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HomePrototype

Prototype

Conversion

Experimental AG-42B Conversion to 7.62mm NATO

April 14, 2025 Ian McCollum 10

Circa 1954, Sweden was starting to look for a new self-loading rifle to adopt for its infantry. The 6.5x55mm cartridge was a good round, but the idea of having ammunition compatibility with its neighbors was […]

Prototype

One of a Kind Prototype vz.38 Pistol in .32ACP

April 11, 2025 Ian McCollum 8

When CZ developed the vz.38 pistol for the Czechoslovak military, they made a number of attempts to also sell it on the international export market. This involved offering some various changes in configuration for different […]

Bolt Action Rifles

Stamm-Saurer Model 1907: A New Swiss Straight-Pull Bolt Action Rifle

April 2, 2025 Ian McCollum 4

After leaving the Zeller company, Hans Stamm went looking for work at major gun manufacturers like WF Bern and SIG. He ended up hired in 1907 by a company caller Saurer. This was an automotive […]

Prototype

Erma EMP36: External Form Factor of the MP40

March 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 23

The German military began looking for a new submachine gun design in secret in the mid 1930s. There is basically no surviving documentation, but the main contenders appear to have featured: Hugo Schmeisser’s MK-36,II and […]

Prototype

Schmeisser MK-36,II – The Mechanics of the MP40

March 24, 2025 Ian McCollum 9

The German military began looking for a new submachine gun design in secret in the mid 1930s. There is basically no surviving documentation, but the main contenders appear to have featured: Hugo Schmeisser’s MK-36,II and […]

Prototype

Aimpoint’s Only Gun: The PC-80 Symmetrical Action

February 15, 2025 Ian McCollum 56

Today we are looking at the entire scope of Aimpoint’s firearms development division…which is actually just this one firearm. Aimpoint was founded in 1975 as a partnership between Arne Ekstrand (a Swedish inventor with an […]

Light MGs

Praga I-23: Prototype Belt-Fed Predecessor of the ZB26

February 3, 2025 Ian McCollum 52

Vaclav Holek’s first machine gun design for the Czech military was the Praga I, built in 1922 and based heavily on the Vickers/Maxim system. However, it became clear that the military wanted something lighter and […]

Heavy MGs

Praga I: A Blow-Forward Bullpup Semi-Auto-Selectable Vickers Gun

January 15, 2025 Ian McCollum 19

The Praga I was the first machine gun design from noted Czech arms designed Vaclav Holek. Three examples were made for Czech military testing in 1922, but they were not acceptable. Instead, this design served […]

Prototype

ZB47: A Truly Weird Czech SMG

December 23, 2024 Ian McCollum 35

The ZB47 was developed at Brno as a contender for Czech military submachine gun adoption in the late 1940s. The Czech Army had technically adopted a submachine gun prior to World War Two (the vz.38; […]

Prototype

sa81 KRASA: Czechoslovakia’s Ultra-Compact Lost PDW

October 14, 2024 Ian McCollum 29

The Krása project (which translates as “beauty”, but is also a shortening of “short assault rifle” – “KRÁtký SAmopal”) is a fascinating piece of Czech small arms development. In 1976, the Czechoslovakian military requested development […]

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