Uziel Gal was a German-born Israeli who served half of a six-year sentence after having been arrested for carrying a gun illegally in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was released in 1946, two years before Israel declared her independence. A gifted designer, Gal began work on a new submachine gun and completed his first prototype in 1950. Christened the Uzi after its designer, this rugged combat

The origin story is foundational dogma for gun nerds like us. George Sullivan incorporated the ArmaLite Corporation in 1954 as a tiny little subsidiary of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. Operating out of a modest machine shop in Hollywood, California, Sullivan envisioned ArmaLite as a think tank to explore cutting-edge concepts in small arms. Their first serious effort was a small takedown survival rifle intended for use by downed military aircrew.

The Germans saw their industry transformed from a collective of cottage artisans of sorts into a manufacturing juggernaut that prevailed in the face of material shortages of many manifest flavors as well as round-the-clock bombing. Early guns were meticulously crafted and expensive. Later weapons, though functional, were designed from the outset to be readily manufacturable. Those in between exhibited characteristics of each. The three best examples are the Steyr MP34, the Beretta 38A, and the MP40.

Modularity is the new gospel in modern firepower, and the FN SCAR just drips with it. The upper receiver starts out as an extruded bit of aluminum, while the polymer lower contains the fire control system and secures the magazine. There are two major subtypes. The SCAR-Light (SCAR-L) runs 5.56x45mm. The SCAR-Heavy (SCAR-H) chambers 7.62x51mm.

Mechanical systems like small arms evolve in response to myriad forces both industrial and martial. Somebody has an idea that seems to work, and that idea is tweaked, adjusted, and improved over time until it becomes something better, more reliable, and more efficient. The astute student of modern small arms, however, can generally tease out the origins of a mechanism with a little study.

The Walther MPL is the ultimate example of a general utility submachine gun. In the roles filled by the wartime German MP40, American Grease Gun, Russian PPSh, and British Sten the MPL is quite literally ideal. The rate of fire is slow, and the gun is rugged and simple. By contrast, the MP5 fires much faster and is really a specialist’s weapon. In the hands of a trained operator, the MP5 puts a swarm of zippy little 9mm bullets into teacup-sized groups at bad breath ranges. When employed in a swamp or powdery desert environment, however, the complexity of the MP5 becomes a liability.

Always pressed for weapons, the Germans employed no less than twenty-two major handgun types during World War 2.The Nazis got their guns wherever they could find them. Quality ranged from impeccable to abysmal with everything in between. The Germans issued more than 300,000 Browning Hi Powers made under occupation in Belgium. Designated the Pistole 640(b) in Wehrmacht parlance, the Hi Power was arguably the finest combat handgun of the war.

The .40S&W arose as the indirect result of the FBI’s 1986 Miami shootout. If you aren’t familiar with the details surf on over when you’re done here. Any student of small arms is well served to read up on it. Google is your buddy. During the Miami shootout, two FBI special agents were killed and five wounded by a pair of bank robbers wielding a variety of weapons.

The Battle Rifle is commonly accepted to be an autoloading combat rifle that feeds from a detachable magazine and fires a full-sized .30-caliber round. While Battle Rifles found their stride in the years following the Second World War, they have been largely replaced by small caliber Assault Rifles nowadays. However, combat in such places as Afghanistan has shown us in recent years that the need still exists for a man-portable .30-caliber rifle that can offer precision fires out past the range of the 5.56mm cartridge.