Germany - Forgotten Weapons

MP5SD at the Range: Subsonic vs Supersonic

November 14, 2020 Ian McCollum 23

While the MP5SD is made with a barrel ported right at the chamber to reduce bullet velocity, I am curious to see if it will actually work. Can I tell the difference between 115gr supersonic […]

H&K MP5SD: The Cadillac of Suppressed Submachine Guns

November 13, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

Shortly after introducing the MP5 submachine gun, Heckler & Koch added an integrally suppressed model to its line at the request of special operations forces. It was called the MP5SD, for “shalldampfer”, or suppressed. In […]

Hitler’s Zipper: The MG-42 Universal Machine Gun

November 4, 2020 Ian McCollum 79

The MG42 was developed to be a more reliable and easier to manufacture replacement for the MG34, although both would serve side by side until the end of World War Two. Designed by Grossfuss company […]

Steyr-Solothurn MP-34 in .45 ACP at the Range

October 31, 2020 Ian McCollum 9

Today we are out at the range with the .45 ACP Steyr-Solothurn MP-34. I was curious to see how this submachine gun, much more commonly found in 9mm, would handle with the big .45 caliber […]

Subguns for South America: the Steyr-Solothurn MP-34 in .45ACP

October 30, 2020 Ian McCollum 8

The MP-34 was made by Steyr-Solothurn in four different calibers – 9×19 for the Germany army, 9×25 for the Austrian army, 9×23 for the Austrian police, and .45 ACP for the export market. This is […]

Germany’s WW1 “Kurz” Model Tankgewehr

October 29, 2020 Ian McCollum 7

When the German Tankgewehr was introduced in May 1918, the first 300 or so guns were of a different pattern than the standard production that would follow (and of which about 16,000 would be made). […]

Heckler & Koch’s Modular Machine Gun: the HK21E

October 26, 2020 Ian McCollum 16

In 1961, Heckler & Koch introduced a new light machine gun based on their roller-delayed blowback system as a companion piece to the G3/HK91 rifle. While the German military was quite happy with its MG3 […]

How to Classify the H&K MP-7 and FN P90

October 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 50

My recent video proposing a particular set of definitions for three generations of submachine gun design generated a lot of comments about the H&K MP-7 and FN P90. I focused largely on the first and […]

The Erma EMP at the Range

October 24, 2020 Ian McCollum 7

Having taken a close look at this original Erma EMP submachine gun yesterday, we are out at the range with it today. Like several of the interwar SMGs, the Erma was designed with a magazine […]

Erma EMP: Heinrich Vollmer’s Interwar Submachine Gun

October 23, 2020 Ian McCollum 24

Developed by Heinrich Vollmer in the 1920s, this quite distinctive submachine guns was marketed by the Erma company starting in 1932 and sold quite well internationally. This particular example was used by the German police […]