Germany - Forgotten Weapons

Rifles of Emperor Menelik II: Ethiopian Gewehr 88 and Karabiner 88

February 5, 2020 Ian McCollum 13

In 1889, Emperor Menelik II ascended to power in Ethiopia, and would rule for 20 years, moving Ethiopia (aka Abyssinia) forward into the modern age. He brought railways, sewer systems, telegraph lines, and other modern […]

Evolution of the Military Mauser HSc Pistol

February 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 28

Mauser had been at the forefront of military self-loading pistol design with its C96 pistol, but by the 1930s it had lost major market share to Sauer and Walther in police and commercial guns. The […]

The Truth Behind the Great G36 Controversy

January 28, 2020 Ian McCollum 70

Is the G36 a great rifle unfairly maligned? Or is it mealy and inaccurate? Let’s look at the question, and find out what was really going on with the Great G36 Controversy.

French Resistance 2-Gun: FG-42 & Mle 1935A (Prep for Desert Brutality)

January 25, 2020 Ian McCollum 29

Next week is Desert Brutality 2020, the big annual 2-Gun “nationals”. I’ll be shooting it in the Classic division (guns from 1946 and earlier) this year, with an SMG semiauto FG-42 rifle and a French […]

SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad: Germany’s Halftrack Motorcycle

January 16, 2020 Ian McCollum 39

The Sd.Kfz. 2 Kettenkraftrad (aka Kettenrad) is a deliciously German sort of vehicle, a small utility tractor made with a pair of treads and motorcycle front wheel. It was powered by a 4 cylinder Opel […]

Mauser-Norris Prototype: Origins of the Mauser Legacy

January 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 19

Today we are looking at one of the rarest and earliest rifles built by Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, a design which would set in motion all the events that led to the Mauser company becoming […]

H&K’s Hydrocephalic P7M10 in .40 S&W

January 8, 2020 Ian McCollum 45

Everyone has an off day eventually, and for H&K one of those off days took the form of the P7M10. Introduced in 1991, the M10 was based on the frame and magazine body of the […]

SS-Contract Walther PP and PPK Pistols

January 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 35

Today, courtesy of Tom from Legacy Collectibles, we are taking a look at Walther PP and PPK pistols made specifically for the SS and RSHA. These guns comprised several special contracts, distinct from general military […]

H&K’s Experimental SMG and SMG II for the US Navy

January 3, 2020 Ian McCollum 31

In the 1980s, the US Navy requested a new submachine gun to replace the MP5 then in use. In particular, the Navy wanted a gun that was optimized for use with a suppressor. H&K built […]

Prototype Mauser 1917 Trench Carbine

December 20, 2019 Ian McCollum 15

In the latter stages of World War One, the German military was looking for new arms for its Sturmtruppen. Without a reliable self-loading rifle design to use, they instead focused on pistil caliber arms. The […]