Photos from OldPicture.com.

[ Many thanks to Mik for emailing me the link. ]

Posted because everybody love the MP7. My first impression was that it is much bigger in real life than in photos. While it is a sexy gun, the .17 cal (4.6x30mm) cartridge does not inspire me with confidence.

The photo below of the prototype .40 S&W submachine gun model. I had to promise them I would make is clear it is a prototype and that the finish on the lower is rough and not what will be seen on the production version.

M2A1 Machine Gun

The Army was recently demoing the upgraded, and long-overdued, version of the M2 Browning machine gun. Army.mil reports ...

The M2 A1 is an upgrade to the M2 machine gun. It provides a quick-change barrel and fixed head space and timing to reduce Soldier errors and associated safety risks, according to a report prepared by the Small Arms Branch. The Army is also working on a lightweight .50-caliber machine gun to augment the M2 A1, Henthorn said.

Also on demoed was the light-weight version of the M240, the M240L, which will be deployed next year ...

One of the weapons showcased was the M240L medium machine gun, a lighter alternative to the M240B machine gun. The M240L weighs 21-and-a-half pounds, six pounds lighter than the M240B.

"Lightening Soldiers' loads is a key element of what we want to do," Henthorn said. "We are carrying a lot of weight downrange on missions because we want capability. Every pound we take off a guy is a pound he doesn't have to carry up and down a hill."

Along with reduced weight, the branch is shortening the barrel and providing a collapsible butt stock for the M240 L, said Troy Harris, deputy chief of the small arms branch.

Henthorn said Army-wide fielding could begin in 10 months.

[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]

From the WHQ Forum ...

"Both the SOW (Special Operations Weapon) and its magazine-fed Remington 870 predecessor (bottom) were products of mechanical wizard Carroll Childers, an engineer at the Naval Special Weapons Center. The 870 mod kit provided SEAL shotgunners with a quick-change magazine holding 20 rounds. The SOW was full-auto."

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6861/sowg.jpg

Very interesting. It must have been a fun gun to shoot!

Thanks much to Sven for emailing me the info.

UPDATE: Daniel found the patent for the SOW. Worth reading if you are interesting how it worked.

I discovered this light machine gun last month at a SF team house here in Afghanistan. Its an old post WWI French Mdle 1922 light machine gun in 7.92mm Mauser. There were two models one that fed from a box magazine on top and this one that used stripper fed clips (15,24 &30 rd cap). The French made them is several calibers, including 6.5mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer (Greek), 7x57 Mauser (Spain), 7.7x56R (.303, UK) and 7.92x57 Mauser (Czechosolvakia). This one is missing the charging hande, bipod and muzzle brake.

Cleaning rod has been jammed into the bolt carrier and used as improvised charging handle.

• Metal revievers.
• Compensators
• NAVY style pistol grip.
• Retractable stocks.
• H&K style diopter iron sights. Adjustable for elevation or windage.

MP5 A5

MP5SD

The A5 model features a standard MP5 forend and a faux suppressor. The MP5SD foreend is modeled on the original SD forend although the suppressor is also just for the look and is non-funcationing. Standard fixed stocks will be able for purchase.

Both these guns will be able to be purchased with either a 10 round or 25 round magazine.

Hat Tip: On Point Supply

The Marine Corps has selected the infantry automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch as the weapon that will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in infantry fire teams, a senior service official told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

The H&K IAR “was truly the best in the class on multiple levels and will finally allow the billet of automatic rifleman to be performed as intended without the disruption of the squad integrity that the M249 created,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner, said in an e-mail.

Despite what is said in the above quotation, I do not think that the SAW is being replaced outright. The Marine Times has at times reported that the SAW would be replaced with the IAR, and at other times reported that it would augment the IAR, not replace it ...

The plan is to buy 4,100 IARs and reduce the number of SAWs in the Corps from 10,000 to 8,000, Cantwell said.

“We are still going to maintain SAWs in the company,” he said. “Only 2,000 SAWs will be replaced. The reminder will be kept as an organizational weapon for when commanders need them.”

The H&K entry was a modified version of their HK416 piston-operated AR-15 rifle. Unlike the Colt and FN entries, it is said to fire only from a closed bolt. Given the lack of an open-bolt fire mode I had presumed it was the least likely choice for an automatic rifle.

