Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

Colt’s Model 1915 Vickers Gun in .30-06

April 12, 2021 Ian McCollum 15

After extended testing in 1913 and 1914, the US formally adopted the Vickers gun as the Model 1915. A contract was placed for licensed production of 125 guns by Colt, who had also taken contracts […]

LAD: The Soviet Pistol-Caliber SAW that Could Have Been

April 11, 2021 Ian McCollum 39

This guest article written by Andrey Ulanov. In 1942, the Red Army was experiencing big problems with machine guns. Before the war, great hopes were pinned on Dyagterev’s brand new DS-39 heavy machine gun. But […]

Savage M1918 Aircraft Lewis at the Range (With Rare Tripod Mount!)

April 10, 2021 Ian McCollum 35

Yesterday we looked at the Savage M1918 aircraft version of the Lewis gun, used by American aviators during World War One. Today, we are taking it out to the range along with a very scarce […]

Savage M1918 Aircraft Lewis Gun

April 9, 2021 Ian McCollum 30

As an open-bolt machine gun, the Lewis was not well suited to synchronization on WW1 aircraft – but it was an ideal gun for flexible mounting. To suit this use, a series of aircraft-specific Lewis variations were […]

Sterling SMG at the Range

April 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 33

The L2A3 Sterling submachine gun was a staple of British and small arms after World War Two, until the L85 rifle was adopted. Designed by George Patchett during the war and produced by Sterling, it […]

Semiauto DShKM “Dushka” in .50 Browning

March 13, 2021 Ian McCollum 49

Developed by the Soviet Union primarily as an antiaircraft weapon (and used to good effect in that role through World War Two), the DShK heavy machine gun was modernized almost immediately upon adoption. The first […]

L4: The Bren in 7.62mm NATO

March 10, 2021 Ian McCollum 35

When the British military transitioned form the .303 British cartridge to 7.62mm NATO in the 1950s, it replaced the Enfield rifles with the new L1A1 SLR (the FAL) but retained the Bren gun as a […]

Wartime Changes: The Bren MkI Modified and Bren MkII

March 3, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

The British lost some 90% of their stock of Bren light machine guns in the disastrous Dunkirk evacuation, and in the following months rushed to rearm. Part of this program was a two-tiered simplification of […]

Very Rare and Mostly Pointless: the Bren Fixed Line Sight

February 25, 2021 Ian McCollum 19

The very early production MkI Bren light machine guns were made with two dovetail brackets on the left side of the receiver. The rear one was for the standard rear sight, and the front one […]

Bren MkI: The Best Light Machine Gun of World War Two

February 24, 2021 Ian McCollum 102

In the years after World War One, the British military wanted a new machine gun, and they wanted it to replace both the Lewis and the Vickers. Through the 1920s the British would tinker with […]