Q&A
Q&A #33: It’s All Compromises
Time for another monthly Q&A! 00:18 – Guns that exceeded and fell short of my expectations? 03:14 – Why did the US keep the 1903 instead of the 1917 after WW1? 04:59 – Bren guns […]
Year: 2019
Semiauto pistol
Ecia Model 1930 Family: Competitors to the Astra
Juan Esperanza was one of the two partners who formed the Astra company (with Pedro Unceta). When the two had a falling-out in 1925 and parted ways, Esperanza formed his own company and went on […]
Book review
Book Review: Arms & Accoutrements of the Mounted Police 1873-1973
The Royal North West Mounted Police (later merged with the Dominion Police to become the RCMP – Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are an interesting and often overlooked element of the western frontier. We Americans tend […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Shooting the Mle 1866 Chassepot
A while back, I visited @CanadianGunLover, and we did a bit of shooting with an 1866 Chassepot. I lost track of the footage and only just now found where I had put it – so […]
Uncategorized
Apocrypha – WW1 Battlefield Tour Sneak Peek
I partnered up with Military Historical Tours to guide a World War One battlefield tour this week, and I figured I’d give you a bit of a peek into it. We are looking at the […]
Prototype
Too Late and Not Much Better: the Austen Mk II SMG
The story of the Austen submachine gun did not end when the Mk I guns were pulled from combat service in 1944. The manufacturer continued to work on an improved version, which would be ready […]
Submachine Guns
The Diggers’ Dismay: Austen Mk I SMG
When World War Two began, Australia saw little threat of invasion from Germany (obviously), and sent a substantial number of firearms to Britain to help arm the Home Guard there, which was seriously concerned about […]
Commentary
AS Val, VSS Vintorez, OTs-14 Groza, and more: 9x39mm with Max Popenker
Today we welcome back Max Popenker of ModernFirearms.net to discuss the Soviet and Russian development of the 9x39mm suppressed rifle cartridge. From the early unsuccessful and sidetracked efforts to replace the PBS suppressor through the […]
Semiauto pistol
Star Pistol-Carbines: Model MMS and Model MB
Star produced 1911-style pistols in a wide variety of calibers and configurations for more than 50 years, including several models with shoulder stocks. Two of the later such models were the MMS and MB. These […]
Book review
Book Review: The Ross Rifle Story
“The Ross Rifle Story” is the Bible of Ross rifle collecting – it is the only substantial reference work on the subject and it has a tremendous amount of information about the development of the […]