Heavy MGs
Russia’s Big Fifty on the Range: DShK-38
Yesterday we looked at the history and the mechanics of the Soviet heavy machine guns from World War Two, the DShK-38. Today, we are taking it out to the range!
Russia
Heavy MGs
DShK-38: The Soviet Monster .50 Cal HMG
In 1925 the USSR began a program to develop a heavy machine gun for antiaircraft use. After some initial experimentation with a converted Dreyse machine gun, they brought in Degtyarev to scale up his recently-adopted […]
Antiques
Prototype Birdshead Grip S&W No.3 Russian
This revolver appears to be one of the pre-production prototypes S&W made for the Russian No.3 revolver contract. Its frame has been expertly converted to a birdshead style. It handles very nicely, but was apparently […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Chrysanthemums in the Snow: Finnish Arisaka Rifles
When Finland took its independence, the most common type of firearms in the country was the Mosin Nagant – and the second most common was the Arisaka. An assortment of Type 30, Type 35, and […]
Anti-Tank Rifles
PTRS 41: The Soviet Semiauto Antitank Rifle (aka an SKS on Steroids)
Prior to World War Two, the Soviet Union had a rather lackluster interest in antitank rifles – a series of guns were developed, but slowly and without all that much success. The Barbarossa invasion gave […]
Competition
TT33 Tokarev at the BackUp Gun Match
My holster and mag carrier in this match are made by BattleGnome Solutions in Slovenia, and available worldwide exclusively from the Polenar Tactical web store: https://polenartactical.com/shop/holsters/1363-tt-holster-bgs.html I was talking to the guys who operate BattleGnome […]
Submachine Guns
Leningrad’s Emergency-Production PPS-42 at the Range
Yesterday we looked at the history of the PPS-42 and how it was developed into the much more common PPS-43. Today we are taking it out to the range – the only time one of […]
Submachine Guns
Born in the Heart of Besieged Leningrad: the PPS-42
One would think that the Shpagin PPSh-41 was as simple as a submachine gun could get, but that wasn’t the case in World War Two USSR. Barely had the PPSh gotten into real production than […]
Submachine Guns
Late-Production Degtyarev PPD 34/38 at the Range
A crash program to produce the PPD 34/38 after the initial battles of the Winter War, even as the improved PPD 40 was being rapidly developed. These are very rare gun today, and we have […]
Submachine Guns
The Soviet Union Adopts an SMG: Degtyarev’s PPD-34/38
The Soviet Union adopted its first submachine gun in 1935 after trials of some 14 different design in 1932/33. The winner of the trials was Vasily Degtyarev, once of the Soviet Union’s most prolific firearms […]