Submachine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

At the Range with the Marlin UD-42 SMG

October 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 13

This is Lot 1106 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphys Extraordinary auction. The Marlin / United Defense US-42 submachine gun was not used by the American military, but it did see service in World War […]

Marlin M2 at the Range: A Remarkably Nice SMG

October 5, 2019 Ian McCollum 7

This is Lot 1037 in the upcoming October 2019 Morphy Extraordinary auction. After yesterday’s history and disassembly, I had a chance to take the Hyde/Marlin M2 submachine gun out to the range today for some […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Sterling S11: Donkey in a Thoroughbred Race

June 26, 2019 Ian McCollum 43

In the 1960s, the Sterling company began to worry about the prospects of continued sales of the Sterling (Patchett) SMG, especially in light of new competitors like the H&K MP5. Its chief design engineer, Frank […]

Sanna 77: A Czech SMG Turned South African Carbine

June 19, 2019 Ian McCollum 8

The Sanna 77 was a semiauto copy of the Czech Sa 25 submachine gun. It was first produced in Rhodesia by the GM Steel company for the Rhodesian military. In this form, it was the […]