Heavy MGs
Russia’s Big Fifty on the Range: DShK-38
Yesterday we looked at the history and the mechanics of the Soviet heavy machine guns from World War Two, the DShK-38. Today, we are taking it out to the range!
Slow motion
How Does it Work
Ask Ian: Analyzing the Savage Rotating Barrel (at 7500 frames/sec)
A question I have been asked by several different people in several Q&A threads is: “Does the Savage rotating-barrel system actually do anything?” In his 1905 patent, Elbert Searle specifically claims that his design creates […]
Slow motion
Nicer Than It Looks: Yugoslav M56 at the Range
The Yugoslav M56 is a hybrid of the MP40 general design with the Soviet 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge, and a gun whose practical shootability is surprisingly better than its looks would lead one to expect. This […]
Slow motion
Steyr’s Take on the Uzi: MPi-69 at the Range
I expected the MPi-69 to be a rather difficult gun to shoot well, with its very simple construction and wire stock, but I was pleasantly surprised on the range. The rate of fire is quite […]
Antiques
M8C Spotting Rifle at the Range
The M8C is a rifle that presents a whole lot of really intriguing possibilities. It is compact, with detachable magazines, a modular trigger system, and a neat cartridge that is a bit easier to handle […]
Light MGs
The Finnish RPK: Valmet 78 at the Range
Valmet designed the M78 hoping to sell it to the Finnish military as an equivalent to the RPK, but it was not adopted. Instead, they were old a semiautos on the commercial market. Because this […]
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A Belgian Sten Replacement: Vigneron M2 at the Range
The Vigneron was adopted to replace the Sten in Belgian service – so is it actually better than the Sten? In my opinion, yes. The sights and overall handling are better. The pistol grip is […]
General Purpose MGs
Danish Madsen-Saetter GPMG at the Range
The Madsen-Saetter is a general purpose machine gun that had the unfortunate luck to compete against the MG42/MG3 and FN MAG. It is a quite nice gun to shoot, but not quite up to the […]
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Economy SIG: The MP48 at the Range
The SIG MP48 was the result of a series of successively cheaper and simpler iterations of the MKPS design. They kept the basic receiver geometry, but lost much of the finesse. The MP48 in particular […]
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SIG MKPS at the Range
Today we have the SIG MKPS out at the range – and WOW! I did not anticipate just how fast-firing of a submachine gun this is. Calculating from the high speed footage, it is running […]