The history of modern small arms is in part so fascinating because of how many firearms have been developed even in obscure circumstances, and how many of those obscure small arms still exist in museums and private collections around the world. Even though I make learning about obscure modern small arms my hobby, I am continually surprised by the new and unique weapons I uncover both on the Internet and in real-life excursions to some of the aforementioned collections.
TFB reader Bronezhilet recently visited the Bundeswehr’s (German Army) Defense Technology Museum in Koblenz, Germany, and shared with TFB the photos he took of the small arms in the collection there. Over the course of a few installments, we’ll be taking a look at groups of these photos. For the moment, we won’t be taking an in-depth look, but I encourage our readers to check out these weapons for themselves!
We previously looked at some of the great selfloading rifles and SMGs at the Koblenz museum, and today we’re going to continue, starting with a suppressed Croatian Pleter-91 SMG:
Do you like MP5s? Who doesn’t! Here’s a cutaway of the world’s greatest submachine gun:
A suppressed Austrian Steyr TMP, which later evolved into the B+T MP9, sits above a suppressed MP7A1 (don’t forget the USP-45 Tactical, either!):
The most futuristic SMG of all, the P90:
Obligatory:
Heckler & Koch makes transparent polymer versions of their weapons for armorer instruction. Here’s one such version of an MP7A1:
The unusually stylish Argentine Halcon SMG:
A whole gaggle of burpguns in this case: Yugoslavian M56, Steyr MPi-69 (in my opinion one of the best-looking Uzi-likes), an Uzi with mounted fixed stock, Mini-Uzi, a Spanish Star Z-70B, and a Star Z-84:
The Robocop-esque Croatian Agram-2000:
The cult classic Jati-Matic of Finland:
Small and mighty vz. 82 from Czechoslovakia, in 9×18 Makarov:
The unusual and innovative Polish PM-63 “Rak”, named after the cancer that afflicted its designer:
And finally, a Croatian Zagi M91, with sound suppressor:
That’s all for now! Next time, we tackle the rare assault rifles of Koblenz!