The German Sturmgewehr is one of the most coveted and influential firearms of all time. Advanced collectors seek them out to round out their shrines, but getting behind one is a whole different kind of experience. The low recoil, controllability, and historical significance makes shooting a sturm a [Read More…]
In November of last year, we blogged about an early Soviet encounter with the MKb.42(H), the open bolt machine carbine that would become the famous closed bolt MP/StG.44 assault rifle. Ensign Expendable, author of the Soviet Gun Archives blog that provided the material [Read More…]
What was the Soviet reaction to the Sturmgewehr? EnsignExpendable, at his excellent Soviet Gun Archives blog has the answer: “To the People’s Commissar of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade I.V. Stalin: Since the Spring of this year, forces of [Read More…]
The Photo Of The Day can be chosen for a variety of reasons, and bullpups are always popular. This baby is now 47 years into service, which is quite remarkable in itself. The StG 77 (Sturmgewehr 77) denotes the Austrian Armed Forces’ adoption of the Steyr AUG in [Read More…]
Today’s Photo of the Day comes courtesy of my inability to keep my wallet closed. The Karabiner 43, or K.43, is a Second World War era semi-automatic rifle chambered in 8mm Mauser. Sometimes referred to as “Hitler’s Garand” (most notably by the [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day: My own vz. 58 rifle in 7.62×39 mm is my “back to basics” rifle, and I intend to keep it in its original configuration forever. Most of the time it’s pretty hard to hit anything beyond 80-100 yards, but if you do things right, [Read More…]
Sturmgewehr 77 is the Austrian military designation for the Steyr AUG assault rifle, which replaced their license-built FN FAL in 1978. Here we can see the Jäger Battalion 25 using the StG 77, a photo well worthy to start AUGtober of 2021 and another month of our Photo [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day – We visit the Austrian Jägerbattalion of the Bundesheer. These soldiers are on the next step of becoming squad leaders, in one of their rounds of cadre candidate training. Their main firearm is of course the Steyr AUG bullpup rifle or the StG 77 [Read More…]
Welcome to TFB’s own Photo Of The Day. As the name says, this page is dedicated to rare and unique pictures which are updated daily. Today, we get a closer look at the heavy weapons of the Austrian Armed Forces, or the Bundesheer in Austrian. In Austrian service the [Read More…]
As a kid, I used a large donut-shaped magnet that I found in the garage, attached it to a length of rope and scoured under brackish water bridges for lost treasure. Besides dozens of crab traps, a few shopping carts and random ferrous trash, my dream of reenacting a [Read More…]
The highlight of any training within the military? Shooting fully automatic firearms for sure, as well as blowing things up, and in Today’s Photo, you can see soldiers of the Austrian Bundesheer working their issued Maschinengewehr 74. Perhaps running with the 12 [Read More…]
World War II, as well known, marked the actual in-combat debut of semi-automatic rifles by the main nations involved, such as the United States (with the .30-06 M1 Garand), the Soviet Union (the 7.62x54Rmm SVT-40), and Germany (the 7.92x57mm G43/K43). The deep influence [Read More…]
A new class of weapon, the assault rifle, was adopted by Germany during the Second World War. Initially, this weapon had a greater impact on global affairs as propaganda, while bolt action and semi-automatic rifles still dominated the battlefield. Later, the assault [Read More…]
Representatives of the German gun manufacturing company Heckler & Koch confirmed today that the company has submitted both the HK416 assault rifle and the new HK433 modular assault rifle to the Bundeswehr’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr (SSB) rifle [Read More…]
It’s a blunder so bad it makes you look twice: On the new sculpture dedicated to Russia’s most famous small arms designer, there is an unintentional homage to a weapon of Russia’s hated adversaries during the Great Patriotic War. Behind the tasteful [Read More…]
What has been called “The German ACR” has now been tested by All4Shooters.com. Almost seven months has passed since the HK433 was launched at EnforceTac 2017 in Nurnberg, Germany. If you have missed the news, or need to refresh your memory you can check [Read More…]
At Enforce Tac this spring Heckler & Koch Germany displayed the HK237 and HK337 officially for the first time, but there were no details to be had. Now we’re teased with some more technical details. Heckler & Koch may not like me, or you, but I am in love [Read More…]
The German Sturmgewehr is a rifle that needs no introduction. It is a rifle with a historical mystique that results in them being highly coveted among collectors, but they are fine weapons in their own right. In this video we do some shooting with an old MP43. Transcript … (gun cocking) (gun [Read More…]
At SHOT 2016, Hill & Mac Gunworks unveiled their prototype multi caliber re-imagining of the World War II-era German Sturmgewehr assault rifle. The new semi-automatic rifle, while not an exact replica, captures many of the design elements and the basic aesthetics of [Read More…]
What was the first intermediate cartridge? Who designed it, and why? How did the concept evolve? These are all good questions deserving of thorough, thoughtful answers. Sadly, to give a comprehensive history of the intermediate cartridge concept would require a project [Read More…]
In the early summer of this year, a car-full of gun nerds set out to capture the rare Pedersen rifle on camera for the first time. The passenger with the van Dyke mustache and ponytail had just mentioned how if he could own any machine gun, it would be an StG.44, the [Read More…]
The Gewehr 41 was Nazi Germany’s first attempt at a standard-issue selfloading infantry rifle. It utilized a front flap-locking bolt coupled with a Bang-type gas trap operating mechanism. This mechanism has a reputation for not working very well (more on that [Read More…]
The Sturmgewehr is a rifle that will never lose it’s place in history; it is one of the single most influential weapons of the 20th Century. It is not the first of its kind, however, and we at TFB have previously taken a look at some of the rifle’s [Read More…]
The German Sturmgewehr is a firearm that needs no introduction. It was the world’s first true successful assault rifle (despite what some people have to say about the Fedorov Avtomat) and was used with great success by the forces of the Third Reich. This [Read More…]
A World War 2 Sturmgewehr 44 was handed in at a gun buy back event in Hartford, Connecticut. The police officers were kind enough to tell the owner who handed in the gun that it was worth up to $30,000 and they will allow her to sell it, rather than send it to the [Read More…]
In my last article on the K.43 I said that if I was able to get my grubby paws on an SVT-40 I’d do a comparison of the gas systems. Well, after getting extremely lucky on a GunBroker listing, I’m able to do just that. Gas Systems of the Eastern Front – [Read More…]
Thanks for joining us on another Wheelgun Wednesday on TFB, where we try to cover all things revolvers. This week, we’ll take a quick look at the two revolvers I scored from a local gun auction, a Harrington & Richardson Auto Ejecting .32 S&W, and a Smith [Read More…]
During this holiday season, perhaps you would like to take a break from visiting with your spouse’s parents – so how about getting to know your rifle’s parents? For a long time, the whole line of long guns made by H&K was all based around a [Read More…]
AK rifle is often thought of as something crude and easy to produce with shabby craftsmanship performed by slave laborers in dystopian socialist factories. So many times I heard: “Oh, what do you expect, it is an AK”. That is why it is ever more [Read More…]
The Haenel MK556, despite having been rejected by the Bundeswehr following a patent infringement, has recently been seen put to use training Ukrainian special forces operators. The 5.56x45mm short-stroke piston carbines were once poised to replace the German [Read More…]
Your Privacy Choices