In the aftermath of World War Two, the Austrian Army was basically disarmed and disbanded. When it was allowed to reform in the 1950s, it needed new armaments, and in 1958 it adopted the SSG-98k as a new sniper's rifle. This replaced the leftover German K98k snipers that had been used by the smal...
2023-02-27 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Yesterday over on Utreon we took a look at the design choices I made for my P365, and how I put it together with ModGuns (https://utreon.com/v/VXMSAFffTqK). Today, I've got it out at the BUG Match for a trial run! Let's se...
2023-02-25 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Posthttps://utreon.com/v/VXMSAFffTqK
Today's video is about my project to build a custom SIG P365 at ModGuns (www.ModGuns.com). Like the P320, the P365 is built around a steel Fire Control Unit as the legal, serialized fir...
2023-02-24 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostFrom Paul on Patreon:
"I’ve always thought there were a lot of older guns that deserve to be reproduced, many of which could be really simple to manufacture. PSA is planning the release of their StG44 repro which is exciting. But why don’t we see this sort of thing more often. I suppose...
2023-02-22 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
From Paul on Patreon:
"I’ve always thought there were a lot of older guns that deserve to be reproduced, many of which could be really simple to manufacture. PSA is planning the release of their StG44 repro which is exciting. But why don’t we see this sort of thing more often. I suppose...
2023-02-22 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
During World War Two, both he German and Russian soldiers often thought that the other side's weapons were better than their own. In particular, both sides often preferred their opponents' SMGs. In late 1941, a group of German officers formally requested that Germany simply copy and produce the P...
2023-02-20 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostAlmost immediately after getting home from filming at Morphys and photographing at Springfield Arsenal, I left for a weeklong vacation. I am currently on the Dutch Antilles island of Bonaire scuba diving. So, probably not much work is going to get done this week - but of course I have videos pre ...
2023-02-19 22:40:41 +0000 UTC View Post
I recently spent a weekend taking a TCCC (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) course from Myles Francis at Archangel Dynamics. TCCC is a program originally developed by the Naval Special Warfare School to improve battlefield survivability by specifically modernizing immediate pre-evacuation care doctr...
2023-02-18 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Today we are going to take a looks at a series of six prototype Roth Theodorovic pistols. These were a design that competed in Austrian pistol trials around the turn of the century, and eventually lost out to the Roth Krnka (adopted as the Roth-Steyr M.7).
For details on the political backg...
2023-02-17 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Darne company was one of relatively few private arms manufacturers in France, best known for shotguns. During World War One they got into the machine gun trade, making licensed Lewis guns for the French air service. After making a few thousand of those, Regis Darne designed his own belt-fed m...
2023-02-15 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Remington Rolling Block was a very popular rifle in the 1860s and 1870s, and probably would have been a better choice than the Trapdoor Springfield for the US military. But among the nations that did adopt is were the Papal States. While Vatican City is a tiny sovereign enclave today in Rome,...
2023-02-13 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I've spent this week at the Morphy auction company in Pennsylvania, filming a whole series of videos for you guys. As usual, my main focus was on machine guns (including a Vollmer VMP-1930, a DShK-38, a Sten Mk4(S), and an MG-3) but also supplemented by antiques and C&R type arms. So I also c...
2023-02-12 22:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The German company Erma (Erfurter Maschinenfabrik) developed a .22 rimfire kit for the Mauser 98 for the German Army in the 1920s. It was used for training, both to allow for more effective fundamental practice without the noise and recoil of full size cartridges but also to reduce ammunition cos...
2023-02-11 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Edward Felk was an Australian who decided to produce semiauto pistols in Australia. In 1994 he patented a couple features of his new design, and set about finding a way to produce it. He ended up subcontracting with Star of Spain to produce barrels and slides, while the polymer frames were produc...
2023-02-10 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI am going to be spending some time next week at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, and have an evening free to do a meetup. So, I'll be at Student Prince and the Fort (8 Fort Street Springfield, MA 01103) from 6pm until about 8pm (gotta get to bed early) on Tuesday the 14th. Co...
2023-02-09 03:37:27 +0000 UTC View Post
From Thunderchild on Patreon:
"How would you see a modern major nation (US, USSR/Russia, China, etc) simplify their small arms in a large scale war, WW3 or Cold War gone hot? You've mentioned in the past how most nations end up having to simplify to meet demands, so why not start simpl...
2023-02-08 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFrom Thunderchild on Patreon:
"How would you see a modern major nation (US, USSR/Russia, China, etc) simplify their small arms in a large scale war, WW3 or Cold War gone hot? You've mentioned in the past how most nations end up having to simplify to meet demands, so why not start simpl...
2023-02-08 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
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 Type 38 Arisaka rifles and carbines were left to the Finns by former Russian occupying soldiers. Where did ...
2023-02-06 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This week has been mostly preparing for a couple weeks of travel - I'll be going to Morphy's Auctions next week to film, and then on to Springfield Armory for some book photography after that. Both have some really cool stuff in store for me to work with. In addition:
- Got a really g...
2023-02-05 23:27:21 +0000 UTC View PostI've got a couple slots for single-video Q&A questions in February, and I will be doing another supporter-only livestream Q&A next Sunday. So, what would you like to ask me?
2023-02-05 17:19:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Thanks to MagPul for sponsoring this video! I was happy to use one of their new Daka Grid rifle cases today - it's a very cool system that will be of great use for me both because of its modular configurability and its excellent security.
The AR-57 is a system developed by Rhineland Arms in...
2023-02-04 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
When the Yugoslav Peoples' Army began AK development, they produced the M64 infantry rifle and the M65 support weapon. The M65 had a longer and heavier profile barrel and a bipod - and in its very early experimental iterations a quick-change barrel mechanism and a folding carry handle. By the tim...
2023-02-03 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
With the HS95, Croatian manufacturer IM Metal (later to become HS Produkt) had learned how to effectively manufacture a good pistol. However, the design had some shortcomings and had not been accepted by Croatian police forces, nor had any commercial export contracts materialized. The company rec...
2023-02-01 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Orita SMG was designed by a Romanian Army Captian Marin Orita in 1941, and went into service in 1943. It was used primarily in Southern Europe in late WW2 with Romanian forces. It was a wood-stocked, simple blowback, 9x19mm weapon. As originally designed, the Model 1941 Orita was not drop-saf...
2023-01-30 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Normally I use these behind-the-scenes videos to talk about fun upcoming new projects, but this week you get a look at the YouTube sausage-making. By far the most overarching thing going on for the past week was YouTube's new rules and new rule interpretations, which have been causing consternati...
2023-01-29 21:47:34 +0000 UTC View Post
The FAMAS was originally designed for iron sights only, as it predates the trend of issuing optics on standard infantry rifles (the marksman's rifle at the time of its development was the FR-F1). However, adaptations were made to mount optics, primarily the PGMP updated handguard, which locked mo...
2023-01-28 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The HS-95 was developed by HS Produkt to replace the PHP pistols. With the experience of producing many thousands of PHPs, the company had a much better understanding of how to design a pistol for production, which is immediately obvious in the HS95. It is a traditional tilting-barrel Browning ac...
2023-01-27 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
The Bechowiec (or Beha) is a fascinating SMG produced in small numbers in southern Poland under German occupation during World War Two. It was made for use by the Bataliony Chłopskie (Peasant Battalions) by a young man named Henryk Strąpoć.
Henryk built his first (quite illegal) gun at t...
2023-01-25 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
My full SHOT Show roundup is available for Patrons here:
In its continuing effort to provide everything for the US military from shoelaces to fighter jets, SIG has developed an optic whic...
2023-01-23 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post