Semiauto Rifles
Czech vz. 52/57: The SKS We Have At Home
We don’t need the SKS, we have gun designers at home! In the early days of the Cold War, the Czechoslovak communist party was on very good terms with Josef Stalin, and were able to […]
Semiauto Rifles
Semiauto Rifles
The Sexy Retro Shorty: Original AR-180 Police Carbine
When Armalite designed the AR-180, they needed a factory to produce it, as their own production capacity was limited. Initially a license was granted to How in Japan, but this only lasted a few years […]
Competition
Egyptian 2-Gun: Rasheed and Browning High Power
We just looked at the Rasheed (and it’s Iraqi sibling the Baghdad) and today I’m taking it out to the monthly 2-Gun match. I’m pairing it with a United Arab Republic contract Browning High Power, […]
Semiauto Rifles
Baghdad Carbine: Iraq’s Super-Rare Copy of the Rasheed
In 1974, Iraq and Egypt were still on good relations, and Egypt sold Iraq a batch of 300 Rasheed carbines and the production tooling to manufacture them. Iraq quickly set up production and began making […]
Semiauto Rifles
The Rasheed: Egypt’s Semiauto Battle Carbine From Sweden
Egypt purchased tooling for the Swedish AG-42 Ljungman in 1952, and adapted it to their 8mm Mauser caliber as the Hakim rifle. Later, they scaled the rifle down to 7.62x39mm as the Rasheed, and manufactured […]
Reproduction
Introducing the BD-38: A New Production Copy of the German MP-38
There has never been a proper semiauto version of the MP40 available in the US, until now. SSD (Sport-Systeme Dittrich) is a German company that has been making semiauto copies of German WW2 small arms […]
Semiauto Rifles
Semiauto FG-42 at the Range: 1st and 2nd Patterns
Today we have both 1st and 2nd pattern semiauto FG-42s from SMG out at the range for some comparative shooting. Which is the better one to get?
Modifications
Pacific Theater USMC-Modified Johnson M1941 Rifle
Johnson M1941 rifles were used in limited numbers by the US Marine Corps in the Pacific theater of World War Two, but they were used – and generally well liked. Interestingly, there was a fairly […]
Semiauto Rifles
Taiwan’s Retro Gas Piston AR: the Type 65
When Taiwan decided to move from the M14 platform (the Type 57 in Taiwanese service) to a 5.56mm rifle, they decided to develop a domestic gas-piston version of the AR. Development began in 1973, with […]
Semiauto Rifles
Al Kadesih: Iraq’s Exceptionally Rare Dragunov Copy
The Al Kadesih (also sometimes spelled Al Kadesiah or Al Qadisiyah) is an Iraqi copy of the SVD Dragunov DMR/sniper rifle. It is not an exact copy, though, as it uses an AK-style stamped receiver […]