• Contact Ian
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Forgotten Weapons

Support Forgotten Weapons

Enjoy what you read on Forgotten Weapons? Please consider supporting me on Utreon or checking out our new Merchandise Shop! Thanks!
  • Home
  • Special Collections
    • M1 Carbine Development
    • M1 Garand Development
    • Bergmann Automatic Pistols
    • Carbine Williams and Winchester
  • Handguns
    • Machine Pistols
    • Revolvers
    • Semi-Auto Pistols
  • Shotguns
  • Rifles
    • Anti-Tank Rifles
    • Bolt-Action Rifles
    • Lever-Action Rifles
    • Revolving Rifle
    • Select Fire Rifles
    • Semi-Auto Rifles
    • Single Shot Rifles
    • Sniper Rifles
  • Machine Guns
    • Aircraft MGs
    • GPMGs
    • HMGs
    • LMGs
    • Manual Machine Guns
    • SMGs
  • Other
    • Accessories
    • Ammunition
    • Artillery
    • Biographies
    • Book Reviews
    • Cannon
    • Flamethrowers
    • Flare Guns
    • Interviews
    • Q & A
    • Rocket Launchers
    • Tours
  • Shop
HomeAustralia

Australia

Light MGs

Australia’s FAL-Based L2A1 Heavy Automatic Rifle

April 21, 2021 Ian McCollum 44

Many the nations that adopted the FAL (or L1A1, in Commonwealth terminology) opted to also use a heavy-barreled variant of the same rifle as a light support weapon. In the Commonwealth, this was designated L2A1 […]

Submachine Guns

Get Your Sunglasses, it’s Original Owen Gun Camo!

January 26, 2021 Ian McCollum 33

I had the chance to take a look at this Australian World War 2 Owen submachine gun, and it’s *very* bright camouflage paint. My initial reaction was that it was a poorly done restoration, because […]

Antiques

S&W’s Pistol-Carbine for the South Australian Police

December 1, 2020 Ian McCollum 29

In 1880, the South Australian Police service was introduced to the Smith & Wesson No3 New Model revolver at the Melbourne Exhibition. They took a liking to the design, and promptly ordered 250 of them, […]

Submachine Guns

Fun With OOBs: An Austen MkII at the Range

November 19, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

A little while back I had a chance to take an Austen MkII out to the range. There were only a couple hundred of these ever made, at the end of World War Two in […]

Slow motion

Shooting the AuSTEN MkI – Not Actually So Bad!

October 16, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

This is Lot 1019 in the upcoming October Morphy Extraordinary auction. I have read much about the Australian dislike for the Austen submachine gun, but until now I never had the chance to actually try […]

Slow motion

The Owen SMG: Looks Bad; Shoots Good

October 15, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

This is Lot 2012 in the upcoming October Morphy Extraordinary auction. The Owen Gun is one of the really good submachine guns fielded during the Second World War, but is a very scarce gun to […]

Submachine Guns

Sterling Meets Owen: The Australian F1 Submachine Gun

September 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 28

The Australian Owen submachine gun was once of the best overall SMG designs of the Second World War, and when Australia decided to replace them in the 1960s, the new F1 design have big shoes […]

Prototype

Too Late and Not Much Better: the Austen Mk II SMG

September 12, 2019 Ian McCollum 14

The story of the Austen submachine gun did not end when the Mk I guns were pulled from combat service in 1944. The manufacturer continued to work on an improved version, which would be ready […]

Submachine Guns

The Diggers’ Dismay: Austen Mk I SMG

September 11, 2019 Ian McCollum 20

When World War Two began, Australia saw little threat of invasion from Germany (obviously), and sent a substantial number of firearms to Britain to help arm the Home Guard there, which was seriously concerned about […]

Submachine Guns

Local Boy Saves Nation: The Australian Owen SMG

May 8, 2019 Ian McCollum 46

The One submachine gun is one of the ugliest SMGs ever designed, and yet also one of the most beloved by its users. The original basis for the gun was a .22 rimfire submachine gun […]

Posts navigation

1 2 3 »

Our Awesome Sponsors!

Forgotten Weapons Merch!

Shirts, jackets, hats, and much more!
Sites we enjoy reading
  • British Royal Armouries
  • GunLab
  • Historical Firearms (Tumblr)
  • Joel's Gulch
  • MicroBalrog’s Soviet Outpost
  • View From the Porch
  • VolkStudio Blog
  • Vuurwapen Blog
Research Sites
  • American Society of Arms Collectors
  • Artillery Luger
  • C&Rsenal
  • Carbines for Collectors
  • Gothia Arms Historical Society
  • GunPictures.net
  • James Julia auction archive
  • Manowar's Hungarian Weapons & History
  • Milsurps.com
  • Modern Firearms
  • Municion.org
  • Old Colts
  • Pistols of the German Wehrmacht
  • The Paul Mauser Archive
  • The Spanish Civil War Mosin Nagant
  • Unblinking Eye
What I’m Currently Reading
Subscribe to Forgotten Weapons via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Contact Us

Forgotten Weapons

6281 N. Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85704

© 2023 Forgotten Weapons.
Site developed by Cardinal Acres Web Development.