Norway - Forgotten Weapons

Våpensmia NM-149S: Norway’s Sniper Conversion of the Kar 98k

March 5, 2025 Ian McCollum 2

After World War Two, there were a lot of K98k rifles left in Norway. Like, a whole lot of them. So many that even in the 1980s they were still a popular basis for hunting […]

Custom DeLisle: A .45ACP Mini-Mauser in Classic Sporting Lines

July 13, 2024 Ian McCollum 20

Today we are checking out a bespoke gunsmith’s project; a DeLisle-inspired .45ACP Mauser built by Lars Rannstad Slang of Oslo. Using a commercial small-ring Mauser action, he fabricated a new bolt head, trigger guard, follower, […]

Landstad 1900: A True Semiautomatic Revolver

July 3, 2024 Ian McCollum 16

The Landstad Model 1900 is a magazine-fed, semiautomatic revolver designed by Norwegian Halvard Folkestad Landstad, who lived in Kristiana (now called Oslo). He designed the gun on his own dime, and presented it to military […]

M98kF1 ZF41: Norway Recycles Germany’s Worst Sniper Rifle

January 29, 2024 Ian McCollum 6

When Germany capitulated at the end of World War Two, several hundred thousand German soldiers were stuck in Norway (thanks to the efforts of the Norwegian Resistance preventing them from moving south to reinforce against […]

Kongsberg M52: A Line-Throwing Rifle (or Harpoon Gun)

April 5, 2023 Ian McCollum 28

The Norwegian Kongsberg factory has a history of making firearms-based tools for maritime use, and one of the more recent is the M52 line-throwing gun, introduced in the 1950s and sold through the 1970s. It […]

What’s Up With Norway and Military Scout Scopes?

February 4, 2021 Ian McCollum 18

Aside from the German widespread issue of the ZF-41 type scope, I have only come across three other military uses of long eye relief optics – and they are all Norwegian! One is simply Norwegian […]

Modernizing the G3: The Swedish AK4C, Norwegian AG3F2 and More

February 2, 2021 Ian McCollum 41

Of all the classic 7.62mm battle rifles of the Cold War, only the G3 remains in modern military service updated to serve alongside the more recent 5.56mm rifles (no, the M14 DMR rifles don’t count). […]

Sunngård Automatic Pistol: 50 Rounds in 1909

July 30, 2018 Ian McCollum 21

Harald Sunngård was Norwegian inventor in the early years of the 20th century who noticed a common perceived weakness of automatic pistols: reloads under stress were often bungled by shooters, leaving them vulnerable to return […]

Norwegian K98kF1 Repurposed Mauser

June 4, 2017 Ian McCollum 28

At the end of When Germany capitulated in 1945, there were nearly 400,000 German soldiers in Norway (largely thanks to the efforts of the Norwegian Resistance to prevent them from being transferred south). This provided […]

Hans Larsen’s Unique Falling Block Rifles at James D Julia

March 26, 2017 Ian McCollum 6

Hans Larsen was a very successful competitive marksman (World Champion, in fact) and gunsmith in Norway in the late 1800s. He, and later his company, made a wide variety of guns, from revolving rifles and […]