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Swedish K: The Carl Gustav m/45B and the Port Said
During the 1930s, Sweden acquired an assortment of different submachine guns, including Bergmanns, Thompsons, and Suomis. As World War Two progressed, they decided that they really needed to standardize on a single caliber and model of gun, and requested designs from both the Carl Gustav factory ...
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USMC Stinger Machine Gun: Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima
Corporal Tony Stein
United States Marine Corps ReserveFor conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on I...
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Steyr Model 1911 Semiautomatic Trials Rifles
In 1909, the Austro-Hungarian Empire announced a desire to find a new semiautomatic military rifle, and requested proposals from arms manufacturers. Six rifles were submitted to the resulting trials in 1911, including this model from Steyr chambered for the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge. It uses a two-...
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Sterling S11: Donkey in a Thoroughbred Race
In the 1960s, the Sterling company began to worry about the prospects of continued sales of the Sterling (Patchett) SMG, especially in light of new competitors like the H&K MP5. Its chief design engineer, Frank Waters, created the S11 as a gun to replace the classic Sterling. The S11 was based on...
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Star Z45: Spain's Improved MP40 Submachine Gun
The Z45 was a submachine gun designed during World War Two by the Start firm in Eibar, Spain for export sale to Germany as well as domestic Spanish use. It was heavily based on the MP40, including the same stock, telescoping mainspring guide/cover, and disassembly method as the MP40. To this, how...
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Star Pistol-Carbines: Model MMS and Model MB
Star produced 1911-style pistols in a wide variety of calibers and configurations for more than 50 years, including several models with shoulder stocks. Two of the later such models were the MMS and MB. These were standard 5 inch barreled pistols shipped with wooden combination holster stocks and...
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SS-Contract Walther PP and PPK Pistols
Today, courtesy of Tom from Legacy Collectibles, we are taking a look at Walther PP and PPK pistols made specifically for the SS. These guns comprised several special contracts, distinct from general military and commercial production. They were not the only such special contracts, as such arrang...
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H&K's Experimental SMG and SMG II for the US Navy
In the 1980s, the US Navy requested a new submachine gun to replace the MP5 then in use. In particular, the Navy wanted a gun that was optimized for use with a suppressor. H&K built two models of experimental guns in the 1980s to meet this request, creatively named the SMG and SMG II.
Both gun...
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Slow Motion Malfunctions of Exotic Firearms
Over many years of filming with my high speed camera, I have a decent little library of malfunctions in a wide variety of guns. These don't normally make it into videos, and I figured it would be neat to present a bunch of them together. Enjoy!
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H&K Prototype Sniper: the SL7 Match
Built in the 1990s, this rifle is part of an experimental series of precision rifles made by H&K. It is marked "SL7 Match", and uses the same action as the standard SL7 sporting rifle (the roller-delay blowback system of the G3). It is set in a competition type stock the an adjustable cheekrest a...
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Shooting the Sjogren Inertial Shotgun
When I filmed this, I had limited time and figured I would do the shooting first and then film the history and disassembly of the gun afterwards. Alas, I ran out of time and never did get that part completed. I will follow up with a video on the history of the Sjogren the next time I have access ...
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Some Brief Shooting with a SIG 553R
Some of my last footage from my trip to Switzerland last year; a bit of shooting with a SIG 553R. This is the model in 7.62x39mm, and the guns here are set up with 3-round burst. Cameo by Larry Vickers. :)
Sorry that it's not a proper full video, but the time wasn't there.
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SIG 550-1 Sniper: Answering a Question Nobody Asked
Today we are taking a look at a SIG 550-1 Sniper model. This is mechanically a SIG 550, aka Sturmgewehr 90, but made to a very high level of quality control and fitted with a number of elements suitable for a marksman's rifle. It has a long (25.6 inch / 650mm) and heavy barrel, a thoroughly;y adj...
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SIG 44/16: The Best Service Pistol, But The Road Not Traveled
When SIG was developing the pistol that would ultimately be adopted as the m/49 by the Danish Army and the P49 by the Swiss Army (P210 commercially), they initially experimented with both single stack and double stack variations. Today, we will take a look at a SIG 44/16, the double stack version...
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Shooting the Negev LMG
After yesterday's look at the history and mechanical details of the Israeli Negev LMG, today we are taking it out the the range.
It certainly is a very pleasant experience to shoot! The recoil is very light, although not as light as in a true constant-recoil system like the new Knight's LAMG. ...
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Shooting the H&K MP7
Thanks to H&K and Trijicon, I have a chance to do some shooting with an MP7A1 PWD today. The MP7 is unusual for a gun of its size and configuration in having a fully locked operating system; essentially a G36 scaled down to 4.6x30mm. This allows the gun to be lighter, as the action is not depende...
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Shooting the Mle 1866 Chassepot
A while back, I visited @CanadianGunLover, and we did a bit of shooting with an 1866 Chassepot. I lost track of the footage and only just now found where I had put it - so today is some Chassepot shooting! A couple things to note; the rifle sounds very quiet because my microphone was clipping it ...
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Shooting the HK21 Modular Machine Gun
The HK21 is a the belt-fed iteration of the H&K roller-delayed blowback mechanism. H&K built a wide range of firearms around that system, including submachine guns (MP5), rifles (HK33, HK91), precision rifles (PSG-1), and machine guns. Originally they made a version in 5.56mm and one in 7.62mm, b...
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Chinese CS/LS2: A Modern Bullpup SMG with no Redeeming Qualities
This the fairly modern Chinese CS/LS2 - the 9mm Parabellum export model of the 5.8mm QCW-05 submachine gun. It takes most of its design cues form the QBZ-95 rifle, as you can see form the grip layout. It is a bullpup, with a right-ride ejection port that cannot be swapped. It is a bullpup style d...
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Sanna 77: A Czech SMG Turned South African Carbine
The Sanna 77 was a semiauto copy of the Czech Sa 25 submachine gun. It was first produced in Rhodesia by the GM Steel company for the Rhodesian military. In this form, it was the GM-15 and GM-16 (available as either civilian semiauto or military full auto), and was made without and licensing agre...
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South African R2 and its Special Furniture
In South African military service, the R1 was the FN FAL and was the preferred infantry combat rifle until the adoption of the Galil as the R4 rifle. So what were the guns in between? Well, the R2 was a South African adaptation of the G3. A large number of rifles were needed as a reserve, and als...
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Bill Ruger's Prototype WW2 Light Machine Gun
In April 1940, the US Ordnance Department circulated a request for a new light machine gun to replace the Browning M1919A4. It was to be shorter and lighter than the Browning, and was not to be based on the Browning system (presumably the Department wanted to move on from the bulky and heavy 1919...
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Short: Inspecting an RSC 1917 Gas System
The French Model 1917 RSC rifle has a rather unusual gas system, and without some experience it can be difficult to know what one is looking at in one. So today, we're taking a quick look at how to be sure all the essential parts are in place in an RSC.
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The Ross in the Great War: The Mk III (and MkIIIB)
While the MkII (1905) iteration of the Ross rifle had resolved most of the major mechanical problems form the MkI, it retained a number of characteristics that the Canadian (and British) military was not fond of. In particular, it was not suited to the use of stripper clips. Starting with experim...