If any of you grew up in the 80’s like me, most all of the military action flicks you watched had this gun in it. Remember Die Hard? Then when you grew up you thought “Why would anybody stake their lives on a glorified 9mm pistol?!” I still feel the same way about small caliber sub-machine…
Category: Military Weapons from the Past
Military History: Meet The A-10 Warthog of WW2, The German Hs-129
Bad engines and poor management doomed the German ground-attacker At first glance, you might think the Henschel Hs 129 was the perfect ground-attack airplane. Twin engines. A heavily-armored cockpit that protected the pilot from small-arms fire. The aircraft even eventually had the heaviest and most powerful forward-firing cannon ever fitted to a production military aircraft…
Military Weapons From The Past: Smith and Wesson Model 39 Suppressed “Guard Dog Gun”
Navy SEALs in Vietnam needed a quieter handgun Smith & Wesson developed its Model 39 handgun in the early 1950s in response to requests from the U.S. Army for a new, lighter service pistol chambered in nine-by-19 millimeter. When the initial interest from the Army evaporated, Smith & Wesson was left with a modern semi-automatic…
The Persian Army of Xerxes is Preparing to TRY and Rule the World….Again.
Ever see the movie 300? or it’s not so great sequel 300: Rise of an Empire? Yeah the enemy the Greeks are fighting in those movies are the Persians…the ancestors of the modern day Quds Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah. -SF Iran preparing to dispatch snipers, commandos to Syria As Russia announces pullout, Tehran says it…
Military Weapons From The Past: A Side-Loading M1 Garand? It Was Never Meant To Be
In 1951 and ’52, the U.S. military’s official Springfield Armory began experimenting with re-chambering the M1 Garand with the new T65E3 light rifle cartridge. As part of these experiments, the armory tested several alternate feed and magazine systems. In order to re-chamber a standard M1 in the new cartridge, the armorers replaced the barrel and…
Military Weapons from the Past: The French MAS-49
France’s stalwart postwar weapon still shows up in Syria In 1957, the French army was hurting. Still reeling from the painful defeat in Indochina and the debacle of the Suez Crisis, France found itself embroiled in counterinsurgency operations in Algeria, battling the Algerian National Liberation Front for control of the country. The French armed forces’…
Military Weapons From the Past: This Gun Was Colt’s Attempt to Replace the Iconic M1911
The M1971 lost out to Beretta’s Model 92 In 1971 Colt unveiled a new modern service pistol, one that the company believed was the natural successor to the venerable Colt M1911/A1. At first glance, the Model 1971 looks very similar to the 1911. However, the new pistol incorporates some major changes. Developed by the Research…
Curio and Relic Firearms: Experimental Muzzle Cover for 1893 Mauser
(Note: this rifle was removed from the auction, so I have no link to provide for it) I have been unable to find any history on this particular rifle, which is an experimental mixture of parts, including a bayonet lug and a sporter-style rear sight on a 7x57mm 1893 model Mauser action. What is interesting…
Military Weapons from the Past: WW1 German Gewehr 98 Sniper
a Very Unique and RARE Weapon from the Great War. What is amazing to me is the scope actually had a BDC dial on it! This is early 20th Century Equipment and snipers had the ability to “dial in”!? Wow.
Military Weapons From the Past: The Confederate Cofer Revolver
T.W. Cofer was a Virginian gunsmith who made revolvers for the Confederate cause during the Civil War – although he never had a formal contract with the CSA. His pistols were sold privately to individual soldiers, and in at least one case bought in bulk by a unit commander. One thing that makes Cofer stand…