Alongside their new 5.56mm R20 infantry rifles, Estonia has recently adopted the LMT 7.62x51mm MARS-H as its new designated marksman's rifle; the R20L. These rifles were part of a single rifle contract, with the vast majority of the rifles being the smaller 5.56mm ones. The larger 7.62mm rifles h...

In 2017, the Estonian military began the process of replacing its infantry rifles. At that time, the primary rifle in use was the Galil, which had been purchased from Israel shortly after Russian occupation ended and Estonia regained its independence in 1992. The Galils had made sense at the time...

The 9x39mm cartridge was introduced in the final days of the Soviet Union as a subsonic round intended specifically for suppressed weapons. The first weapons developed for it were the AS Val and VSS Vintorez. These were followed in the early 1990s by the OTs-14 "Groza", developed by Valery Tells ...

The first squad automatic weapon used by the US Army was the French Mle 1915 Chauchat, which was the primary LMG or automatic rifle for troops in the American Expeditionary Force in World War One. At that time, the Chauchat was a company-level weapon assigned where the company commander thought b...

Today for the monthly BackUp Gun Match I am using a Spanish JoLoAr pistol in .380 ACP. It's an interesting piece designed with a lever on the side that allows it to be cocked one-handed. It has no trigger guard or safety, a single-action-only firing mechanism, and a tip-up barrel. They were made ...

Today we are taking a look at the backstory of the famously recognizable Krummlauf device, the curved barrel attachment for the StG-44. It is really a perfect example of how German late-war desperation weapons took shape. It went from an idea nobody actually wanted to an impossible development pr...

We previously looked at the mechanics of FN's semiauto version of the US SAW, the M249S. Today we are taking it out to the range for some shooting...

In 2015, FN USA introduced a Military Collector product line - semiautomatic versions of their military contract small arms. These were the M4, M16, and - most interestingly - the M249 SAW. The SAW is a version of FN's Minimi light machine gun, developed in 1974 and adopted by the US in 1982. Th...

The CTS9 (Competition Tactical Shooting) is a 9x19mm AK variant made by Nova Modul in Romania. Specifically, in Cugir Romania - the same town that houses the massive small arms factory complex that made millions of small arms during the communist era. Nova Modul, despite being in the same city, i...

At the IWA trade show earlier this year, a representative from the Polish KGM Consortium gave me a sample of a new AK optics rail to try out. This idea here was to create a universal optics mount for basically any AK/AKM/AK74 rifle that would be light, not require permanent modification, and not ...

Was the 1911 an emotional support totem or a viable combat weapon? Or both? American soldiers had a bit different take on handguns than soldiers of many other armies, and I think it stems from the American identity with the frontier - the Wild West was well within memory for many people when Worl...

Heckler & Koch introduced the UMP submachine gun as a successor to the MP5, with a particular focus on American law enforcement agencies (hence its initial development in .45 ACP). The UMP never has come close to the popularity of the MP5; it is a very basic polymer molded simple blowback SMG, al...

"Carbine Williams", aka David Marshall Williams, has a reputation as the designer of the M1 Carbine, and a very colorful history. He was a moonshiner who pled guilty to second degree murder of a sheriff's deputy and served time in prison. He gained a reputation as a gunsmith in prison, fixing the...

CZ's Bren 2 is one of the more successful recently developed military service rifles, having been adopted by the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as entering licensed production in Ukraine. The semiauto Bren 2 MS is a fine rifle on its own merits, but also offers an opportunity to build a near...

Sorry about the wind noise! We did our best to deal with it in post-production.

Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory amm...

While I was in Iceland, I had an opportunity to visit the National Museum of Iceland and take a look at a couple of historic axes found on the island. Since these are really outside my area of expertise, two experts generously offered to join me on the video to help explain the history and contex...

Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled România through much of its communist period, from 1967 until 1989. Ceaușescu was a passionate hunter, and owned more than 100 firearms, mostly for hunting. These included some gifts from foreign dignitaries, but also plenty of more humble examples. Under his rule, conserv...

(Sorry for the messed-up framing at the beginning of the video!)

While I was in Iceland, I had an opportunity to visit the National Museum of Iceland and take a look at a couple of settlement-era swords found on the island. Since these are really outside my area of expertise, two experts generou...

When Heckler & Koch produced the iconic G3 rifle, it was intended to be a parts of a complete small arms package. The G3 was the infantry rifle, and it was paired with the MP% submachine gun and the HK21 light machine gun for a complete set of weapons with the same manual of arms and disassembly/...

Starting in 1960, China ran a program to develop an infantry rifle that would combine the accuracy of the SKS with the firepower of the AK. The result was the Type 63, which used the general layout of the SKS along with its short stroke gas piston and an SKS-like fire control system (with fully a...

After producing the Ero, a nearly exact copy of the Israeli Uzi, the Croatia firm Arma started making some design changes. With the Mini-Ero, they picked a size in between that of the Mini-Uzi and Micro-Uzi, and also used a stock taken from the vz.61 Skorpion (Model 84 in Croatian service).

A bi...

Part of the 1968 Gun Control Act in the US put restrictions on importation of small handguns. These rules intended to protect US manufacturers and prevent people from having access to particularly inexpensive and concealable firearms, and these rules remain in place today. In particular, revolver...

After World War Two the Swiss needed a new self-loading military rifle to replace their K-31 bolt actions. Two major design tracks followed; one being a roller-delayed system based on the G3 at SIG and the other being a derivative of the German FG-42 at Waffenfabrik Bern. Bern, under the directio...

The Welrod was a program to develop a silent assassination pistol for British SOE (Special Operations Executive) late in 1942. It needed to be chambered in the .32 ACP cartridge, be effective to a range of 15m, and have its firing not recognizable as a firearm at 50m distance. The project was led...