Presumably it is fitted with a heavy barrel, like H&K's previous, and commercially unsuccessful, attempt at the automatic rifle: the MG36. The Marine Corps has been reporting the weight of the 16.5" barreled H&K IAR as being 7.9 lbs. This is not possible as a standard 16.5" barreled Hk416 weights in at 7.84 lbs. I also think that the photo of the H&K IAR shown by the Military Times is that of a standard HK416.

HK416 standard rifle (not IAR)

I have contacted H&K to see if they are willing to publicly acknowledge if they have won. If they do, I will endeavor to get the specs of the new weapon.

UPDATE: The Marines Times has an updated article here.

Many thanks to Mark and Matt for sending me the news.

Porter Revolving Turret Rifle

9-shot; .48 caliber. In excellent overall condition. Bore is excellent plus; 28" barrel. Metal is smooth and well marked. Showing little or no use. Manufactured in 1851. Mechanically excellent. Wood is excellent, with one tiny area of wood loss. Only 1250 Porter Turret Rifles made, in three types, of which approximately 375 were type II. Lacks rear sight, cover screw broken, otherwise complete and excellent. A very advanced weapon for its time, and a competitor to the Colt Revolving Rifle, many were used during the Westward Migration. Seldom available on today's market, this example is in far above average condition. $11400

If you are interested, this rifle can be purchased at 19thcenturyweapons.com.

Isaiah Jennings 12 shot repeating flintlock rifle

According to the press release [PDF warning], when this gun was auctioned off, it achieved a record sales price in Louisiana.

An 1820 Prototype Isaiah Jennings 12 Shot Repeating Rifle, engraved with the serial number “No. 1,” generated a great deal of interest on the telephone, through eBay and from within the room. Bidding finally stopped (and the applause began) when a local purchased this exceptionally rare rifle for $34,000.00, making it a Louisiana record price for a firearm sold at auction.

Does anybody know how this type of gun works?

Ingrham's Underhammer Harmonica Rifle

The Underhammer Society Blog has a post about a modern reproduction of this 175 year old rifle design. Be sure to watch the video.

The Puckle gun

This gun dates back to the early 1700s! It fired 32mm caliber projectiles at a rate of just under 10 rounds per minute. I think make almost makes it an Auto-Cannon

Photo from Wikipedia.

Many thanks to Mehual, Clodboy and El Duderino for the links.

Many thanks to "H&K 4 LIFE" and his uncle for the pics.

The ITM Model-4 Prototype

Both barrels of the Model-4 are chambered in 9mm Parabellum. The top barrel is 12" and the bottom is about 6". It has a single trigger, and fires at a rate of 800 rounds/minute. It weighs nearly 8 lbs!

ITM Model-3

The Model-3 gun chambers 7.62x51mm in the 16" top barrel and 9mm Parabellum in the 7.8" lower barrel. This too has a single trigger. I am not sure if pulling the trigger fires both barrel, or there is a selector switch. Like the Model-4 also cycles at 800 rounds/minute. The Model-3 weighs 9.7 lbs, presumably unloaded.

ITM has developed many other 9mm and 7.62x39mm machine gun prototypes, both in single barrel and dual barrel configurations. You will have to purchase Militärgewehre-Enzyklopädie to see photos of these as I do not want to publish the entire chapter of a book. ¹

I spoke to the owner of ITM Tool and Die and he confirmed that they are still developing prototypes, although he was not willing to disclose any information about their current projects or the guns featured in Militärgewehre-Enzyklopädie.

Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for the tip.

Many thank also to A. E. Hartink, the books' author, for letting me use his photos.

The videography is amazing. I highly recommend watching it in HD over at Youtube.

I will seriously consider KeepGoing.Biz if I ever need the services they provide.

Many thanks to Bill Rushmore for sending me the video.

James Conway had questioned how the IAR will fit into fire teams, but said that his concern was “answered in short order.” Smith declined to elaborate, and Maj. David Nevers, a spokesman for Conway, said the commandant was unavailable for comment.

At the Modern Day Marine exposition held at Quantico in October, FN Herstal displayed a high-capacity magazine for its IAR variant that can hold 100 to 150 rounds. Another con­tractor, Armatac Industries, has approached the Corps about a 150-round magazine it makes and says is compatible with each of the finalists’ weapons.

Early in the evaluation process for the IAR, the Corps’ requirement called for the weapon to use 100-round magazines. That was eventually elimi­nated in favor of using the same 30-round maga­zines, as Marine officials sought to cut weight from the SAW’s replacement.

Translation: Ultra-high capacity magazines have poor reliability and so we are pretending that they are in fact too heavy for our Marines to carry.

