Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

The Schmeisser MP-28,II at the Range

November 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 14

We have previously looked at the original MP-18, the System Schmeisser improvement, and the followup MP-28,II design on the table – but we have not taken the MP-28 out to the range. So, that’s what […]

A Police SMG Upgrade: the MP-18 System Schmeisser

November 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 39

When the MP-18 was issued by the German Army in World War One, it used the then-in-production Luger “snail drum” magazines. These were expensive, awkward, and generally not ideal. Once the war ended, Hugo Schmeisser […]

ZX-7 American Sterling at the Range

October 30, 2021 Ian McCollum 27

Today we are taking the ZX-7 (essentially a Sterling SMG in .45 ACP) out to the range. It runs rather faster than I initially expected, but isn’t too hard to handle…

PAWS ZX-7: An American Sterling in .45 ACP

October 29, 2021 Ian McCollum 30

An American entrepreneur named Bob Imel found the Sterling SMG particularly interesting, and wanted to import them into the United States. He reached out to Sterling in 1967, but was unable to work out a […]

Miniature Fully Functional Taiwanese Preproduction Sten Gun

October 28, 2021 Ian McCollum 22

In the mid 1950s, the Nationalist government on Taiwan was in serious need of small arms, and decided to set up production of the Sten gun. They had the facilities of the 44th Arsenal outside […]

All the Blammo: HK51 at the Range

October 23, 2021 Ian McCollum 27

Just how concussive is the HK51? And how hard is it to control? Let’s find out!

HK51: The SAS’ Full Auto Flashbang Dispenser

October 22, 2021 Ian McCollum 43

The HK51 is not a gun that was ever actually produced by Heckler & Koch. It is instead a variation on the G3/HK91 originally developed by American H&K specialist Bill Fleming. He was contracted by […]

British .303 Browning Mk II* Aircraft Machine Gun

October 19, 2021 Ian McCollum 31

Britain began the process of replacing its Vickers aircraft machine guns with a new Colt/Browning design in 1935, with its adoption of the Colt MG40. This was essentially John Browning’s air cooled M1919 machine gun […]

Stemple STG-M1A (Thompson) at the Range

October 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 31

The STG-M1A certainly looks and feels like a Thompson, but does it shoot like a Thompson? Let’s find out!

Stemple 76/45 + Russian Lend-Lease Thompson Kit = STG-M1A

October 8, 2021 Ian McCollum 18

The modularity and clever design of the Stemple Takedown Gun is perhaps best illustrated by the STG-M1A and STG-1928 (these are the same gun with either a horizontal or vertical front grip). In the early […]