their engineers analyzed the design alongside the machinery the company had available and redesigned a version of the Sten t...

When the United States entered World War One, it had a significant shortfall in military handguns. The M1911 pistol production was expanded as much as possible, but more guns were needed. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson adapted revolver designs to Army standard .45 ACP ammunition, and both were acce...

In the mid 1990s, UMC Cugir began looking at ways to adapt its AKM production tooling to make a 9mm submachine gun. What would become the LP7 was first prototyped in 1998, and went into limited production in 2003, with an order of 200 made for the Romanian Interior Ministry. Romanian Gendarmes de...

Between 1994 and 2004, there was a national "assault weapon" ban in place int he United States, along with some related importation restrictions on military-looking rifles. Most semiauto rifle importation continued by adjusting various cosmetic features to not fall under the provisions of the var...

The Sten MkI had barely been approved for production when the Sten MkII was born. Initially requested to produce a version of the gun suitable for paratroopers, in March 1941 Harold Turpin redesigned the front end of the Sten to have a quickly detachable barrel and a rotating magazine well (for c...

Available now at:
http://www.headstamppublishing.com/collier-book

Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler reveals the first attempt to put a multi-shot firearm in the hands of the common soldier and sportsman. This novel device—patented in America in 1818 by A...

The Sten gun was designed by RSAF Senior Draftsman (sorry, Draughtsman) Harold Turpin in December, 1940. He sketched out a simple trigger mechanism on December 2, showed it to Major Reginald Shepherd the next day, and then finished out the rest of the submachine gun design that week. The first pr...

At SHOT Show this year Ian took some time to speak with Mike Branson of Gideon Optics (formerly of Primary Arms and Swampfox). Mike's a friend and a true optics nerd, and I figured he could help give folks an understanding of some of the fundamentals of modern firearms optics. Today the topic of...

In the 1970s and 80s, Colt offered a 4x20 fixed power scope for its commercial AR (the SP-1). These replaced the earlier 3x scopes, and were designed to fit directly to the rifle's carry handle. They are a simple design, with a duplex reticle, BDC calibrated out to 500 yards in 100 yard increment...

Ever since I first saw Blk Lbl at SHOT Show many years ago I've really liked their handguard-integrated bipods. They are completely slick and unobtrusive when folded up, but offer a good range of motion, stability, and adjustability when deployed, while being lighter than all but the lightest pol...

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 finally the MG08 in 1908. This was actually a somewhat old-fashioned pattern of Maxim when it was adopted, as the Germa...