ForgottenWeapons

RT20: Croatia's Insane Kludged 20mm Anti-Material Rifle (Ad-free)

During its Homeland War, Croatia manufactured a wide variety of ad-hoc firearms including a number of anti-material rifles. The RT-20 was the largest of these, and its development began with the di...

Colt 608: The AR15 as a Pilot's Survival Rifle (Ad-free)

As part of its effort to build out the AR-15 family of small arms, Colt introduced the Model 608 in 1965. This was intended to be an aircraft survival rifle, able to pack disassembled into a small ...

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 3: The Martini-Henry MkIV (Ad-free)

The full version with hand loading information (not permitted on YouTube) is available here: https://forgo...

History of SAW Use in the US Army (Ad-free)

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. ...

MAGAL: A Galil in .30 Carbine for the Israeli Police (Ad-free)

In the early 1990s, Israeli Military Industries (IMI) developed the Galil MAR (Micro Assault Rifle) and the MAGAL at the same time. Both were intended to be very compact rifles, with the MAR in 5.5...

OTs-14 Groza: Russia's Over-Hyped 9x39mm Spetznaz Bullpup (Ad-free)

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 VS...

FN M249S SAW at the Range (Ad-free)

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...

Nova Modul CTS9: a 9mm AK Upgraded for Competition (Ad-free)

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...

Colt Service Model Ace: Carbine Williams Makes a .22 1911 (Ad-free)

"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 sh...

Icelandic Swords: Blades of the Viking Frontier (Ad-free)

(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...

Custom DeLisle: A .45ACP Mini-Mauser in Classic Sporting Lines (Ad-free)

Today we are checking out a bespoke gunsmith's project; a DeLisle-inspired .45ACP Mauser built by Lars Rannstad Slang of Oslo. Using a commercial small-ring Mauser action, he fabricated a new bolt ...

Cugir Model 92 "Dragana" Mauser: Hunting Rifles From MG34s (Ad-Free)

With the fall of communism in Romania, the Cugir Arsenal complex lost its government financial support. Looking for commercial products to sell to keeps its workers employed, the factory turned to ...

FN M249S Semiauto for Military Collectors (Ad-free)

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...

Wieger 942: East Germany Makes a 5.56mm AK (Ad-free)

East Germany purchased a license for production of the AK-74 in 1981, but that license was for domestic use only. There was an apparent market for export production AKs in the western 5.56mm cartri...

History of the Krummlauf Device: Hitler's Folly (One of Many) (Ad-free)

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 despera...

Tour of Sport Systems Dittrich: Reproduction WWII German Rifles (Ad-free)

I recently had a chance to visit Sport Systeme Dittrich, a firm in Germany that manufactures high quality reproductions of German World War Two small arms. They were the manufacturers of the PTR-44...

Pump-Action AK: Romanian PAR-3 (How Not to be an "Assault Weapon") (Ad-free)

Between 1994 and 2004, there was a national "assault weapon" ban in place int he United States, along with some related importation restrictions on military-looking rifles. Most semiauto rifle impo...

Romanian Model 1879 Martini-Henry Rifles & Carbines (Ad-Free)

Following its experience in the Russo-Turkish War, the Romanian Army was quite impressed by the Martini-Henry rifle in Turkish service. Unlike so many Western observers who were taken by the Winche...

Landstad 1900: A True Semiautomatic Revolver (Ad-free)

The Landstad Model 1900 is a magazine-fed, semiautomatic revolver designed by Norwegian Halvard Folkestad Landstad, who lived in Kristiana (now called Oslo). He designed the gun on his own dime, an...

Belton Repeating Flintlock: A Semiautomatic Rifle in 1785 (Ad-free)

In 1785, Joseph Belton (an American inventor) and William Jover (an English gunmaker) sold 560 repeating flintlock rifles to the British East India Company. The guns were a very remarkable design w...

Universal AK Optics Rail from KGM Consortium (Ad-free)

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 f...

Enjoying Black Powder Episode 2: The Modele 1874 Gras (Ad-free)

The full version with hand loading information (not permitted on YouTube) is available here: 2024-06-30 00:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Handguns in the US Army in World War Two (Ad-free)

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 ...

CZ Bren 2 MS: The Civilian Version of a Modern Combat Rifle (Ad-free)

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 ...

PAM-2: Argentina's Improved 9mm Grease Gun (Ad-free)

The Argentine factory FMAP-DGFM was first set up to produce a copy of the Colt 1911, and in 1954 they began production of the PAM-1 (after demonstration of the first prototype in 1950). The PAM-1 w...

LMT Ion-LT Suppressor: Multipurpose, Light, & Low Back-Pressure (Ad-free)

LMT's new line of suppressors is designed for multi-purpose use in mind. The .30 caliber Ion 30 and Ion LT are rated for anything from .17 HMR to .300 Winchester Magnum, including automatic use. Bo...

The GI's Darling: M1911A1 at the BUG Match (Ad-free)

What more classic backup gun is there than the M1911A1, beloved by GIs as a backup to their M1 Carbines, M1 Garands, BARs, and tanks? Today I'm running an April 1945 production original military M1...

Fort 221: The Ukrainian Tavor TAR (Ad-free)

In 2008, Ukrainian manufacturing conglomerate RPC Fort received a license from IMI to produce a variety of Israeli small arms, including the Tavor TAR and Tavor X95. In Fort's catalog, these were d...

Makarov PB: Silenced KGB "Wet Work" Pistol (Ad-free)

In 1967, the Tula arsenal introduced a specialized silenced version of the Makarov for covert use. This was a very effective pistol, and its design was also very heavily changed from that of the re...

Sten Mk5: The Cadillac of the Sten Family (Ad-free)

The Sten Mk5 (sometimes written Sten MkV) was really the Cadillac of the Sten series. It was designed in 1943, and featured a full wooden buttstock patterned after the No4 Enfield rifle, as well as...