Heavy MGs
Extra-Light Maxim (1895)
One of the relatively few successful competitors to the Maxim in the early days of the heavy machine gun was the Col Model 1895 (aka, the Potato Digger). When it was adopted by the US […]
Machine Guns
Aircraft MGs
Video Q&A #3: What-Ifs and How-Comes
I initially figured these Q&A video would be a fun little side note, and I have been a bit taken aback by how popular they became…and so they keep getting longer. This one clocks in […]
Heavy MGs
“Transitional” Maxim
When we last left Hiram Maxim, he had perfected his very first machine gun – the world’s first practical machine gun, really. However, while his gun worked well, it was not yet a design which […]
Heavy MGs
The First Maxim Machine Gun
I am going to start an intermittent series of posts on the various different types of Maxim machine guns over the next few months – there are a whole slew of them, and I have […]
Light MGs
A Soviet Look at Cold War Small Arms Development
I have covered various elements of small arms development during the Cold War more than a few times – usually involving the contentious process that led to the 7.62mm NATO cartridge being adopted, and the […]
Prototype
Sidewinder SMG Photos
The Sidewinder is a rather unusual submachine gun designer by Sidney McQueen in the mid 1960s. His objective was to create a weapon which could be fired one-handed with the firepower of a submachine gun […]
Light MGs
Israeli Dror LMG: Shooting & Disassembly (Video)
The Dror was an Israeli copy of the Johnson LMG, which was made domestically in Israel as part of Israel’s war of independence in the late 1940s. The design was developed through a combination of […]
Light MGs
XM-248 LMG Manual
Rather than explain the background of the XM-248, I will put you in the very capable hands of Weaponsman.com, who has posted an excellent 3-part series on the development leading up to the XM-248, entitled […]
Light MGs
Madsen LMG Disassembly and Functioning (RIA)
The Madsen LMG is of particular interest to me because it is both a very mechanically unusual design and also a very early successful design. Madsen light machine guns were first used in combat in […]
Light MGs
White Prototype Open-Bolt LMG at RIA
Along with his two semiauto rifle prototypes, when White went to England for rifle testing he took along a work-in-progress light machine gun. The weapon was trsted by British officials, but found wanting – largely […]