Submachine Guns - Forgotten Weapons

Gnome et Rhône R5: A Foiled Communist Arms Plan

April 26, 2023 Ian McCollum 23

The R-5 was a French-made copy of the Sten produced after the 1944 liberation of France. It was built by Gnome et Rhône, a French company best known for making aircraft engines. The Sten was […]

Prototype Silenced Sten Mk4(S) at the Range

March 25, 2023 Ian McCollum 30

Yesterday we looked at the mechanics and the history of the Sten Mk4(S), and today we have it out at the range! The very short barrel and its porting reduce the velocity of standard 115gr […]

Prototype Silenced Sten for Paratroops: the Mk4(S)

March 24, 2023 Ian McCollum 0

The Sten Mk4 was developed experimentally in 1943 for use by British paratroops. It used a remarkably awful folding stock along with a shortened receiver and barrel to make a very compact package – albeit […]

VMP 1930 at the Range: does the Monopod Help?

March 18, 2023 Ian McCollum 15

Yesterday we took a look at the mechanics and history of Heinrich Vollmer’s 1930 pattern VMP, and today we have it out at the range. I’m curious is the mid-point monopod will actually help or […]

SMG With a Monopod? The Vollmer VMP-1930

March 17, 2023 Ian McCollum 12

In 1925, the German military began a series of secret SMG trials at the Kummersdorf testing grounds. One of the participants was Heinrich Vollmer. He was funded directly by the government for his small arms […]

Romanian Orita Model 1941/48

January 30, 2023 Ian McCollum 14

The Orita SMG was designed by a Romanian Army Captian Marin Orita in 1941, and went into service in 1943. It was used primarily in Southern Europe in late WW2 with Romanian forces. It was […]

Bechowiec: Polish Teenager Makes a Resistance SMG

January 25, 2023 Ian McCollum 16

The Bechowiec (or Beha) is a fascinating SMG produced in small numbers in southern Poland under German occupation during World War Two. It was made for use by the Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasant Battalions) by a […]

Błyskawica: The Polish Home Army’s Clandestine SMG

December 23, 2022 Ian McCollum 14

The Blyskawica (“LIghtning”) is an SMG developed in occupied Poland to be issued out to Home Army units during Operation Tempest; the liberation uprisings planned for the advance of the Red Army into Poland. The […]

Frommer Pistolen-MG Model 1917: A Crazy Villar Perosa Copy

November 23, 2022 Ian McCollum 18

After encountering Italian Villar Perosa machine pistols in the field, Austro-Hungarian troops requested a similar weapon. The project was given to FÉG to work on, and the result was the Pistolen-MG Model 1917: a pair […]

Leningrad’s Emergency-Production PPS-42 at the Range

November 12, 2022 Ian McCollum 18

Yesterday we looked at the history of the PPS-42 and how it was developed into the much more common PPS-43. Today we are taking it out to the range – the only time one of […]