I was not aware that the requirement had been dropped. Not having a ultra-high capacity magazine would seem to significantly decrease the utility of the rifle, insofar as it being a replacement for the SAW.

150 round AR CL-MAG

Many thanks to Solomon for the link.

Few people would claim to find the sound of automatic weapon fire comforting. To me, it signals the beginning of the bi-annual Knob Creek Machinegun Shoot in West Point, KY. This festival of gun enthusiasts brings out some of the most varied and exotic hardware you will ever see, and, if you’re lucky, get to handle. For the newcomer, it can be a bit overwhelming, so I’ve compiled a short list of tips to get you through the weekend.

Taken by Oleg Volk at a Knob shoot earlier this year.

Tip #1: Bring your walking shoes (or boots if it’s been raining)

In addition to the shoot there is also a large vendor section. After three trips through at an hour plus a piece, I could still stumble across something new. When an MP5 starts to look mundane, turn a corner and you’ll find an FN SCAR, or a Kriss sub-machinegun. Of course, don’t forget to make a trip down to the lower range for the jungle walk and machine gun rentals, which leads me to my second tip.

Tip #2: Bring a bag full of money

The phrase “ammo shortage” seemed like a distant memory when you took a look around the vendor area. Reloading supplies, cases of ammo, and all the black rifles, which were oh-so-scarce a few months ago, littered the tables. If it weren’t for some semblance of self control on my part I could have emptied my checking account in minutes walking away with enough rifles and ammo to last me for months.

Assuming you don’t spend all of your money with the vendors, there is no quicker way to turn Benjamins into fire and noise than the machine gun rentals on the low range. Where else would yours truly get his hands on an H&K UMP to let off some steam with? The smart money is on the jungle walk though. Thirty-five dollars buys you an Uzi, two 20 round magazines, and a forest full of evil communist steel plates that need dispatching. I did it in 3:23 and 15/18 targets, not bad for a newbie.

Tip #3: Bring earplugs . . . and ear muffs

Guns are loud, so it stands to reason nearly one hundred people in a line discharging automatic weapons, at barrels full of TNT and diesel is extremely loud. Some might criticize you for your choice in ear protection; but trust me, you can enjoy the shoot just by the concussion you feel in your chest and the fireballs that accompany the aforementioned explosions. Plus you’ll want to watch it again, and it’s not as fun with a headache.

The idea of a Mecca for your hobby can be overused, but this is unequivocally a necessary lifetime experience for the gun-nut in all of us. Whether it’s your first time, or your tenth time, pack up your bags, and head on down for some good ole Kentucky hospitality. At the end of the day when your walking back to your car and you hear the echo of machinegun’s off in the valley, you’ll understand that comforting feeling, that at least for one weekend and in one place, people are still exercising their God given right to blow the hell out of stuff.

This design uses your existing upper receiver and cocking knob with a drop-in barrel insert, bolt assembly, magazine adapter and modified UZI .22 LR magazines. The magazine inserts in the pistol grip mag' housing just like the original 9mm magazine.

LAGE currently manufacture a range of slow-fire upper receivers for M-11, M-10/9 (a version for the M-11A1 is in development). These uppers slow the rate of fire from 1100 RPM to 600 RPM, making the gun much more controllable.

These guns are well known for eating through ammunition with their very fast rate of fire. The cost of these uppers are around $760.

Many thanks to Jeff for the information, photo and links.

There are two models, one being slightly shorter than the other.

Manroy Engineering have also redesigned their ME 7.62 GPMG, which is a mix of features from the L7A2 and MAG 58.

A big thank you to REMOV for the photos and information.

The platoon-sized unit of U.S. soldiers and about two dozen Afghan troops was shooting back with such intensity the barrels on their weapons turned white hot. The high rate of fire appears to have put a number of weapons out of commission, even though the guns are tested and built to operate in extreme conditions.

...

"My weapon was overheating,” McKaig said, according to Cubbison’s report. "I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight. I couldn’t charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down."

Snowflakes In Hell, via Michael Bane's blog, correctly points out that assault rifles are not machine guns:

No assault rifle is going to stand up to sustained automatic fire. They aren’t machine guns, and even a machine gun needs to have its barrel changed out if it’s been firing a lot.

The M4 has a very short 14.5" barrel and a relatively lightweight barrel profile. This allows the barrel to heat up much faster than a longer and heavier rifle or machine gun barrel. When the barrel of a closed-bolt gun gets very hot, cook-offs,when a round is ignited from the heat in the chamber, become a significant problem ... not to mention the fact that a soldier cannot fire a gun that is to hot to hold!

