Historical Guns

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The Story Of An Ambush & The British Sten Gun - A Spectacularly Successful Failure

The Story Of An Ambush & The British Sten Gun – A Spectacularly Successful Failure

The British Sten gun was effective at close range, cheap, and easy to make, but nearly botched the assassination of one of Hitler’s henchmen.

Private Bob Shine and the M3A1 Grease Gun: Desperate, Ugly, Awesome

Private Bob Shine and the M3A1 Grease Gun: Desperate, Ugly, Awesome

The M3 submachine gun was built for WWII. The stamped steel gun was nicknamed the “Grease Gun,” but it cost Uncle Sam only $18 to make.

Browning's M1911 and the Tale of a U.S. Combat Engineer in Italy

Browning’s M1911 and the Tale of a U.S. Combat Engineer in Italy

The 1911 pistol is as much a part of the fabric of America as is baseball, fast cars, and pretty girls. Literally, countless young men headed off into harm’s way with one of Mr. Browning’s hand cannons tucked into their belts.

The M1 Carbine and The Story of War Hero Jack Lucas

The M1 Carbine and The Story of War Hero Jack Lucas

The M1 carbine was designed as a Personal Defense Weapon of sorts. It combined the portability of a handgun with the magazine capacity of an autoloading rifle.

The Smith and Wesson M1917 .45ACP: A Big-Bore World War Wheelgun (#3 – Allied Small Arms WWII)

The Smith and Wesson M1917 .45ACP: A Big-Bore World War Wheelgun (#3 – Allied Small Arms WWII)

The M1911 was the finest combat handgun at the time of the World Wars. For close range firepower and reliability, nothing beat the M1917 revolver.

The Thompson Submachine Gun - From Chicago Streets to European Battlefields (#2 – Allied Small Arms WWII)

The Thompson Submachine Gun – From Chicago Streets to European Battlefields (#2 – Allied Small Arms WWII)

The Thompson Submachine Gun was a weapon respected by Prohibition-era gangsters before being toted across Europe by American soldiers in WWII.

Czech vz52 Pistol - The Sort-Of MP5 Roller-Locked Handgun

Czech vz52 Pistol – The Sort-Of MP5 Roller-Locked Handgun

In 1952 the Czech military adopted a radically strange new pistol designed by two brothers, Jan and Jaroslav Kratochvil. The vz52 (not to be confused with the vz52 rifle of the same designation that entered Czech service the same year) represented a unique application of the roller-locked action pioneered by the German MG42 machine gun. While HK dabbled in the same thing with their short-lived P9S handgun, the vz52 pistol was otherwise unique.

The P14 Luger Marinepistole - A German Military Handgun Designed for Ship-to-Ship Combat

The P14 Luger Marinepistole – A German Military Handgun Designed for Ship-to-Ship Combat

Georg Luger left an indelible mark on the firearms world that persists to this very day. His extraordinary eponymous handgun was not an altogether original design, however. His mentor, a German engineer named Hugo Borchardt, was actually the first to realize the human knee would translate into a serviceable firearm.

In the Trenches: the Legendary Winchester Model 1897 — Full Review

In the Trenches: the Legendary Winchester Model 1897 — Full Review

There are few manufacturers that have a long-storied history in the defense industry as Winchester. Undoubtedly, few things are more formidable or reliable in battle than a 12-gauge pump action shotgun. Winchester’s Model 1897 has proven over time to be a reliable firearm for protection of America’s finest.

Inland: New T30 Carbine with M82 Vintage Sniper Scope

Inland: New T30 Carbine with M82 Vintage Sniper Scope

This new Inland T30 Carbine is very similar to the T3 Carbine of WWII. It comes fitted with a period-correct Redfield-style scope base welded to the receiver like the original.