Celebrating our 40th episode with a live fire video featuring a replica Gerat 06(H), the rifle that began the roller-delayed blowback dynasty which has included Spanish CETMEs and German HK's like the G3 and MP5. Developed by Mauser engineers from the gas operated Gerat 06, it produced a much lig...

The 1860s saw much of Europe move to adopt breechloading rifles. Britain held extensive trials with over 20 designs tested, one of the most interesting was submitted by Johann von der Poppenburg. In this video Matt examines the engineering and history of Poppenburg's rifle and explains why it los...

While I was doing some research in the US National Archives' catalogue, for footage of the Ford M1918 Light Tank, I came across this snippet of film. As we saw in our earlier video on the M1918 the tank struggled to deal with some terrain. In this video we see that at one point the prototype 3-to...

In this TAB Short Matt discusses how historically accurate COD:WWII's Sterling model is and whether early Sterling SMG prototypes saw action during World War Two. This is something a little different to our normal content, Matt decided to discuss it as he's just written a book about the Sterling ...

In this very special episode Matt examines what is probably the first repeating bullpup rifle - the Curtis. Designed by a British inventor, William Joseph Curtis, in 1866 it predates all other known bullpups. The design never left prototype stage but gain notoriety in 1895 when it was used by the...

This short video is a bonus, filmed while we were opening one of the cases at the Cody Firearms Museum to examine another firearm (that video is coming soon) I noticed a sectioned British Pattern 14 rifle, made by Winchester for the British government during the First World War. It was too good a...

Following NATOs standardisation of 5.56x45mm, Heckler & Koch introduced the G41 in 1981, as NATO members began looking for new rifles. HK, however, struggled to find buyers for the G41. In this episode Matt takes a look at one of HK's rarest rifles. Comparing it to its predecessor the HK33 and di...

In 1855 Frederic Prince patented an interesting breechloading action which used a forward sliding barrel that allowed it to be loaded from the breech. In this episode Matt takes a look at a beautiful example of Prince's rifle. The British Army tested the rifle in 1855 and performed well and was r...

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...

The British Army tested the Sterling SMG all over the world, one of the most hostile environments it was tested in was the Malayan jungle. Troops there fitted several trials guns with a shotgun-style rib sight. It was hoped this would improve fast snap shooting during jungle patrols when contact ...

Vic's back! In this episode he takes a look at a very rare Spanish light machine gun, the CETME AMELI. Lucky enough to have access to an extremely rare factory cutaway model of the AMELI Vic examines how the gun works, and takes us through some of its features and discusses its history.

For Vic...

In this episode Matt takes a look at a very rare Model 1910 Maxim Silencer, even more rare as it is mounted on a M1903 Springfield. Developed by Hiram Percy Maxim, son of Hiram S. Maxim, in the early 1900s, the early Maxim suppressors were a commercial success but Maxim also sought military contr...

In this episode Matt takes a look at Heckler & Koch's briefcase gun or 'Special Case'. Developed by H&K in the late 1970s, the 'Special Case' was designed as a discreet, clandestine weapon system designed for personal protection details. The 'Special Case' offered the firepower of an MP5K in a co...

In this episode Matt takes a look at a very special rifle, an 18th century breech-loader - the Ferguson Rifle. Developed by Major Patrick Ferguson, a young Scottish light infantry officer, the rifle was heavily influenced by Isaac de la Chaumette's breech loading system. The rifle used a threaded...

Richard Fisher, the director of the Vickers Machine Gun Collection and Research Association, was kind enough to invite us down to take a look at his collection of Vickers guns. Richard is a fantastic source of information on the Vickers, and British small arms more generally, so it was a real ple...

When we think of Winchester we think of lever actions and timeless John Browning designs, we don’t usually think about submachine guns. In this episode Matt brings us the very first look at Winchester’s Experimental Submachine Guns developed during the mid-1950s. Very little is known or written a...

In this live fire episode Matt gets his hands on a French Modèle 1950. The Modèle 1950 replaced the earlier Modèles 1935A & S pistols in 1951. Chambered in 9x19mm it remained in service throughout the Cold War until it was replaced by a licensed copy of the Beretta 92. The Modèle 1950 is a simple...

In this live fire episode Matt gets behind a Hotchkiss ‘Portative’ light machine gun. The Hotchkiss was one of the earliest light machine guns to see general service. It was used in action by a number of countries during the First World War, the example we’re examining today is a British Mk1 Hotc...

This episode see Vic take a look at a Steyr AUG 9x19mm submachine gun conversion. The modular nature of the AUG has enabled it to fulfil both the assault rifle and light machine gun roles but it also allowed for a 9mm carbine variant, introduced in the late 1980s. Vic takes us through the nuances...

In this episode Matt examines an intriguing Colt Paterson No.5 Holster percussion revolver which has been adapted at some point with a loading lever. Developed by Samuel Colt and manufactured at his short-lived Patent Arms Company the Paterson revolvers were Colt's first foray into revolver manuf...

In this episode Matt takes a look at a Volkssturm Carbine designed by Rheinmetall. Developed at the very end of the war, the carbine was part of the Primitive Waffen program which was intended to arm the Volkssturm (a militia unit). Matt discusses the history of the Volkssturm and explains how th...

This TAB Short, takes a concise look at the Dreyse 1907. A pocket pistol thrust into police and military service before, during and after World War one. Matt examines an example of the 1907 and discusses its design, operation and history. The .32 ACP pistol was designed by Louis Schmeisser and pr...

This is the first in what will hopefully become a new series of videos where Vic and I look at some of the books we use to research some of the firearms we cover. We'll give an overview of what the books cover, how they approach subjects and how good a resource they are. In this video I take a lo...

In this episode Vic examines an Israeli Micro UZI submachine gun, chambered in 9x19mm, made by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). The Micro UZI was the first of the family of Weapons to be developed from a semi auto, not full auto gun. Check out our website https://armourersbench.com/2018/04/23/the-...