Artillery - Forgotten Weapons

SMLE Rifle Grenade Launcher (Video)

February 2, 2017 Ian McCollum 16

While rifle-launched grenades date back hundreds of years, they first came into widespread use during World War One, on all sides of the conflict. The first years of the war saw the use of rod […]

Maxim PomPom 37mm Machine Gun

September 13, 2016 Ian McCollum 49

“Pom-Pom” was the name given to the 37mm Maxim gun by the Boers of South Africa, based on the gun’s sound. It was a Maxim machine gun scaled up to the quite impressive 37mm caliber, […]

A 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt Cannon and the Type 30 Arisaka

July 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 18

First up, a 75mm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon that was on display at the Carabinieri Museum in Rome. Guns like this one were pretty widely used by countries all over the world, with a wide variety of details […]

German soldiers experimenting with a grenade catapult

Vintage Saturday: Getting Medieval

May 7, 2016 Ian McCollum 31

Somehow I don’t think the binoculars are particularly necessary…

James D. Julia: An Overview of 4-Bore Stopping Rifles

February 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 61

The 4-bore (approximately 1″/25mm bore diameter) is the largest shoulder-fired rifle actually used for hunting. Developed in the days of black powder muzzleloaders, it was intended to be the ultimate rifle of last resort, to […]

2nd Lieutenant L. J. Barley of the 1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), watching as a rifle grenade is prepared for firing from trenches at Grande Flamengrie Farm on the Bois Grenier sector of the line during February 1915.

Vintage Saturday: Rifle Grenade

December 19, 2015 Ian McCollum 62

2nd Lieutenant L. J. Barley of the 1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), watching as a rifle grenade is prepared for firing from trenches at Grande Flamengrie Farm on the Bois Grenier sector of the line […]

Type 89 Knee Mortar at James D Julia

September 23, 2015 Ian McCollum 41

The Type 89 grenade discharger, commonly known as the “knee mortar” was a Japanese light infantry weapon introduced in 1929 which blurs the lines between grenade launcher and mortar. Like a mortar, it fires propelled […]

RIA: Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon Reproduction

August 31, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

The Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon was developed in the 1870s as a competitor to the other manually-operated machine guns of the era, guns like the Gatling, Gardner, and Nordenfelt to name a few. What made the […]

T124E2 76mm Anti-Tank Gun

March 20, 2015 Ian McCollum 36

The T124E2 was the last US antitank gun, and was discontinued after only about 100 had been made – before it was put into service. It was a high velocity 76mm piece, and was replaced […]

US M3 37mm Antitank Gun (Video)

January 5, 2015 Ian McCollum 45

The M3 was the first real anti-tank gun adopted by the US military, and it was not formally adopted until 1940 – and was thoroughly obsolete in Europe by 1942. The initial design was based […]