Germany - Forgotten Weapons

Papasan Chair as Antiaircraft Mount

July 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 18

German MG08 Maxim in antiaircraft mounting, at some point during WWI. Note the spider sights mounted halfway down the jacket, and the belt reel. Those reels allowed the guns to reliably feed at all manner […]

Slow Motion: Mauser Schnellfeuer (Video)

July 9, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

Today’s slow motion video is a Mauser Schnellfeuer; the full-auto version of the C96 pistol made in the 1930s. Just over 100,000 of these were made, with the great majority being sold in China. It […]

BSW Prototype Gas-Operated Pistol (Video)

July 6, 2015 Ian McCollum 116

In 1936 or 1937, the BSW company (Berlin-Suhler Waffenwerk) produced a small number of prototype pistols for German Army trials. These trials were eventually won by the Walther P38, and for good reason in this […]

Vintage Saturday: Fusil d’Assaut

June 27, 2015 Ian McCollum 72

A Chasseur à pied of the 19e Battalion on the road between Breteuil and Flers, Somme. 10th of April 1918. This Battalion had been on foot after heavy fighting in order to occupy the village […]

Hatchet-Stock for a C96 Mauser

June 26, 2015 Ian McCollum 35

How’s this for something different…and maybe clever? I don’t have a source for these photos, and I can’t say if they date from 75 years ago or 75 days ago (although I would suspect newer […]

Testing Reproduction WWI German Trench Armor

June 25, 2015 Ian McCollum 29

You may recall that a week or two back I posted a video on some German trench armor at RIA. Reading up on that set of armor led me to International Military Antiques, who sells […]

Nazi-Occupation “Stomperud” Krag Rifle at RIA

June 20, 2015 Ian McCollum 33

When the Germans occupied Norway, they took advantage of the arms production facilities at the Kongsberg Arsenal to make a number of Krag rifles to their own specifications. They were made with a mixture of […]

Hungarian WWII Rifles at RIA (35M, 43M, G98/40)

June 12, 2015 Ian McCollum 37

After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Hungarian army was armed primarily with Steyr M95 straight-pull rifles and carbines, chambered in the 8x56mm rimmed cartridge. In 1935 they adopted a new Mannlicher turnbolt rifle, […]

Model 1883 Reichsrevolvers at RIA

June 11, 2015 Ian McCollum 19

It did not take long for some of the handling problems of the model 1879 Reichsrevolver to become apparent, and the result was a redesign to the model of 1883. These new guns retained the […]

Model 1879 Reichsrevolver at RIA

June 10, 2015 Ian McCollum 23

We are used to German small arms being highly efficient and modern for their times, but the Reichsrevolver is an exception to that trend. The first centerfire adopted by the newly formed German empire, the […]