The Marines have been criticized by many for their plans to introduce an Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) into the mix of weapons issued to their troops. The IAR is not intended to replace the SAW but would be deployed alongside it, giving some riflemen a light weight weapon that can sustain automatic fire.

FN IAR. Switches from closed-bolt to open-bolt when automatically when barrel temperature increases.

The Army would do well to look into the concept.

At the end of last year the Marines announced they were awarding contracts for the development of IAR prototypes to Colt, H&K and FN. Since then I have heard nothing about the IAR.

There are discussions about the M4 failure at Wanat over at Snowflakes In Hell, via Michael Bane's blog and SaysUncle.

Many thanks to Jerry, Caedis, Lee and Lance for emailing me links about this story.

Colt Defense, LLC., West Hartford, Conn., was awarded on Sept. 25, 2009 a $32,143,048 firm-fixed-price contract for M240B machine guns. Work is to be performed in Hartford, Conn., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2015. Bid solicitation was open to the Firms in the U.S. and Canada with two bids received. TACOM-RI, CCTA-AR-SA, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0175).

Daniel Watters, an expert on military procurement, told me that the military have been trying to maintain, or expand, the small arms production industrial base by procuring from second sources.

A mounted M240B

A big thank you to Daniel Watters for the info.

The Model DCL100 Red Dot Sight (below) is designed specifically for the FN Minimi / M249 and FN MAG / M240 light machine guns. It is seen here mounted on the Minimi Para, FN's short 13.7" barreled, collapsible stocked, machine gun.

DCL100 mounted on the FN Minimi Para.

The larger Model DCL110 designed for .50 heavy machine guns and 20mm cannons

I have an overwhelming desire to mount one of these on a Ruger 10/22

A big thanks to Groot Mamba for the photos.

The SIG 516

Markings indicate manufacture at the Sig Sauer plant in Exeter, NH, USA

I do not know if Sig plan on a civilian carbine version. If they did it would compete directly with their Sig 550 line of full length and short barreled rifles.

UPDATE: jcmiller points out that the lower receiver is semi-automatic. A production PDW would have to be fully automatic. Maybe Sig are thinking of civilian sales.

UPDATE:

The SIG516 Tactical Rifle line has three different models:

• SIG516 PDW : 7" barrel. A personal defense weapon (pictured above).
• SIG516 CQB : 10" barrel. A Colt M4 Commando equvelent.
• SIG516 BASELINE CARBINE : 14.5" barrel. A M4 Carbine equvelent.
• SIG516 Patrol. 16" barrel.
• SIG516 Tactical Marksman: 16" barrel A squad level sniper / designated marksmen rifle.
• SIG516 Precision Marksman: 20" barrel. Possibly a true sniper rifle, or designated marksmen rifle.

They are all piston operated and feature an adjustable gas regulator like the Ruger SR-556.

Specifications
Caliber	5.56mm NATO
Fire modes	single shot, 3 round burst and fully automatic (except marksmen models which are semi only)
Controls	Ambidextrous
Gas system	piston system with 3 or 4 position gas regulator
Upper Receiver	Flat top with picatinny rail
Lower Receiver	forged 7075-T6 aluminum
Trigger	Milspec for all models except the Marksmen which have 2-stage match trigger
Capacity	Takes standard AR-15 magazines
Finish	black hard coat finish
Barrel	chrome lined, cold hammer forged, nitrate finish
Barrel Twist	1:7" right hand
Stock	collapsible SOPMOD buttstock
Weight	6 lbs. (PDW) - 7.28 lbs (Patrol) - 8 lbs (Precision Marksman)
Rails	Free floating aluminum alloy M1913 picatinny quad rails
Sights	flip-up BUIS (backup iron sights)
Magazine	Ships with 30 round AR-15 magazine. Marksmen models ship with 10 or 20 round magazine.
Other Features	0.5x28TPI threaded muzzle
MSRP (Price)	not known

Upper receiver assemblies will be sold. Just before anyone gets their hopes up, while it is likely that Sig will sell civilians models, this has not been confirmed.

Big thank you to Lusaka for the information and photos.

Unlike most videos on YouTube the sound on this video is very clear and you can distinctively hear that a lot of the noise is caused by the bolt itself, rather than the escaping gas.

One of the reasons I love my suppressed .22 bolt gun is that there is no noise from the action other than the firing pin smashing the case rim.

