Germany - Forgotten Weapons

Blow-Forward Schwarzlose 1908 at the Backup Gun Match

March 21, 2020 Ian McCollum 9

The Schwarzlose 1908 is the only blow-forward firearm ever to see real commercial sale. It is a compact pocket pistol chambered for .32 ACP, with a 7-round magazine. They were sold by Schwarzlose in Germany […]

H&K’s Middle Child: The HK33 and HK53 in 5.56mm

March 18, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

Introduced in 1968, the HK33 was Heckler & Koch’s adaptation of their roller-delay operating system to the 5.56mm / .223 Remington cartridge. In addition to the standard full-length rifle (with a 15.35 inch barrel) a […]

H&K UMP: An H&K SMG Made for .40 and .45

March 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 26

H&K introduced the UMP (universal machine pistol) in an effort to attract sales from American law enforcement by offering a modern submachine gun in .45 ACP and .40 S&W calibers. The MP5 was and remains […]

“System Mauser” – The Very First C96 Pistols

February 10, 2020 Ian McCollum 20

The very first group of C96 pistols made. -about 200 in total – are called “System Mauser” pistols. They have this hand-engraved on the top of the barrel, and have a number of other very […]

Bavarian Lightning: The 1869 Werder Pistol

February 6, 2020 Ian McCollum 27

This is a lot in the upcoming February 2020 Morphy Field & Range auction. Adopted by Bavaria in 1869, Johann-Ludwig Werder’s breechloading rifle was a brilliant piece of engineering, offering an automatically ejecting falling-block system […]

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 […]