Machine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

Chinese Type 50 PPSh: Founding “Gun City” in Manchuria

April 12, 2024 Ian McCollum 1

One of the first new weapons adapted and used by the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army after the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war was the Type 50, a copy of the Soviet PPSh-41. The […]

Zagi: Croatia HK’s a Sten Gun

March 20, 2024 Ian McCollum 29

The Zagi is one of the more prolific of the Croatian homeland War submachine guns. It was developed with the intention of making substantial numbers, and a lot of capital was put into the PHTO […]

Prototype Matra Manurhin Compact SMG at the Range

March 9, 2024 Ian McCollum 13

https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/matra-manurhin-smg-at-the-range I came across this prototype (serial number 7) PDW/compact SMG in a collection, and had the opportunity to take it out to try on the range. I don’t have any specific data about it, […]

Token of Appreciation: a Presentation Sokac SMG

February 28, 2024 Ian McCollum 8

The Šokac was one of the more prolific Croatian domestic submachine guns of the Homeland War. This particular example is one that was specifically presented to the police chief of the town of Slavonsky Brod […]

Patchett Machine Carbine MkI: Sten Becomes Sterling

February 14, 2024 Ian McCollum 27

The Patchett Machine Carbine Mk I is the predecessor to the Sterling SMG. It was developed by George William Patchett, who was an employee of the Sterling company. At the beginning of the war, Sterling […]

DSA’s Modernized Mini-RPD at the Range

February 10, 2024 Ian McCollum 18

Full video available at all of these sites: History of Weapons & War Patreon Playeur Floatplane Today I am at the range with one of DSA’s mini-RPDs. The RPD is a nearly 80-year-old design (doesn’t […]

Prototype French MAS-49 SMG in .45ACP

January 31, 2024 Ian McCollum 0

In the late 1940s the French developed a new suite of small arms, including a competition to replace the 7.65mm MAS-38 submachine gun with a new 9x19mm SMG. The eventual winner of this program was […]

Vila Velabita: Croatian Submachine Gun Made in a Shed

January 24, 2024 Ian McCollum 13

At the beginning of Croatia’s Homeland War, a severe need for small arms led to a whole plethora of simple submachine gun designs. Some were made in proper factories with professional tooling, and some were […]

Ero: The Croatian Uzi (With Israeli Help?)

January 3, 2024 Ian McCollum 4

The best of the submachine guns made in Croatia during the Homeland War was the Ero, made by a company called Arma. The Ero is a basically perfect, parts-interchangeable copy of the Israeli Uzi that […]

Cold War Belgium: Comparing the Vigneron M1 and M2 SMGs

December 27, 2023 Ian McCollum 2

The Vigneron was Belgium’s standard submachine gun during the early years of the Cold War. It was originally adopted as the M1 in 1953, and about 21,300 were made. In 1954, several modifications were made, […]