Thanks to Max for the link.

Modern Submachine Carbine

The firearm chambers a round developed in India called the 5.56×30mm. This round is sometimes referred to as the “5.56×30mm INSAS” after the first gun to chambered the round, the INSAS Carbine.

5.56×30mm MARS

Those of you who follow the industry closely may recall that Colt developed a round named the 5.56×30mm MARS during the 90’s as part of their now defunct Mini Assault Rifle project. I imagine the INSAS cartridge is very similar. The Colt patent describes the MARS cartridge:

The MARS cartridge is designed as part of the weapon system and exploits the high energy densities of modern ball powders. It for the first time uses magnum pistol type powders burned at rifle pressures to achieve high rifle velocities in a short rifle barrel. It uses a fast ball powder to achieve 2600 ft/sec with a 55 gr full metal jacket projectile in only an 11 inch barrel.

The MARS cartridge/rifle was able to achieve similar ballistics as a ultra-short barreled 5.56×45mm NATO rifle (I use the term rifle loosely, sub-carbine is more correct), but with less muzzle flash, noise and weight. The Indians went with the 5.56×30mm over the 5.56×45mm for these exact same reasons as Colt.

Out of a 11″ barrel, the MARS Rifle was able to push a 55 grain bullet at 2600 fps, generating 825 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. For comparison, according to Wikipedia, the original Colt Commando (11″ barreled sub-carbine) could push a bullet (presumably a 55 grain M193 Ball) at 2750 fps.

Colt M4 Commando (current model)

While the 5.56×30mm has advantages over a pistol cartridge such as the 9mm NATO, to wit, less weight and kevlar vest penetration, it has in my opinion one fatal flaw. 5.56mm bullets were never designed to operate at such low velocities. While 2650 fp/s may seem fast, that is at the muzzle, not 200 meters downrange where the target is situated.

A graph I generated. Numbers are estimates for illustration only.

Col. Martin L. Fackler, MD famously did a study which determined that a 5.56mm bullet (M193 and M855) would fragment only slightly ,or not at all, when hitting flesh below the speed of 2500 fps. Low fragmentation results in a .22″ sized hole in the target – less damaging that a .38″ (9mm) or .45″ hole.

Col. Martin L. Fackler, MD results

It will be interesting to see how this new sub-carbine and perform in real life, and what official nickname the cartridge is given. I think 5.56mm India or 5.56mm Short should are much better named than 5.56×30mm INSAS.

Hat Tip: 8-AK Defense News and Ammoland

Tag: 5.56×30

Two readers emailed me saying that many of the weapons I mentioned in my 5 Weapons that should’ve been in Transformers 2 post were used in new hit sci-fi movie District 9. I was considering seeing the movie, but after hearing this I decided I had to go. It was fantastic! Despite being a low budget production, they must have hired a very competent weapons consultant. The weapons used were appropriate for the task at hand and were used correctly, something few action, or even historical, movies do right.

Where can I buy this target?

There are three main human factions in the movie. The Multi-National United is organization styled after the UN. The Mercenaries (I can’t remember what they are called in the movie) are private military contractors styled after the likes of Blackwater (Xe). The Gangsters live among the aliens and are involved in the arms trade.

The movie is set in South Africa so it is no surprise that many of the weapons used in the movie are weapons produced by the South African defense industry.

Multi-National United (MNU)

Vektor CR-21 – This is the “white” gun used by the MNU. The 5.56 mm CR-21 is a bullpup version of the Vektor R4. The R4 is the South African licensed-built version of the Israeli Galil (an AK-47 derivative).

CR-21

R1 (FN FAL) – The R1 was the South African licensed-built FN FAL. In the movie it is used by airborne snipers.

R1 / FN FAL

Unknown Pump Action Shotgun – A pump action shotgun is used by a minor character. I could not identify it.

Mercenaries

Vektor R5 – This is the carbine version of the Vektor R4 rifle. The R5 has a 13.1″ barrel.

Vektor R5.

Colt M4 with M203 – Some troops appear to be using the M4 Carbine and M203 grenade launcher.

Colt M4/M203

FN Minimi – Better known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).

FN Minimi

PMP Neopup PAW – I am pretty sure this awesome semi-automatic grenade launcher was used briefly.

Denel NTW-20 – This South African made 20mm rifle was used too good effect.

Unknown Machine Pistol – A machine pistol or submachine gun was used in one scene, but I could not identify it. UPDATE: Commenters point out that it was the BXP.

