Light MGs - Forgotten Weapons

Madsens in the Favelas: The LMG Still Going Strong With Rio’s Military Police

November 8, 2023 Ian McCollum 2

The Madsen LMG was first introduced in 1902, and it is still in use with police forces in Brazil today. The Madsen was not very popular with major European armies, but it sold extensively in […]

AMELI: Spain’s Not-Mini-MG42 in 5.56mm

August 26, 2023 Ian McCollum 26

The AMELI (which is a contraction of “ametralladora ligera”, or light machine gun) was introduced by CETME in 1981, and adopted by the Spanish military as the MG82. It was a counterpart LMG to the […]

Last Gasp of the German Maxim: the Air-Cooled MG 08/18

June 7, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

The MG 08/18 was developed at the very end of World War One as a lighter alternative to the MG 08/15. It used an air-cooled barrel, and between not needing water and having lighter parts […]

Yugoslav M72: The Early Balkan RPK

February 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 29

When the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army began AK development, they produced the M64 infantry rifle and the M65 support weapon. The M65 had a longer and heavier profile barrel and a bipod – and in its […]

From Aircraft to Improvised Infantry: the Vickers MkI No2

December 21, 2022 Ian McCollum 21

The Vickers MkI No2 was an improvisation of the British Royal Air Force. They needed arms for airbase defense, without unduly impacting the production of weapons for the infantry. Wheat they had a good supply […]

Vektor Mini-SS: South Africa’s Answer to the FN Minimi

December 9, 2022 Ian McCollum 37

While under international embargo and at war in the late 1970s, South Africa needed a new 7.62mm GPMG. The answer was Vektor’s SS77, a design which would replace the FN MAG in South African service […]

USMC Johnson LMG at the Range

October 25, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

The Johnson LMG was adopted by the US Marine Corps for specialist units like Paramarines and Raiders, and saw use in some of the fiercest island campaign of the Pacific (in addition to use in […]

Forgotten Web Gear: Johnson LMG Magazine Backpack

October 24, 2022 Ian McCollum 8

While the Johnson LMG was issued in limited quantities throughout World War Two, notably to Marine Raiders, Paramarines, and the 1st Special Service Force, the US never issued web gear made for its uniquely-sized magazines. […]

Colt Model 621: An Attempt at an AR-Style Export SAW

October 20, 2022 Ian McCollum 50

During the 1970s and 1980s, Colt wanted to sell not just standard M16 rifle and CAR-15 carbines to foreign military customers, but also wanted to supply support weapons. They put together the Model 621, aka […]

The Czech Unicorn LMG: A Squad Support CZ-2000

August 27, 2022 Ian McCollum 17

The CZ-2000 project in the Czech Republic (derived from the Lada developed in the late years of Czechoslovakia) envisioned a full suite of infantry arms, much like the AK as used by other countries. There […]