Semiauto Rifles
Slow Motion: MAS 49/56
The MAS 49/56 is a much under-rated rifle here in the US – it is extremely simple, durable, and reliable, while being shorter and lighter than it’s US contemporary, the M14.
France
Handgun
Two Pinfire Harmonica Pistols at RIA
Harmonica guns were a short-lived type of firearm that was developed in an effort to have reliable repeating weapons prior to the the modern centerfire cartridge. They were made in both muzzleloading and cartridge varieties, […]
Semiauto Rifles
Hagen Rifle
One of the very first things I posted here on Forgotten Weapons was an article on a French rifle called the Hagen (it was designed by a Norwegian). I posted an article on it written […]
Artillery
37mm Gun, Bethlehem, Semi-Automatic (Video)
The 37mm gun was found in many guises during World War One – that caliber was the smallest allowed to use exploding projectiles by the 1899 Hague accords. Every nation in the world, it seems, […]
Book review
Book Review: The Yanks Are Coming!
Most of the books I look at are primarily text-based, and today I figured we should do something a little bit different. Armor Plate Press, run by Tom Laemlein, specializes in photographic studies of various […]
Accessories
Chain Mail for Machine Gunners
Chain mail appeared in a couple different forms during World War I – the most well-known is probably the mail facemasks developed for tank crews. These were intended to protect crew members from steel shards […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Far From Home II
Senegalese Free French soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, armed with a British Bren and an American 1903 Springfield. The helmets are American ones, emblazoned with the anchor emblem of the French […]
Artillery
L’Arbalete la Sauterelle Type A D’Imphy
This post started as just a quickie, because I happened to find a vintage photo of a couple French WWI soldiers using a crossbow/ballista type device to throw grenades. I realized, looking at the photo, […]
Ammunition
Ammunition Documents
Courtesy of reader Robert, we have a couple documents for you today. First up is a British 1918 manual on identifying different types of ammunition by projectile, case, and packaging markings. Given the variety of […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: On Maneuvers
Zouaves on maneuvers with M1886 Lebel rifles, in 1909.