Unknown Pistol – I could not identify the pistols carried by the mercs. UPDATE: IMFDB says it was a Beretta 92FS.

Gangsters

AK-47 – Not introduction needed.

RPG-7 – Again, no introduction need. Used realistically in the film.

RPG-7

Milkor MGL – I was surprised to see the gangsters packing this. I only saw it in one scene.

M1911 pistol – I am pretty sure a 1911 clone is used by one of the gangsters.

Aliens

Unknown weaponry

Alien Assault Rifle

While watching the movie I tried to keep track of what guns they were using. I probably missed many and I had trouble identifying some. Please post a comment below if noticed any mistakes or omissions I have made or identify any of the unknown weapons listed.

Thanks to Cory and Raymond for their emails regarding the movie weapons.

UPDATE: More info at IMFDB (Spoiler alert).

CZ’s 2009 military weapon line up.

Since the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic, the Slovakian arms industry has gone into decline and is now only a shadow of its former self. The fact that the Czech arms industry is doing well seems to be a source of irritation to the Slovak government.

The Skorpion EVO appears to be a cosmetic update to the Laugo LG 205 submachine gun that was designed by a Slovakian firm sometime in the last decade. They must have been unsuccessful in generating interest in the product and appear to have sold the design to CZ.

From the excellent site Small Arms Illustrated.

I know very little about the gun other than it is chambered in 9mm Luger / Parabellum, made of lightweight polymer and has all the picatinny rails you could want.

CZ are marketing it as a PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), although I cannot see any feature that distinguish it from any other 9mm submachine gun. You can see in the top image that they have given it the same stock and pistol grip as the new CZ S 805 rifle, which their marketing department are using as a selling point.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of this gun. At one point the designer (I have no idea who designed it, despite an hour and half of research) had it on display with a thumbhole stock and carbine length barrel. Personally I think it would have a great 9mm civilian carbine.

It looks a lot like what I would expect the child of a Sig 550 rifle and an H&K MP5 submachine gun would look like. I actually think it looks pretty good. Not much is known about this gun. It chambers 9mm less-lethal rubber bullet rounds (effective range of 10-80 meters) and 9mm Parabellum. The intended users are law enforcement.

It features a folding stock, H&K style diopter iron sight and quick detach red dot sight.

Grenade launcher attachment. Probably for less-lethal / crowd control ammunition.
Note MP5 style forward charging handle.

A few more images:

Hat Tip: china_police at MP.net

This is quite possibly the most ridiculous video I have ever watched online!

After World War II, Italy adopted the US-designed M1 Garand rifle in .30-06 (7.62×63mm) and also manufactured it under license. This semi-automatic rifle proved itself well during WWII, but in the late 1950s it was considered outdated and obsolete. The Italian military wanted a new rifle chambered for the NATO-standard 7.62×51mm.

Beretta designed the BM59, which was essentially a rechambered M1 fitted with a removable 20-round magazine, folding bipod and flash suppressor/grenade launcher. The BM59 is capable of selective fire.

I came across this Class III, full auto, Beretta BM59 on Gunbroker (The auction has since close). Click to expand the photos:

Tavor


Lahti 20mm anti-tank rifle ( / cannon ). That thing is HUGE.

Many more photos of the shoot by Oleg here, here and here. Time magazine took a photo of Mike Z. Williamson’s discerning young daughter.

Hat Tip: Gun Nuts Media

Click to expand the photos.

Before and after deployment.

There have been quite a few of these foldable submachine guns, most recently the prototype Magpul FMG-9.What confuses me is that the UC, which was originally known as the UC-M21, is generally credited to a guy named Dave Boatman. FullAutoClassics attributes it to Utah Connor:

The UC was designed by Utah Connor in the 1980’s intentionally to be self concealing. An early prototype was featured in the movie Robocop II, disguised as a boom box type radio.

hmmmm … I wonder who really designed it.

The UC with carrying handle in Robocop II. Photo from gun-world.net

A promotional video for the gun:

The price: $12,500!

More info at FullAutoClassics.com.

Click to expand.

The AGS-17 Plamya, the auto grenade launcher currently fielded by Russia, is 30mm. The new launcher extends the effective range from 1700m to 2500m and the larger round will of course give it more bite.

It is logical to compare it with the 40mm Mk 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher. The weight and rate of fire are much the same. The Balkan comes standard with optical sights and the Mk 19 can be fitted with sights if needed.

