Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

Hovea M44: Husqvarna Makes a Submachine Gun

September 22, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

The Hovea M44 was tested by the Danish and Swedish militaries in 1945, competing agains the Carl Gustaf M45. It was designed and produced by Husqvarna (yes, the chainsaw company) and just 10 of them […]

The Best Operational Briefcase: American 180 & Laser Sight

September 5, 2025 Ian McCollum 45

The “American 180 Security Briefcase” is the best execution of the operational briefcase concept that I have yet seen. The idea is simple; hide a submachine gun inside an ordinary looking briefcase so that it […]

Registered Bolt vs Registered Receiver Uzis

September 1, 2025 Ian McCollum 17

Most of the transferrable Uzis in the US are not factory original guns, but rather semi autos that were converted and registered as machine guns in the US before 1986 (when such activity was legal). […]

Potato Digger at War: Marlin Model 1917 Machine Gun

August 27, 2025 Ian McCollum 19

John Browning’s first machine gun design was a gas operated system that used a swinging lever instead of a linear piston. He presented the first prototype to Colt in 1890, and it went into production […]

Interdynamic MP-9 SMG: Origin of the TEC-9

August 13, 2025 Ian McCollum 28

The story of the Tec-9 begins with a Swedish company called Interdynamic AB and their designer Göran Lars Magnus Kjellgren designing a cheap and simple submachine gun for military use. It found no interested clients, […]

Colt SMG: First of the 9mm ARs

August 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 3

All the best firearms history channels streaming to all major devices! Join today and get a week free: weaponsandwar.tv With the expansion of SWAT teams throughout law enforcement in the 1980s, Colt realized that it […]

CZ247: Experimental Swivel-Action SMG

July 16, 2025 Ian McCollum 11

The CZ247 was developed for Czechoslovakia’s post-war submachine gun trials, where it was pitted against the ZB47. It was a simple blowback 9x19mm SMG with a number of interesting elements, most notably the ability to […]

Valmet M78 vs FN-D (w/ John Keene)

July 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 46

If you had to pick one, would you take a Valmet M78 (in 7.62mm NATO) or an FN-D (in .30-06)? Both are reliable and well-made machine guns and they use essentially the same caliber. The […]

URZ: Czech Prototype Universal Modular Weapon

July 7, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

The URZ (Univerzální Ruční Zbraň, or Universal Hand Weapon) was a 1966 project designed by Jiří Čermák (designer of the vz.58 rifle). He envisioned a weapons system family with largely interchangeable elements that could be […]

Orita 1941: The Original Romanian Submachine Gun

July 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 7

The Model 1941 Orita was Romania’s first domestic submachine gun, but after World War Two the design was upgraded in many ways. The Model 41/48 improved the stock, sights, and controls – and virtually all […]