Light MGs - Forgotten Weapons

Steyr-Solothurn S2-200: the Austrian MG30 and Hungarian 31M

September 23, 2024 Ian McCollum 9

The S2-200 was developed by Louis Stange at the Rheinmetall company in Germany in the late 1920s. Because Germany was not allowed to be doing this sort of arms development at the time, Rheinmetall bought […]

HK21 or Portuguese m/968: The H&K G3 Grows into a Light Machine Gun

September 4, 2024 Ian McCollum 27

When Heckler & Koch produced the iconic G3 rifle, it was intended to be a parts of a complete small arms package. The G3 was the infantry rifle, and it was paired with the MP% […]

History of SAW Use in the US Army

July 26, 2024 Ian McCollum 37

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN! https://go.getenteredtowin.com/forgottenweapons DEADLINE to ENTER is TONIGHT 07/26/24 @ 11:59pm (PST). The first squad automatic weapon used by the US Army was the French Mle 1915 Chauchat, which was […]

.30-06 M1918 American Chauchat – Doughboys Go to France

May 4, 2024 Ian McCollum 28

When the US entered World War One, the country had a grand total of 1,453 machine guns, split between 4 different models. This was not a useful inventory to equip even a single division headed […]

Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919: the First Commercial BAR

April 26, 2024 Ian McCollum 16

Several patents were taken out on the BAR during World War One, but they were all kept unpublished and secret during the war. Just days after the Armistice, Colt patent attorney CJ Ehbets wrote to […]

DSA’s Modernized Mini-RPD at the Range

February 10, 2024 Ian McCollum 18

Full video available at all of these sites: History of Weapons & War Patreon Playeur Floatplane Today I am at the range with one of DSA’s mini-RPDs. The RPD is a nearly 80-year-old design (doesn’t […]

Making Do: South Africa’s 7.62mm NATO Bren Gun Conversions

December 23, 2023 Ian McCollum 3

During World War Two, the South African military used a lot of .303 caliber Bren guns. When 7.62mm NATO became the standard cartridge after the war, the Bren guns were put into storage, as converting […]

Hotchkiss Portative: Clunky But Durable

November 27, 2023 Ian McCollum 11

The Portative was an attempt by the Hotchkiss company to make a light machine gun companion to their heavy model (which had found significant commercial success). The Portative used the same feed strips, albeit loaded […]

FN Model 30: The First Belgian BAR

November 22, 2023 Ian McCollum 4

FN played a role in the production of Polish wz.28 BARs, and in the process obtained a copy of the technical package for the weapon, and converted it to metric measurements. Under the supervision of […]

The Gun Science Says Can’t Work: Madsen LMG Mechanics

November 21, 2023 Ian McCollum 14

The Madsen LMG is generally considered an extremely complex and confusing system – but is it really? Today we are taking one apart to see just how it actually works. Because in fact, it’s a […]