Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

America’s Forgotten SMG: The Hyde/Marlin M2

October 4, 2019 Ian McCollum 21

This is Lot 1037 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy Extraordinary auction. The United States went into World War Two with the Thompsons submachine gun – a weapon far too heavy and too expensive for […]

State of the NFA Collecting Community 2019, with John Keene

October 2, 2019 Ian McCollum 9

When I film at the Morphy Auction Company, I always enjoy taking time to chat with Master Sergeant (retired) John Keene, who is their NFA expert. He always has some very interesting insights into the […]

Turkish Vickers: A Gun With All the Widgets!

October 1, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

This is Lot 1127 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphys Extraordinary auction. During World War One, the Ottoman Empire would join the war on the side of the Central Powers, in part because of a […]

CETME C2, aka CB-64: Spain’s Version of the Sterling SMG

September 30, 2019 Ian McCollum 6

This is Lot 2068 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy’s Extraordinary auction. Developed by CETME in the 1960s, the C2 (aka CB64) submachine gun was clearly inspired b y the Sterling, but includes several clever […]

WW1 Villar Perosa SMG at the Range

September 28, 2019 Ian McCollum 51

This is lot 1042 in the Morphy Extraordinary Auction on October 22, 2019. Courtesy of the Morphy Auction Company, I am out at the range today with a very rare Italian Villar Perosa machine gun from […]

John Browning vs Hiram Maxim: Patent Fight!

September 25, 2019 Ian McCollum 19

When John Browning designed his Model 1895 machine gun with it’s rotary-lever gas operation system, Hiram Maxim filed suit claiming patent infringement. Maxim had filed quite broad patents covering gas pistons operation, but specifically in […]

Sterling Meets Owen: The Australian F1 Submachine Gun

September 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 28

The Australian Owen submachine gun was once of the best overall SMG designs of the Second World War, and when Australia decided to replace them in the 1960s, the new F1 design have big shoes […]

Too Late and Not Much Better: the Austen Mk II SMG

September 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

The story of the Austen submachine gun did not end when the Mk I guns were pulled from combat service in 1944. The manufacturer continued to work on an improved version, which would be ready […]

The Diggers’ Dismay: Austen Mk I SMG

September 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 20

When World War Two began, Australia saw little threat of invasion from Germany (obviously), and sent a substantial number of firearms to Britain to help arm the Home Guard there, which was seriously concerned about […]

C2A1: Canada’s Squad Automatic FAL

September 6, 2019 Ian McCollum 33

Canada was the first country to formally adopt the FN FAL as its standard service rifle, and in 1958 it added the C2 light machine gun version of the FAL to its arsenal. The C2, […]