Germany - Forgotten Weapons

WW2 Mauser Becomes Heckler & Koch: the StG-45(M), or Gerat 06H

July 20, 2018 Ian McCollum 11

After the Mp44/StG44 Sturmgewehr was starting to see substantial production and field use, the German military and the Mauser company began working on a way to simplify production of the weapon. The design for the […]

Ken Hackathorn on the Thompson and the MP5

July 19, 2018 Ian McCollum 44

Today I am speaking with Ken Hackathorn about submachine guns – specifically the Thompson and the MP5. Mr Hackathorn has an extensive resume that he is quite humble about, but I will point out that […]

Kaiserliche Schutztruppen G98 – for the German Camel Corps

July 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

Germany established their colony of German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika, now Namibia) in 1884, as part of its late attempt to become a colonial power to rival the United Kingdom. The soldiers deployed to protect […]

MKb-42(W) – The Sturmgewehr That Never Was

July 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 26

When the German military first requested rifles in the new 8x33mm Kurz cartridge, there were two companies that provided designs. One was Haenel, who would eventually win the competition. The other was Walther, who submitted […]

A Well-Travelled Luger

July 2, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

This Luger has seen basically all of 20th century German history. It began as a 1917 production DWM pistol, used in World War One. After the war, it was one of the guns remarks for […]

Short: Revolvers with Manual Safeties

June 21, 2018 Ian McCollum 35

One of the classic mistakes make by authors who are not “gunnies” is to have a character threateningly click off the safety catch…on a revolver (sound effects editors do it in movies and TV, too). […]

Astra 600/43: A Straight Blowback 9mm for the Wehrmacht

June 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 46

The Astra in this video is coming up for auction here… When Germany acquired a land border with Spain after the French capitulation in 1940, they took advantage of the opportunity to purchase Spanish firearms, […]

Gewehr 71/84: Germany’s Transitional Repeating Rifle

June 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 16

This rifle is coming up for auction at RIA here. In the ongoing arms race between France and Germany, the Mauser 71/84 was the first German repeating rifle. Paul Mauser began work on it in […]

Astra 300 – A Pocket Pistol Bought Mostly By Germany

May 29, 2018 Ian McCollum 25

The pistol in this video is coming up for auction here. The Astra 300 was introduced in 1923, copying the layout, mechanics, and handling of the Astra 400 military pistol in a much more convenient […]

Germany’s First Smokeless Carbines: the Kar 88 and Gewehr 91

May 27, 2018 Ian McCollum 5

The Kar88 in this video is coming up for auction here, and the Gewehr 91 here. With the development of the smokeless Gewehr 88 “Commission Rifle”, the German Army finally made a serious effort to […]