Will Dabbs

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.

In one particular area, the Italians really outdid themselves during World War II. Their Model 38 submachinegun was the finest pistol-caliber automatic weapon of the war.

The 1873 Winchester sported a steel receiver along with proper metallurgy in its barrel that allowed the gun to handle the relatively high performance of the .44 WCF round. Various barrel lengths and contours, engraved variations, and rifle, carbine, and musket versions kept things spicy.

The Skorpion’s Western counterpart was the product of the free market. Though the company that birthed it was called the Military Armament Corporation, the M11 was never actually referred to as a MAC in company literature. We gun nerds conjured that informal moniker ourselves.

On the night of June 5th, 1944, a force of 181 men commanded by Major John Howard lifted off from RAF Tarant Rushton aboard six Horsa gliders. Their force consisted of a reinforced company from the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry along with twenty sappers drawn from the Royal Engineers. Their objective was to seize the bridge over the Caen Canal and subsequently secure the eastern flank of the Allied landings at Sword beach. Theirs was arguably the most critical piece in the entire D-Day invasion.