Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

PAM-2: Argentina’s Improved 9mm Grease Gun

June 24, 2024 Ian McCollum 8

The Argentine factory FMAP-DGFM was first set up to produce a copy of the Colt 1911, and in 1954 they began production of the PAM-1 (after demonstration of the first prototype in 1950). The PAM-1 […]

Sten Mk5: The Cadillac of the Sten Family

June 17, 2024 Ian McCollum 24

The Sten Mk5 (sometimes written Sten MkV) was really the Cadillac of the Sten series. It was designed in 1943, and featured a full wooden buttstock patterned after the No4 Enfield rifle, as well as […]

Kord: Russia’s New .50 Cal Heavy Machine Gun

June 10, 2024 Ian McCollum 23

The Kord was developed to replace the Soviet NSV heavy machine gun. The NSV was developed in 1969 to replace the DShK, and it was a pretty good gun – but it was manufactured in […]

Sten MkIII: A Children’s Toy Company Makes SMGs

June 5, 2024 Ian McCollum 12

Lines Brothers was a company in the UK that made sheet metal childrens’ toys prior to the war. When production of the Sten guns began, Lines Bros was a parts subcontractor. Their engineers analyzed the […]

Romania’s AK-Based SMG: the LP7

June 1, 2024 Ian McCollum 2

Full cut with shooting segment in History of Weapons & War: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/lp7-smg-4k In the mid 1990s, UMC Cugir began looking at ways to adapt its AKM production tooling to make a 9mm submachine gun. What […]

Sten MkII: Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Simpler

May 29, 2024 Ian McCollum 28

The Sten MkI had barely been approved for production when the Sten MkII was born. Initially requested to produce a version of the gun suitable for paratroopers, in March 1941 Harold Turpin redesigned the front […]

Sten MkI & MkI*: The Original Plumber’s Nightmare

May 22, 2024 Ian McCollum 15

The Sten gun was designed by RSAF Senior Draftsman (sorry, Draughtsman) Harold Turpin in December, 1940. He sketched out a simple trigger mechanism on December 2, showed it to Major Reginald Shepherd the next day, […]

Finland’s Prototype Belt-Fed GPMG: L41 Sampo

May 13, 2024 Ian McCollum 25

During the 1930s, there was interest in Finland in replacing the Maxim heavy machine gun with something handier and more mobile. There were experiments with large drum magazines for the LS-26 light machine gun, but […]

MG08: The Devil’s Paintbrush

May 6, 2024 Ian McCollum 16

The MG08 was the German Army standard Maxim gun in World War One. The Germany Navy adopted the Maxim first in 1894, followed by the Army in 1899, then a new pattern in 1901, and […]

.30-06 M1918 American Chauchat – Doughboys Go to France

May 4, 2024 Ian McCollum 28

When the US entered World War One, the country had a grand total of 1,453 machine guns, split between 4 different models. This was not a useful inventory to equip even a single division headed […]