Military

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.

Needless to say, you won’t find these one-of-kind items for sale anywhere else and the money goes to a fantastic cause. Please help spread the word and let’s get the party started. If this doesn’t end in a bidding war between Raytheon and Boeing, I am going to be disappointed.

The notice specifically states that the new Sub Compact Weapon, or SCW, needs to be a “highly concealable sub compact weapon system capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal and accurate fires at close range with minimal collateral damage.”

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.

The primary weapon of the infantryman is the rifle. Yes, at this time there were also submachine guns, pistols, anti-armor weapons, and machine guns. But these weapons were all intended to support the rifleman as he took or held ground. Interestingly enough, most of the armies in the Second World War were using either the same rifle their fathers carried in the First World War or a variant thereof.

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.

NSWC-Crane’s real eye-opening finding was that the mid-length gas system showed a far better service life than the carbine-length system.

The National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman got the first crack at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s military surplus 1911s.

The U.S. Marine Corps announced earlier this month their plans to drastically overhaul the composition of infantry rifle squads, cutting the total number of infantrymen from 13 to 12 but outfitting each member with a new M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR).