Submachine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

Smith & Wesson 76: American’s Vietnam 9mm SMG

October 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 49

This S&W 76 is being sold by Morphys on October 30, 2018. Early in the Vietnam War, the US Navy acquired a quantity of Swedish M/45B submachine guns (“Swedish K”) for special forces use. By […]

Shooting the Thompsons: Comparing the 1921, 21/28, and M1A1

October 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

These Thompsons are all being sold by Morphys on October 30, 2018: Model 1921 (transferrable), Model 1921/28 overstamp (transferrable), and M1A1 (pre-86 dealer sample). Having gone through the whole series of Thompson submachine guns, not […]

The Iconic American WW2 Thompson: the M1A1

October 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 34

This Thompson is being sold by Morphys on October 30, 2018. Note that I refer to the M1A1 in this video as a transferrable gun; it is actually a pre-May dealer sample. Sorry! While the US […]

World War Two Heats Up: The M1928A1 Thompson SMG

October 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

These two 1928A1 Thompsons (Savage manufacture and Auto-Ordnance manufacture) are being sold by Morphys on October 30, 2018. By 1939, Auto-Ordnance was thoroughly bankrupt, having about $400 in assets and a debt of more than […]

The Marines’ First SMG: 1921/28 Thompson Gun

October 9, 2018 Ian McCollum 28

This Thompson is being sold at Morphys on October 30, 2018. The USMC had acquired a few hundred early 1921 model Thompson submachine guns in 1926, and prompted the US Navy to formally test the […]

Thompson 1921: The Original Chicago Typewriter

October 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 31

This Thompson is being sold at Morphys on October 30. The first prototype Thompsons submachine guns (and it was Thompson who coined that term, by the way) were produced in 1919 and dubbed the “Annihilators”. […]

Ukrainian or Russian Partisan Modified MP40

September 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Some collectors hunt for firearms which look perfectly new form the factory, and others prefer arms that show lots of evidence of use and history. Well, this is definitely one of the latter type – […]

Suomi m/31 – Finland’s Excellent Submachine Gun

August 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

RIA’s catalog page for this SMG (transferrable) Designed by Aimo Lahti, the Suomi m/31 submachine gun is in my opinion one of the standout submachine guns of the World War Two era. Despite its hefty […]

Book Review: The Suomi M/31 by Michael Heidler

August 5, 2018 Ian McCollum 9

Michael Heidler’s bi-lingual (German and English) book on the Finnish Suomi m/31 submachine gun is a small but dense history of one of the best submachine guns of World War Two. It covers Aimo Lahti’s […]

Star Z-70B: Spain’s Improved SMG

August 4, 2018 Ian McCollum 24

The Star Z-70B was an incremental improvement on the earlier Z-62 and Z-63 submachine guns adopted by the Spanish military and security services. It remains an open bolt, selective fire design, with an underfolding stock. […]