Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

US Navy MkVI Lewis Gun in .30-06 for the Marines

October 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 13

During World War One, the US Army basically got in a personality spat with Isaac Newton Lewis, and refused to adopt the Lewis gun. The British and Belgians happily made use of it though, and […]

Lercker M53 Experimental .380 Italian SMG (or PDW?)

October 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 28

Between 1952 and 1956 an Italian designer named Cesare Lercker from Bologna developed a series of pistols and submachine guns. He worked with Beretta, although it is unclear if he did the work at their […]

M16A Schwarzlose: Austro-Hungarian WW1 Aircraft MG

September 21, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

One of the rare aircraft machine guns from the First World War is the Austro-Hungarian Schwarzlose. This was a delayed blowback heavy machine gun used by the Empire’s infantry as the M1907/12, and it was […]

ARAC: Making Submachine Guns from Bolt Actions

September 8, 2026 Ian McCollum 14

In 1954 and 1955, the French company SOFAM (Société de Fabrication d’Armaments) in Paris marketed a system to convert bolt action rifles into submachine guns. The original design is reportedly Spanish, but was marketed through […]

Saco Defense M683: A Super-Simple SMG for the US Army

September 2, 2026 Ian McCollum 12

During the 1980s, the US ran the Joint Service Small Arms Program to reduce the number of different small arms in US inventory. The most significant outcome of this program was the M9 pistol, but […]

MAS SE 1935 SMG: Emblematic of French Interwar Gun Development

August 26, 2026 Ian McCollum 24

Submachine guns made their entrance into military thinking during World War One. The French military saw this and decided to adopt one in the years after the war, although they saw it in a bit […]

MG51: When the Swiss Make an MG42

August 19, 2026 Ian McCollum 21

When Switzerland decided to adopt a modern universal machine gun toe replace both the MG11 Maxim and the LMG25, both SIG and Waffenfabrik Bern used the German MG42 as a starting point. W+F Bern was […]

FNA Brescia’s Last Project: The X4 and X5 SMG and Machine Pistol

August 10, 2026 Ian McCollum 8

FNA (Fabbrica Nazionale d’Armi) Brescia was a factory in the Val Trompia in northern Italy, the same valley that is home to Beretta and many other, smaller Italian arms shops. During World War Two the […]

FN Evolys: A New Ultralight Squad Automatic Weapon in 5.56mm & 7.62mm

August 5, 2026 Ian McCollum 42

FN’s new Evolys machine gun is designed to fill an interesting role not already help by either the MAG or Minimi – it is intended as an automatic rifle in the mold of the BAR […]

Only for Algerian Terrorists: The Sola Super and Sola Leger SMGs

July 27, 2026 Ian McCollum 19

Sola (Société Luxembourgeoise d’Arms) was a company in Luxembourg that attempted to get into the arms business in the 1950s making simple, stamped 9mm open-bolt submachine guns. They produced two models, the Solar Super and […]