Jap Lunge Mines and Banzai Sticks – Last Ditch Weapons in WW2 During World War II, the ancient Samurai moral code of honor, obedience, duty and self-sacrifice found its way into Japanese military tactics, particularly during the last desperate months of the empire of the Rising Sun. Beyond the high-profile Kamikaze air strikes, the…
Category: Obscure Weapons
Obscure Rifles: Mondragón Rifle – The First Semi-Auto Combat Rifle
Mondragón rifle – The First Semi-Auto Combat Rifle The M1 Garand gets credit for being the first successful semi-auto combat rifle. That’s only partially true. Sure, the M1 Garand was widely successful, but General Manuel Mondragón, a Mexican General and Arms designer, beat Garand by about 30 years. Mexico adopted the Mondragón Model 1908 in 1904,…
Know Your Weapons: The Luty 9mm SMG
The Legacy of Philip Luty Lives on. Prepare Accordingly and Arm Yourself. (Schematics in Link above)
The 5cm Granatwerfer 36
Know Your Obscure WW2 Weapons:
Obscure History: The 3 Barreled Machete Soviet/Russian Cosmonaut Gun
Check out the 3-barrelled machete gun carried into orbit by Russian cosmonauts until 2006 Crazy stuff. At first I thought they were preparing Ivan to meet some hostile alien creature but then logic took over and I remembered where their return capsules landed: SIBERIA! Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!
Military Weapons From The Past: DeLisle Commando Carbine
Blast from the Past: DeLisle Commando Carbine (click on above title link to be re-directed to Source Page) Talk about the authentic “Silent but Deadly Sentry Killer” this was it. Chambered in .45 ACP and able to accept 1911 Mags, it was the ultimate in battlefield practicality for SOE operatives and Partisans during WW2. Stay Alert,…
Obscure Weapons: The Luger P-08 “Nachtpistole” (Night Pistol)
I just love seeing and reading about firearms like this. Way ahead of it’s time, this is just an exquisite example of “necessity is the mother of invention.” -SF Found this gem on Instagram @axis_and_allies45 This is an extremely rare example of a Luger P08 “Nachtpistole” (Night pistol) that was used by Hitler’s personal…
Obscure Weapons: The Browning Gas-Toggle Pistol
On the April 20th, 1897, now-legendary firearms-designer John Browning received four patents for various pistol designs. These included two recoil-operated systems, a blowback design and — most interestingly — a pistol using a gas-operated toggle action. Browning had developed the gas-operated design a few years earlier in 1894 and ’95. It was actually Browning’s first pistol design. Unfortunately, it also…
Military Weapons From The Past: The Spanish FR-8 “Cetmeton” Rifle
The FR-8 is a Spanish rifle manufactured in the 1950s as part of Spain’s adoption of the CETME semiautomatic rifles. Spain was not only moving to their first semiauto rifle, but also changing from 8mm Mauser to the new 7.62mm NATO. It was not possible to immediately equip everybody with the new rifles, so a…
Military Weapons From the Past: Steyr-Hahn Pistol Variations
The Steyr-Hahn is one of the less glamorized pistols used in WWI, despite being made in quite large numbers (250,000-313,000, depending on who you read). The gun is an interesting mix of features, including bits from the Roth-Steyr M1907 and the early Colt/Browning 1900/1902/1903 pistols. As the M1912, the gun was the standard pistol for…