On 7 November, photographs began circulating on Russian telegram channels of North Korea's unusual Type 73 general purpose machine guns said to be in Russia. The appearance of the photographs led to suggestions the weapons are now in Russia service, in this video we investigate if this is the cas...

After World War Two, the Red Army moved from a full power infantry rifle cartridge to an intermediate one, and the 7.62x39mm RPD became the new squad machine gun. At the same time, the heavy Maxims were replaced by the new SG-43 Goryunov. This left a gap in capability, with nothing available with...

During the 1930s, there was interest in Finland in replacing the Maxim heavy machine gun with something handier and more mobile. There were experiments with large drum magazines for the LS-26 light machine gun, but these were not satisfactory. Aimo Lahti began to work on a gas-operated GPMG, but ...

Yesterday we looked at the history and mechanics of the South African Vektor SS-77 general purpose machine gun, and today I have it out at the range to do some shooting. It's really as nice of a gun as I had expected from taking it apart - controllable and comfortable to shoot. I would put this u...

In the 1970s, South Africa began looking for a domestic-production GMPG to replace its inventory of FN MAG machine guns. The MAG was an excellent weapon, but the ones in South Africa were getting old and worn out, and with the country under international embargo over Apartheid, new guns and parts...

The FN MAG is one of the top 3 machine guns in the world today, according to Jonathan. In 2010, Barrett began a programme of improving the already excellent design focusing on reducing its 27.6lbs of weight. Remarkably, the designers managed to drop this by almost a quarter. Jonathan explains how...

In this video Vic takes a look at a fascinating footnote in British machine gun design. The X11 was developed by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the mid-1950s. The X11 went up against a number of other GPMG and eventually lost out to the FN MAG which was adopted as the L7. Check out ou...

We're rounding out 2018 with a bang, thank you all for watching, liking, commenting, sharing subscribing and supporting TAB this year. We have many more exciting videos to bring you in the new year.

In this live fire video Matt is lucky enough to puts some rounds through the an original 1944-pr...

Over the past few months there have been a number of sightings of a relatively rare FN MAG variant in the field in Ukraine. The KSP-58B has been seen in use with Ukrainian Armed forces since September, in this video we take a brief look at the KSP-58B's features, history and look at who transferr...

One of the first 'General Purpose Machine Guns' (GPMG), this Swiss designed weapon was actually a crafty workaround by Nazi weapons designers to circumvent weapons limitations and would eventually lay the ground work for the MG 34.

At the end of the Second World War, Britain looked to modernise it's small arms arsenal. With the Vickers MG a reliable but ageing weapon and the Bren limited to its 30-round magazine capacity, a more modern, belt-fed, 'general purpose machine gun' was sought. Despite excellent existing designs s...

The M60 was the first modern American military machine gun, developed from the operating system of the German FG-42 and the feed system of the German MG-42 in the years after World War Two. It has a rather schizophrenic reputation, being loved by many who used it in Vietnam and hated by many who ...

The FN MAG was adopted by the United States military to replace its aging inventory of M60 machine guns. It was designated the M240 in US parlance, and first used as a vehicle-mounted machine gun. Subsequently both the US Army and US Marine Corps adopted ground mount versions for infantry use; th...

The HK21 is a the belt-fed iteration of the H&K roller-delayed blowback mechanism. H&K built a wide range of firearms around that system, including submachine guns (MP5), rifles (HK33, HK91), precision rifles (PSG-1), and machine guns. Originally they made a version in 5.56mm and one in 7.62mm, b...

Want early access to our videos and be entered to win a monthly raffle?! Considering giving to our Patreon. Link below! https://www.patreon.com/legacycollectibles Check out our Podcast "Flak & Fubar" https://flakfubar.buzzsprout.com/ Legacy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legacy_collectibles...

The MG-34 and MG-42 machine guns were the mainstay of German infantry (and vehicle) firepower during World War II, and it will take several videos to properly cover them. For now, we are shooting them both, and explaining how to load, unload, and operate them (including changing barrels on the M...

We spent some time with Greg from Allegheny Arsenal a little while back, and one of the things we went over was disassembly and reassembly of the MG34 trigger group. When you get one in a parts kit, it's often loaded up with cosmoline and needs a thorough cleaning...so here's how to do it.

The MG42 was developed to be a more reliable and easier to manufacture replacement for the MG34, although both would serve side by side until he end of World War Two. Designed by Grossfuss company engineer Werner Gruner with no previous military or small arms design experience, the MG42 used heav...

Romania adopted the PKM in 1966, and began manufacturing their own direct copy at Cugir. In the 1990s, the plant designed a model intended for paratroopers, with a shortened barrel and unique side folding stock. Romanian special operations and paratroop units tested them, but declined to purchase...

Many of the small arms developed in North Korea show substantial Czechoslovakian influence, and the Type 73 machine gun is no exception. Based on the concept of the Czech 52/57 light machine gun, the Type 73 is able to use both magazines and belts (although not both simultaneously). fundamentally...

The PK machine gun was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov's engineering team right about the time they were putting the finishing touches on the AKM. The PK is in many ways an AK rifle action enlarged, flipped upside-down, and mated with a belt feed mechanism. It uses the same belt design as the pr...

In 1952, Czechoslovakia adopted a whole new family of small arms, including the vz.52 pistol, vz.52 rifle, and vz.52 light machine gun. The rifle and LMG were both chambered in the Czech 7.62x45mm cartridge, and both would be adapted to the Soviet standard 7.62x39mm a few years later, in 1957. Ve...

In 1952, Czechoslovakia adopted a whole new family of small arms, including the vz.52 pistol, vz.52 rifle, and vz.52 light machine gun. The rifle and LMG were both chambered in the Czech 7.62x45mm cartridge, and both would be adapted to the Soviet standard 7.62x39mm a few years later, in 1957. Ve...

The concept for the M60 began at the end of World War Two, when US Ordnance officers became very interested in the German concept of a universal machine gun (originally conceived by the Danes, but first put into large-scale use by the Germans). This was the idea of having a single machine gun tha...