One of the first 'General Purpose Machine Guns' (GPMG), this Swiss designed weapon was actually a crafty workaround by Nazi weapons designers to circumvent weapons limitations and would eventually lay the ground work for the MG 34.

The C96 'Broomhandle' Mauser already had the capability of using it's holster as a stock for improved accuracy, so why did German service personnel need a version with a permanently longer butt and barrel? The answer, as is often the case with this series was to solve issues brought on by the rap...

This Bavarian breech-loading rifle features what looks like a bizarre backwards facing trigger.

Instantly recognisable to weaponry enthusiasts, the Luger is a mainstay of war movies and video games alike. This suppressed example is an extremely rare variant, as it was designed for covert operations by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. Join Jonathan ...

Anti-tank rifles are complex, but this one is especially so. Jonathan Ferguson looks at an early model of the Panzerbüchse that was ultimately superseded. The Panzerbüchse 38 anti-tank rifle.

In many ways, the VP70 was a pistol ahead of its time, with an all-polymer frame and futuristic look. Anticipations were high for large sales across the Atlantic. Despite substantial adoption, the pistol was largely overshadowed by the Glock which followed it 10 years later.

Attaching a highly explosive attachment to a short range weapon may at first glance seem like a recipe for disaster. However, for certain applications having such a capability could be of real tactical use and indeed the ISTEC 200 series of launchers did see adoption with different nations during...

The Nazis pioneered the development of the assault rifle and the intermediate cartridge in the latter half of the Second World War. It led to a host of weapons under different designations with seemingly little (to nothing) to separate individual models. Jonathan Ferguson explains the difference ...

The ultimate in hidden, personal defence weaponry, the 'Zerfallkoffer' was developed in a time when the briefcase was a common accoutrement to the discerning businessman.

This cheap and easy to produce pistol, designed to be made with stamped sheet steel was a last-gasp attempt by Nazi Germany to mass-produce a sidearm in the dying months of the Second World War.

Another link up with our friends at Real Time History with this curious Bavarian gun with a backwards trigger on the Centrefire breech-loading military carbine - Werder Model 1869.

The story of the 11 mm Mauser cartridge and its relation to the J. P. Sauer und Sohn stalking rifle project. Sart with the film about the Sauer und Sohn rifle: https://youtu.be/lcLGJXwPdrM Magyar szöveg: http://kapszli.hu/az-elso-sauer-kipplauf-puska-i-resz-a-gyar-es-a-fegyver-tortenete/ Please s...

Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/capandball Here is a quicky about one of my favourite World War 2 rifles: the Hungarian 98/40 used by the German Army and the Hungarian as well. The rifle is chambered for the standard 7,92x57 round (8x57 JS as we call it today).

Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/capandball The Mauser C96 is one of the best known self loading pistols of the World. The Red 9 (9mm Luger version, manufactured during the 1st World War) is quite rare. Watch my short film about its history, system, tactical use, disassembly - reasse...

Please support us at https://www.patreon.com/capandball For buying Capandball Civil War cartridge boxes and cartridge formers: http://stores.ebay.com/Capandball?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 Capandball Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KapszliCapandball It's been a year since I have this single sh...

Let me show you now a beautiful and elegant hunting arm from the end of the 19th century. History, load developement, shooting. All here in Capandball style. The 11 mm Mauser cartridge project: https://youtu.be/P7Lj51cgtVs Magyar szöveg: http://kapszli.hu/az-elso-sauer-kipplauf-puska-i-resz-a-gya...

While many think the first Schnellfeuer originated in 1928 with Spanish arms manufacturer Astra, this example, produced in 1926 by Mauser was the original select-fire, fully-automatic example.

Germany was one of the first nations to really get into the sniping business during World War I, and this is an example of their sniper rifle of the period. The base rifle is a standard Gewehr 98 in 8mm Mauser. Optics form a multitude of different commercial manufacturers were used, mostly 3x and...

The 1883 Reichsrevolver is not the weapon most people would expect to see in German service - it was a decidely obsolete weapon from the moment of its adoption. The initial 1879 model was actually even worse, with an awkward grip and longer barrel, but the 1883 update retained all the same mechan...

In 1928 and 1929, the Swiss Rheinmetall company produced about 50 examples of a toggle-locked rifle designed by Karl Heinemann. It was tested by the United States among other countries, but never found military acceptance. This particular example is a Heinemann rifle in sporting pattern, made by ...

The Schnellfeuer, or Model 712, was Mauser's answer to the Spanish production of selective fire C96 lookalikes. Just over 100,000 of these pistols were made by Mauser in the 1930s, mostly going to China (although some did see use in other countries, and also with the SS). They use 10- and 20-roun...

Five different companies in Germany produced designs for the last-ditch Volkssturm bolt action rifles, and they were designated VG-1 through VG-5. The VG-2 was developed by the Spreewerke company, and differed from the others in its use of a sheet metal stamped receiver (and consequently a pretty...

We have all seen plenty of sporter CETME rifles and civilian HK-91s, but when the G3 was new to the Germany military, there was already an interest in bringing semiauto versions into the US. The Golden State Arms Corporation was the first to do so, with three batches of imports in 1962 (just 3 ye...

The German military used a lot of different small-caliber pistols during World War One, and the Jager is one of the most interesting of them. Its unique design was the result of needing to build pistols for the war effort on machines and tooling that were not suited for pistol production. The an...