Germany - Forgotten Weapons

Forgotten History: A German Bunker at Montfaucon

October 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

When one visits the Montfaucon American Monument (to the soldiers in the Meuse-Argonne offensive), one finds the road in flanked by a pair of (mostly) surviving German bunkers. These standing artifacts of 20th-century warfare are […]

Mauser C98: The System That Cost Paul Mauser an Eye

October 1, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

One of Paul Mauser’s lifelong projects was the design of a semiautomatic rifle for the German military. He would go through a multitude of different designs searching for something that would be sufficiently reliable, durable, […]

Forgotten History: Glade of the Armistice

September 25, 2018 Ian McCollum 1

Here at a forested railroad crossing outside Compiègne in Picardy, France, two rail cars met in November of 1918 – one with members of the Allied/Entente high commend and ones with representatives of Imperial Germany. […]

Special Presentation: Semiauto Pistols of the 1800s

September 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 11

Today’s Special Presentation is an overview of all the semiautomatic pistols that were actually put into serial production before the year 1900. We have looked at these individually before, but I think it is worthwhile […]

Ukrainian or Russian Partisan Modified MP40

September 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Some collectors hunt for firearms which look perfectly new form the factory, and others prefer arms that show lots of evidence of use and history. Well, this is definitely one of the latter type – […]

Germany’s Not-So-Light 5cm Le GrW 36 Light Mortar

September 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 17

RIA’s catalog page for this mortar The 5cm 5CM Leichte Granatwerfer 36 was the standard German light infantry mortar going into World War Two. It was designed by Rheinmetall-Borsig in the mid 1930s and adopted […]

“Ideal” Holster/Stock for the Luger

August 26, 2018 Ian McCollum 9

Stock Pistol Most automatic pistols of the early 20th century were offered with shoulder stock options, and the Luger had more than most. Probably the most interesting one I am aware of is the Ideal […]

Germany’s New Light Howitzer: the 7.5cm le.IG 18

August 15, 2018 Ian McCollum 43

RIA’s catalog page on this gun In the aftermath of World War One, every military force immediately began to assess what they thought was most important to improve in their arsenals for the next war. […]

Project Ultra: Germany Wants a Stronger Compact Pistol

August 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

This pistol is one of just a couple surviving from a development project run by Walther in the mid to late 1930s. The goal was to produce a compact sidearm for pilots and officers using […]

Forgotten History: The Underground Hell of Fort Vaux

July 24, 2018 Ian McCollum 8

With the surprise capture of Fort Douaumont in February 1916, the French reinforced all the remaining forts around the city of Verdun, and would hold them all successfully for many months. In fact, the only […]