West Germany became a member of NATO in May 1955. Six months later its army reformed as the Bundeswehr. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, the Bundeswehr launched a major rearmament program. Despite adopting a wide range of new weapons, the Bundeswehr continued to use the 7.92-by-57-millimeter MG42... Read more
In the early 1930s, France’s Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Étienne developed the Pistolet Mitrailleur MAS Modèle 38 in a response to the French military’s call for new submachine gun. The French tested the weapon, selected it in 1938 and launched production in 1939, just months before the beginning of World... Read more
In 1920 the Swedish army purchased 700 Browning Automatic Rifles from Colt. This was before Fabrique Nationale acquired the European manufacturing rights. These weapons differed from the original M1918 pattern as they chambered Sweden’s 6.5-by-55-millimeter cartridge. They also had a detachable pistol grip and a bipod — something the... Read more
In 1968 Heckler & Koch launched the HK33 rifle, chambered in 5.56-by-45 millimeter, to compete with Colt’s AR-15/M16. The HK33, and later HK53, used the same roller-delayed blowback action the company developed for the 7.62-by-51-millimeter G3 in the mid-1950s. The HK33 won only a few major contracts. For its... Read more
In the mid-1960s, the Chinese military began to seek a replacement for its assortment of Soviet-licensed small arms, including the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, the Type 56 assault rifle and the Type 56 light machine gun. The result was the Type 63, first issued in 1968, which combined characteristics... Read more
Laurence Benét and Henri Mercié designed the Hotchkiss Portative light machine gun at the turn of the 20th century. It was a gas-operated, air-cooled, select-fire weapon that fired from an open bolt. A number of nations adopted the weapon, including France, Belgium, the United States and Britain. The United... Read more
I Learned How to Make My Own Bullets
WIB land April 24, 2017
Widener’s sponsored this post. Longtime readers probably won’t find it shocking that I enjoy firing guns. Of the weapons I’ve fired, the World War II-era Thompson submachine gun is my favorite. Not the Tommy, with its large barrel and gangster connotations, but the M1A1 with its long magazine and .45... Read more
The Giant Cannon Is the Bigfoot of Modern Tank Design
WIB land April 20, 2017
This article was first published on Sept. 28, 2014. For decades, Western analysts have predicted that Russia would introduce a giant new gun for its tanks—one that could blast right through the armor on U.S. and allied fighting vehicles. To this day, the terrifying cannon has never appeared. But rumors... Read more
The U.S. Army Is Repainting Its Tanks Green—Hint Hint
WIB land April 13, 2017
American tanks returned to Europe to deter Russian military adventurism in 2014, and the war machines are there to stay. But the speed of the deployments, coupled with the crews’ busy schedules, left little time to repaint hundreds of M-1 Abrams still colored in desert tan. Their appearance was a... Read more
En un principio la pistola AR-15 parecía un chiste malo
WIB land April 11, 2017
La pistola AR-15 pasó muchos años de mala racha en el mercado de las pistolas y las armas de defensa personal . Todos los comentarios al respecto solían ser muy críticos o incluso despectivos. Algunos incluso se reían abiertamente de este arma por su supuesta falta... Read more