The ammunition is quite different. The Balkan uses Russian style 40mm grenades that are in a sense caseless. The primer ignites powder, the gas then exists through vents in the bottom of the case. This is similar to the infamous Gyrojet ammunition. Unlike the Gyrojet I think all the grenade powder is burnt before the round leaves the barrel, unlike the Gyrojet which burnt the propellant slowly and accelerated slowly.

The vents appear to have a shotgun-like star shaped crimp.

Another difference is that the ammunition box holds 20 linked rounds and weights 14 kg while the Mk 19 uses 32 or 48 round boxes weighing 20 and 30 kg respectively.

Hat Tip: diva @ WAFF

Derek writes:

I have designed and patents pending on this.. Its a beltfed 12 gauge upper receiver for a ar-15 or m16 lower receiver. It uses your lower receiver, so if you have a ar15 its a semi auto shotgun, however if you have a registered m16 lower or a drop in auto sear it becomes a full auto 12 gauge machine gun. This is a prototype model and all the bugs arent worked out quite yet. Most of the problems that I have encountered revolve around the shotgun sheels not being consistent enough to eject sometimes.

I will be doing a brief interview with the Derek soon.

Hat Tip: Say Uncle

While these guns could be used in the field, they were mostly used and
more suited to use as fortress guns on forts and ships.

A recent photo of the fort where the guns used to be mounted

Thanks to Fred for the photos.

The Gemtech GSD-5 is permanently suppressed (you cannot remove the suppressor) and is available in either a 16″ barrel configuration or in a SBR config. The price for the 16″ model will be $1195.

SBR model

16″ barrel model

This video shows it off:

Hat Tip: 7trees @ ar-15.com

What is really cool is how the gun came into existence. Chris from ATI told me that last year after the original GSG-5 was introduced they noticed many people on the ar15.com GSG forum voiding their warranty to achieve the SD look. Late last year they flew to the GSG HQ in Germany to discuss these modifications. They worked out a plan.

This is a fantastic example of a company listening to it’s customers. I wish more gun companies would do this.

MP5SD3. Photo from Wikipedia.

From the press release (emphasis mine):

Although it was developed for use with security forces, the Skorpion was adopted by the Czechoslovakian Army in 1961 as a sidearm for vehicle drivers, armored vehicle personnel and special forces. In addition to being featured in many of today’s popular video games, the VZ 61 Skorpion is currently in service with numerous military units, and police agencies around the globe.

The pistol comes with all the accessories you will ever need: 1×10 round mag, 2×20 round mags, cleaning kit, pouch, and an instruction manual on a CD. The MSRP will be $814.
Specs:

Caliber .32 ACP
Overall length 10.4”
Barrel length 4.52”
Height 6.5”
Width 1.68”
Weight 2.58lbs

The difference between this and the “real” Skorpion is that this lacks full auto (obviously) and the wire stock.

UPDATE:

Game screenshots showing the Skorpion:

Golden Eye

Call of Duty 4

Click to expand.

I could not figure out what was going on in that complex mechanism. The general consensus was that it must be some type of complex lever action until Wes Janson figured it out.

Click to expand. Photo from Statens Forsvarshistoriske Museum

The Forsøgsrekylgevær was designed by Rustmester Rasmussen (Bjarnov) and Captain VHO Madsen. What is unqiue about this rifle is that the magazine is gravity fed. You could simply pop in cartridges into the loading/magazine-like device and let gravity do the rest.

While gravity fed magazines were not uncommon and were used in Maxim, Gardener and other pre-machine-gun guns, unlike those which were very heavy and either crew served or mounted on the deck of a ship, this was designed as a infantry rifle!

Can you imagine running around in a gun fight knowing that your rifle could fail to feed, or worse, jam if you did not keep it upright? That would not have been much fun. I reckon this was why only 50 were ever made and they only saw limited service by the coast guard.
The The Danish Arms & Armor Society describe the action (translated using Google, emphasis mine):

The mechanism of rekylgeværet is a kind of automatic version of the Peabody vippende bottom piece. Instead of traditional gun magazine had a solid loading device when the cartridge collars were in the two grooves. Cartridges were to fall into the gun by their own weight. When the gun was not in use, was loading device folded down so that it covered include opening.

Gun can be used both as individual leaves and machine. By simply placed cartridge directly into the bottom piece cartridge bearing. As a machine left by loading device.

