Select-fire Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

Roller Delay in France: The H&K 33F (Trials & Export Models)

July 14, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

Check out Headstamp Publishing’s extensive catalog of excellent books: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/home-forgotten When France was looking to replace the MAS 49/56 rifle for military service in the 1970s, it tested all of the major rifle options available. […]

AK4 TP: Estonia’s Modernized G3 DMR / Sniper

June 30, 2025 Ian McCollum 13

When Estonia received a large influx of small arms from Sweden they got both regular AK4 rifles (Sweden’s version of the G3) and scoped DMR models. The standard Estonian infantry squad had nine riflemen and […]

Haenel’s Prototype Simplified Sturmgewehr StG45(H)

May 26, 2025 Ian McCollum 77

In December 1944, the Haenel company received permission to produce a simplified version of the StG-44 Sturmgewehr. The idea was to keep the mechanical system and controls as similar as possible to the design in […]

AK4: Sweden’s Beefed-Up Take on the G3

May 19, 2025 Ian McCollum 13

Order your copy of Small Arms of the Cold War: Battle Rifles of NATO today: https://www.headstamppublishing.com/cold-war-battle Or if you are in Europe, please order through our European site: https://www.headstampbook.com/cold-war-battle When Sweden decided to replace its […]

Domestic Burmese G3s: BA64 Rifle and BA-72 Carbine

April 12, 2025 Ian McCollum 3

After achieving independence from the British, Burma (now Myanmar) looked to develop a domestic small arms industry to supply its armed forces. The first weapon produced there was the BA-52, a copy of (how they […]

Type 56C: China’s Last Military AK (And It’s Totally Non-Standard)

March 17, 2025 Ian McCollum 14

The Type 56C is the final iteration of Chinese Kalashnikov, originally intended for export but primarily used by Chinese police and special forces. It is a short-barreled carbine with a folding stock, and remarkably few […]

India’s FAL: The 1A1 Inch/Metric Hybrid

February 5, 2025 Ian McCollum 13

For political reasons, India decided to adopt the 7.62mm NATO cartridge when it needed to replace its No1 MkIII SMLE bolt action rifles with a modern self-loader. They chose the FN FAL as the rifle […]

SR-88A: Singapore’s Final Evolution of the AR-18

January 20, 2025 Ian McCollum 19

Chartered Industries of Singapore was founded in 1967, and started making M16 rifles under license in 1970. These were sold to the Singaporean military as well as Thailand. To get out of their licensing agreement […]

Steyr AUGs of the Falkland Islands Defense Force

January 8, 2025 Ian McCollum 24

The Falkland Islands Defense Force is a small organization independent of the British military, run directly by the Falkland Islands government. When it decided to update its small arms form the L1A1 SLR (aka British […]

The First Sturmgewehr: The MKb42(H)

November 27, 2024 Ian McCollum 16

The first iteration of the iconic German Sturmgewehr was developed by Haenel starting in 1938. It was a select-fire rifle chambered for the short 8x33mm cartridge, developed by the Polte company. It used a long-stroke […]