1962 model
guns.ru just posted an article on the Korobov TKB-022, an early bullpup assault rifle designed by Russian gun designer G. A. Korobov.
All weapons were tested by Soviet army, but turned down on unpublished reasons (most probably becuse the gun was simple too advanced for contemporary military thinking, but also possibly because no-one at the time could tell for sure if plastic housing would hold its integrity in extreme weather conditions or during many years of storage or use).
More here.
Tam has written about the history of the French MAS-49/56. It is very interesting, well worth a read.
A handy, compact weapon, the MAS-49 was roughly the same size as the contemporaneous Soviet SKS. Also like the SKS, its prewar heritage was evident in its elaborately machined steel receiver, designed before metal stamping technology had become a tool in the gun maker’s box. Unlike the SKS, it fired a full-power round, with much the same ballistics as the later 7.62×51 NATO, the famed .308 Winchester.
Photo by Oleg Volk.
More here.
James has an interesting post on cyclist’s guns which were used by cyclist’s to keep dogs at bay back in the late 1800s.
Well worth a read.
Click to enlarge
This Enfield would fire when enough water dripped (along the wire, I think) from the top can into the bottom can. It was used by the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli (WWI) to make the Turkish forces think they were still in the trenches while they were retreating.
Very clever. I want to make one! (With blanks, of course).
H/T: MP.net
James reported on this last week, but I thought I should mention it:
From Strategypage.com:
The world’s first light machine-gun, the Danish Madsen has finally been retired from service after over a century of use. The State Police of the Brazilian state of Rio De Janerio were the last users of the twenty pound weapon…
The Madsen required some precise machining, but it was not exceptionally costly to make. It was reliable, although it used an awkward top loaded magazine, carrying 25, 30 or 40 rounds. Over its long career, it was equipped to fire ammunition from 6.5mm to 8mm. The Brazilian Madsens fired NATO 7.62mm (.30 caliber) ammo. It’s rate of fire was 450 rounds per minute.
Firearms last a long time!
These photos of of a replica of the 8mm model which can be bought here. They are the best photos I could find and are probably close to the original.
Click to expand the images.
I recently wrote about the new Boberg XR9 pistol which features the magazine beneath the chamber. Dr. StrangeGun discovered that the Gabbett-Fairfax Mars pistol was the first pistol to feature this configuration.
High tech and ugly (Photo from Horst Held)
From wikipedia:
The Mars Automatic Pistol was a semi-automatic pistol developed in 1900 by the Englishman Hugh Gabbet-Fairfax. It was manufactured by Webley & Scott and distributed by the Mars Automatic Pistol Syndicate. The Mars Automatic Pistol is famous for being available in a variety of 8.5 mm, 9 mm and .45 calibres. These were all bottle shaped cartridges with a heavy powder loading, making the .45 version the most powerful handgun in the world for a time. It used a unique long recoil rotating bolt action which ejected spent cartridges straight to the rear.
The Mars Automatic Pistol was rejected by the British War Office as a possible replacement for the Webley & Scott Revolver, then in service with the British Army, because of the unacceptable large recoil, muzzle-flash, and mechanical complexity. It has since become a collectors item because of its rarity and as an example of the earliest developments in semi-automatic pistols.
I dug up the pistols’ patent. The patent drawings show how the rear ward feeding works.
Although the pistol was not practical back in 1900 it was an ingenious design.
This essay takes a look at early firearm development up till the 1500’s. It is a fascinating read.
Certainly, the first uses of gunpowder are psychological - loud bangs and sausage-shaped rockets snaking across the battlefield to terrify men and horses. This is the role we can see for the fire lances of 1132. It is a short step from here to the early handgonne. I believe that while the bamboo pellet throwers of 1259 did not use true gunpowder, they certainly were a first application of the principle of using burning gases to throw a projectile…
Serpentine lock firearm, 1411
More here.
A classic post by ‘dstorm1911′ over at Surplus Rifle Forum
Folks due to members on another forum going on bout how the AK is a spray and pray rifle at best etc… or theirs won’t hit accurately because its got a wore out bore or the trigger is crap or….. a plethora of other excuses I decided to run a little test.
I took a 1964 Rommy “GP” (regular army full auto) parts set that’s been sitting on my desk for months (I use it for demo pics etc..) and put it together this morning on a NODAKSPUDS NDS-3 receiver, it is by far the most worn out AK I have either assembled or still in kit form, Below are a few pics to show just how worn out it is.
I used ALL the original components for this test; other than the Full auto disconnector and the rest of the full auto parts and receiver of course otherwise it was tested EXACTLY as it was last used by a Romanian soldier who ran easily a couple hundred thousand rounds through this thing in full auto ….
More here.
This 25 minute video shows the operations and ceremonies of the Detroit Police Department. It is in the classic 1950’s style of cinematography. Worth a watch if law enforcement history interests you.
“He learned to use all types of firearms and spent many hours on target practice. Marksmenship might someday mean saving his own life and the lives of other people.”
Watch it here.
Very interesting blog post about the 17th Century Firearms trade in America and impact on the Indians of the northeast.
Of all the trade goods the European introduced to the American Indian, the gun has had the most broad-ranging effect, both positive and negative, on native and settler alike. As a tool for hunting the gun helped the Indian provide more food for his community, which in turn led to a better standard of living and provided for greater population growth. On the other hand, this increased efficiency also made it possible for the Indian hunter to harvest more animals than could be removed from the environment without having a negative impact on the ecology.
Not only did the gun allow for more efficient hunting, it provided a better means of making war. This in one respect could protect a small tribe from a much stronger neighbor, but could eventually allow some nations (as in the case of the Iroquois) to utterly destroy their own weaker neighbors. The gun, as it still is today, was a helpmate when used as a tool for feeding or defending the family, and was a terror when misused as an apparatus of uncontrolled destruction.
More here.
From another age (1943):
It encourages people to take up target shooting.
A blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a flared, trumpet-like barrel which discharges lead shot upon firing. It is the predecessor to the shotgun.
The term blunderbuss is of Dutch origin namely donderbus, a combination of the Dutch terms donder (thunder) and bus (gun).
From Wikipedia
This company makes real shooting blunderbuss”
Very nice! More here.
I came across a PDF, with no date or author, about the history of the Chinese M14 clones. It is a very interesting read!
UPDATE: H2O MAN in the comments below let me know that the text comes from “M14 Rifle History and Development” by Lee Emerson. Thanks H2O MAN.
A persistent rumor states that M14 rifles produced by the People’s Republic of China were reverse engineered from enemy captured M14 rifles in Viet Nam. China North Industries Corporation, known as Norinco, is reported to have produced M14 rifles by the early 1970s. The story continues that 100,000 Chinese M14 rifles were produced for an armed revolution in the Philippines. In preparing for this work, the author interviewed a very reliable source with extensive firsthand knowledge of Chinese and Taiwanese production and export of small arms was interviewed for this work. This gentleman wishes not to be identified. He is referred to as Other Source # 12.
Chapter 6 contains the History of the Chinese M14 Clones. The PDF can be downloaded here.
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