Prototype
Throwback Thursday: A .22 Rifle for John Wayne
Today I’m reposting part of an interview I did with L James “Jim” Sullivan back in 2014. Aside from being one of the two men who did the conversion of the AR-10 into the AR-15, […]
Month: November 2021
Submachine Guns
M44 Submachine Gun: Finland Copies the Soviet PPS-43
The kp/31 Suomi submachine gun in Finnish service was an outstanding weapon, but it was slow and expensive to manufacture. When Finnish forces began capturing Soviet PPS-42 and PPS-43 submachine guns form the Soviets in […]
Submachine Guns
Best SMG of World War Two: The Beretta M38A
The Beretta Model 38A was one of the very best submachine guns of World War Two. Designed by veteran Beretta engineer Tullio Marengoni (who designed most of Beretta’s pistols as well as the Beretta M1918 […]
Uncategorized
Forgotten Weapons Gift Material, From Patches to Carbines!
You can find the WWSD 2020 rifle, WWSD Civil Defense Rifle, and KP-15 lower receivers at Brownells. Books are available from Headstamp Publishing. (Note that while you can pre-order my book on Chinese Warlord Pistols, […]
Select-fire Rifles
Belgian Black Rifle: the FNC at the Range
Today, we’re taking the FN FNC out to the range to see how it handles…
Conversion
FN FNC: The Belgian 5.56mm NATO Carbine
The FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine) was FN’s followup to the unsuccessful CAL rifle. Chambered for the newly-adopted 5.56mm NATO cartridge, the FNC uses a long stroke gas piston system very reminiscent of the AK, combined […]
Antiques
Dodge Patent Prototype Rolling Block Rifle
William Dodge and his brother were inventors in Washington DC who in the 1870s patented a bunch of different improvements to the Remington Rolling Block, among other guns. This particular one I cannot identify with […]
Semiauto pistol
Portuguese Army Lugers: From Manuel II to World War Two
Portugal first tested the Luger pistol in 1901, and its commission on self-loading pistols recommended the design for adoption in 1904. No money was available at the time, but a second commission again recommended the […]
Conversion
Spitfire: The Semiauto That Became a Machine Gun
The Spitfire is a firearm with an interesting importance in legal history. Originally designed and marketed as an open-bolt semiautomatic-only carbine, it was determined to be a machine gun under the law in 1968, and […]
Antiques
Unique Rotating Single-Shot Percussion Rifle
This is a very unusual single-shot muzzleloading rifle. It is devoid of markings that might identify it, but appears (to my eye, anyway) to have been built from what was originally intended to be a […]