Anti-Tank Rifles
RIA: Boys Anti-Tank Rifle
Pretty much every major military had an antitank rifle in service when WW2 kicked off, and the British example was the Boys AT rifle, named after the Captain Boys who designed it. It was a […]
United Kingdom
Heavy MGs
Heavy Machine Guns of the Western Front, WWI
I have been really enjoying The Great War series on YouTube (a rolling weekly account of what happened in WWI this week 100 years ago), so I figured I ought to take advantage of an opportunity […]
Bolt Action Rifles
2-Gun Action Challenge Match: SMLE vs Kar 98AZ (Video)
In this month’s 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, we decided to both run World War I rifles – Karl with a 1914/1920 Kar 98AZ and I had a 1918 no1 MkIII* SMLE. In the previous enfield/Mauser matchup the […]
Heavy MGs
Slow Motion Video from the Pattern Room
As someone who is very interested in the practical handling of old firearms, the idea of gun museums leaves me a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I am absolutely in favor of guns being […]
Anti-Tank Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Big Boys Toy
The Republic of Ireland opted to copy the German WWI Stahlhelm design rather than use British Brodie-style helmets. Until 1940, anyway, and I think it’s pretty clear why they changed. The rifle here, of course, […]
Prototype
Danish Bang Rifle for British Trials
One of the first semiautomatic rifles tested by the US military was a design by a Dane named Søren Hansen Bang, which was first presented to the government in 1911. The rifles used a […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Vintage Saturday: Father and Son
One day the boy will inherit the SMLE, and probably go on fighting whichever country has decided to occupy Afghanistan by that time. Maybe it will be China? They haven’t taken a turn yet. Having […]
Anti-Tank Rifles
Vintage Saturday: The Mustache is Mightier than the Machine Gun
Polish soldier on the line near Gazala, Libya – February 1942. Armed with a Browning M1919A4 and a Boys AT rifle in the truck as well.
Semiauto Rifles
Flintlock
Ferguson Breechloading Flintlock (Video)
Patrick Ferguson was a British inventor and Army officer who developed a breechloading flintlock rifle in the 1770s (his patent was granted in 1776). He impressed British Army ordnance officials with a remarkable demonstration of […]