Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

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 […]

Chang Feng CS/LS 06 – China’s Take on the Helical-Mag SMG

June 5, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

The Chang Feng is named for the company that developed it, the Chongqing Chang Feng Company Ltd in (you guessed it) Chongqing. It was designed by one Qing Shangsheng, who had ample prior firearms design […]

Gnome et Rhône R5: A Foiled Communist Arms Plan

April 26, 2023 Ian McCollum 23

The R-5 was a French-made copy of the Sten produced after the 1944 liberation of France. It was built by Gnome et Rhône, a French company best known for making aircraft engines. The Sten was […]

Prototype Silenced Sten Mk4(S) at the Range

March 25, 2023 Ian McCollum 30

Yesterday we looked at the mechanics and the history of the Sten Mk4(S), and today we have it out at the range! The very short barrel and its porting reduce the velocity of standard 115gr […]

Prototype Silenced Sten for Paratroops: the Mk4(S)

March 24, 2023 Ian McCollum 0

The Sten Mk4 was developed experimentally in 1943 for use by British paratroops. It used a remarkably awful folding stock along with a shortened receiver and barrel to make a very compact package – albeit […]

VMP 1930 at the Range: does the Monopod Help?

March 18, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

Yesterday we took a look at the mechanics and history of Heinrich Vollmer’s 1930 pattern VMP, and today we have it out at the range. I’m curious is the mid-point monopod will actually help or […]

SMG With a Monopod? The Vollmer VMP-1930

March 17, 2023 Ian McCollum 12

In 1925, the German military began a series of secret SMG trials at the Kummersdorf testing grounds. One of the participants was Heinrich Vollmer. He was funded directly by the government for his small arms […]

Russia’s Big Fifty on the Range: DShK-38

March 11, 2023 Ian McCollum 21

Yesterday we looked at the history and the mechanics of the Soviet heavy machine guns from World War Two, the DShK-38. Today, we are taking it out to the range!

DShK-38: The Soviet Monster .50 Cal HMG

March 10, 2023 Ian McCollum 6

In 1925 the USSR began a program to develop a heavy machine gun for antiaircraft use. After some initial experimentation with a converted Dreyse machine gun, they brought in Degtyarev to scale up his recently-adopted […]

Darne Model 1933: An Economic & Modular Interwar MG

February 15, 2023 Ian McCollum 67

The Darne company was one of relatively few private arms manufacturers in France, best known for shotguns. During World War One they got into the machine gun trade, making licensed Lewis guns for the French […]