Click to expand. Photo from The Danish Arms & Armour Society (I think)

The M.1888 fired the 8×58RD cartridge. The blackpowder military load for the 8×58RD sent a 226 grain bullet @ 1591 fps generating 1270 ft/lbs of energy. The smokeless version pushed the 226 grain projectile at 2034 ft/s generating 2076 ft/lbs.

While the rifle itself has faded into obscurity the 1882 Madsen machine gun was based on its design. The Madsen was in active use for over 100 years until last year when the Brazilian police force finally retired it.

1882 Madsen machine gun replica.

Full photo at The Winnipeg Sun

The Winnipeg Sun reports:

Possibly homemade, the submachine-gun and five sawed-off shotguns, along with ammunition, were seized at a house in the 400-block of Manitoba Avenue on Jan. 7, police said.

Three males, aged 17, 27 and 28, are facing almost 120 charges.

If it is homemade whoever made it did a very good job. Either it is homemade or of a pre-1950ish design. Note that it has a non-telescoping bolt resulting in a long receiver.

At first I thought it may be an MP-40, but it is not. Can anyone here identify it? Please provide a link to a photo in the comments if you can.

Regular readers know that I have fascination with homemade guns

85 truck with 12,000+ actual miles, up-armored, two Ramo M2 .50 cal. machineguns on Form 4’s in Ky., and 10,000 rounds US surplus ammo. Everything in excellent condition. Please, serious inquires only. Email for further info. Thanks for looking.

Anyone know what the going rate for a M2 is? Traction Control, any ideas?

The auction is here.

Hat Tip: Хроники безумного Макса

They must have had a lot of fun putting this thing together Click to expand the photos.

Note the M203 grenade flare launcher


[ Above Photos Copyright Ken Lunde. Used with permission. ]

UPDATE: A couple more photos taken by SMGLee:

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Chen “SMGLee” Lee. Used with permission.


Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Chen “SMGLee” Lee. Used with permission.

After a SWAT Officers’ AR-15 jammed another offer fired two shots from his MP5 missing once and hitting the suspects skull on the next shot. The 9mm bullet bounced right off.

Ohio.com reports

Brandi Tice, 28, would never leave the Lakemore house. She died of a single gunshot wound to the head — a rifle shot that police say was fired by her estranged husband.

About seven hours later, after keeping SWAT officers at bay with his 4-year-old son by his side, Daniel Tice was shot by police, struck by a 9 mm bullet that miraculously bounced off his forehead, sparing his life.

Tice, 32, was to undergo surgery Friday for a fractured skull. He is expected to recover and be charged with murder.

This is not an uncommon phenomena as the media make it out to be. Many hunters with high powered rifles have noticed the exact same thing. It is one of the reasons why head shots are not recommended for medium or large game.

Saying all that, physics is a strange beast. Low powered round can be devastating.

Thanks to Jay for the link.

Click to expand

From Wikipedia:

The Gardner gun was an early type of machine gun. It had one or two barrels, was fed from a vertical magazine or hopper and was operated by a crank. When the crank was turned, a feed arm positioned a cartridge in the breech, the bolt closed and the weapon fired. Turning the crank further opened the breechblock and extracted the spent round.

From “The Machine Gun” By Chinn Naval Bureau of Ordnance Publication

The original Gardener gun could have as many barrels as the customer desired although the two barrel variety is most common. Never used by the US during wartime the Gardener was popular with both the British Army and the Royal Navy.

The SIA “Model of 1885″ .45-70 Gardner Gun is the two barrel, water cooled, variety and is capable of firing 500 rounds/minute. SIA expects to be able to take orders between Feb and March this year. The gun carries an estimated price of $29,950.00.

A while back I wrote about what I would want to carry at sea. I have changed my mind. I want a Gardener gun. If it worked for the Royal Navy I am sure it would work for me

FN IAR. Click to expand.

One very interesting features is that it switches automatically from closed bolt to open bolt depending on the chamber temperature. From FNH-USA:

Today FN offers the new Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR), a unique, highly-adaptable, modular selective fire weapon system that fills the roles of both individual battle rifle and squad automatic weapon in one light, compact package. The magazine-fed FN IAR is capable of firing from a closed bolt in both semi-automatic and fully-automatic modes, yet automatically transitions into open-bolt operation in semi-automatic or fully-automatic before reaching cook-off temperature for a chambered cartridge.

I do not think the temperature switch would be electronic. Most likely there is a piece of metal that expands when heated and causes a switch from closed to open bolt.

Again, a bit thanks to Daniel Watters for pointing this out to me.