Light MGs
M1918 Chauchat: First Shots (Will It Work?)
This M1918 Chauchat is still awaiting NFA transfer, but my dealer was able to bring it out to a public range where I could do some initial testing on it. I was expecting to get […]
United States
Commentary
Ken Hackathorn on the M1 Carbine: Reputation vs Reality
The M1 Carbine has long been a bit of an enigma to me, because I have never had really good luck with the design, and yet they were extremely popular with Americna soldiers, German soldiers, […]
bullpup
Steyr ACR: A Polymer Flechette-Firing Bullpup From the 90s
The US Army ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle) program was an effort to find a new type of infantry rifle which could increase the practical accuracy of the M16 by a whopping 100% in the […]
Commentary
Short: How to Pronounce “Garand” (and why)
Is it “GUH-rand” or “GAIR-end”? Well, let’s find out by asking John Cantius himself…
Book review
Book Review – The Mac Man: Gordon B Ingram and His Submachine Guns
Gordon Ingram served as an infantryman during World War Two, and decided to get into the gunmaking business after the war. He though there was a market for a submachine gun for police and military […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Iron Sights at 800 Yards: New Mexico Milsurps Match!
While traveling through Albuquerque, I was invited to join the New Mexico Milsurps club for one of their long range rifle matches. This is no typical shooting challenge – the course of fire is 20 […]
Select-fire Rifles
HK XM-8: What Was it and Why? (With Larry Vickers)
Larry Vickers has the closest thing most any of us will ever have to a true XM-8 rifle, and has more than a little trigger time on the original XM-8 rifles. So, I asked him […]
Reproduction
LugerMan Reproduction of the 1907 .45 Test Trials Luger
Eugene Golubtsov, aka LugerMan, is manufacturing reproduction .45ACP caliber Luger pistols, based on the original blueprints of the 1907 pattern US Army trials guns. When he offered to send me one to try out, how […]
Semiauto Rifles
The Original Retro AR-10: Armalite’s AR10B
In 1994, a man named Mark Westrom, owner of Eagle Arms, purchased the husk of the Armalite corporation, and acquired its trademarks. Westrom wanted to create a new commercial .308 AR pattern rifle, and did […]
Prototype
Colt Tries To Make a Service Pistol: The Model 1971
In the early 1970s, Colt wanted to develop a new military pistol so that it could offer a modern replacement for the venerable 1911. Colt Engineer Robert Roy designed the new gun in 1971, and […]