Oerlikon 20mm manual

March 30, 2011 Ian McCollum 23

The Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon was widely used by naval and air forces during World War II, by countries on both sides. It is a fairly well-recognized weapons, with a characteristic offset 60-round drum magazine. […]

Chinese Arisakas in 7.62x39mm

March 28, 2011 Ian McCollum 3

For many decades, the various Chinese military forces used an interesting variety of different weapons. Some purchased under contract, some locally manufactured, and some captured. One such captured weapon was the Type 38 Arisaka rifle. […]

G41(M) manual

March 25, 2011 Ian McCollum 1

The G41 was the first semiauto rifle adopted by the German military, and it was not particularly successful. The Mauser version in particular was really a failure – only a few thousand were produced before […]

Madsen M50 manual

March 23, 2011 Ian McCollum 5

The Danish Madsen firm (Dansk Industri Syndikat) just never quite hit the big-time. They built lots of interesting, good firearms, but never quite came up with something that became really iconic. The M/50 is a […]

PPSh Technical Manual

March 18, 2011 Ian McCollum 4

It’s a bit of a slow day here today – but we do have a new manual for you. It’s a 1956 edition of the Soviet armorer’s manual for the PPSh-41 and PPS-43. Everything you […]

Kubynov hopper-fed DP28

March 16, 2011 Ian McCollum 2

During the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the late 30s, there were numerous border skirmishes with Russian troops, and one result was the Russian capture of a number of Japanese Type 11 machine guns. Those […]

Chinese Type 64 suppressed SMG

March 14, 2011 Ian McCollum 1

Ever since 7.62×25 Tokarev ammo showed up dirt cheap on the market here in the US, people have been hankering for a light, handy carbine to shoot it. We’ve seen a few such guns show […]

Czech ZH29

March 11, 2011 Ian McCollum 2

The Czech ZH29 is a meticulously made example of early semiautomatic rifle design. Made in the era before WWII when great care was taken in making arms, the only stamped parts on it are the […]

EM-1 Manual

March 9, 2011 Ian McCollum 5

After World War II, the British began serious development of a replacement for the Sten and Enfield. A selfloading rifle was an obvious necessity, and they British took a lesson from German arms development and […]

Welrod pistol

March 7, 2011 Ian McCollum 7

The Welrod pistol was a creation of the British special operations community during the middle of WWII. A suppressed pistol was needed to shoot sentries on covert missions, and the Welrod was the answer. It […]