History

Welcome back to Guns of the Decades. Here, we’ll pick a firearm from a decade, and briefly talk about where it was at the time. It’s not meant to be an all-encompassing detailed record of the firearm or a claim that it was the best firearm of the decade. It's a fun read with a different take on a gun at a specific time. In this week’s article, the decade will be the 1970s, and the firearm will be the Smith & Wesson Model 29. The Model 29 is a .44 caliber handgun, made incredibly popular by the films of the time. The most notable film the Model 29 appeared in was the Dirty Harry series of films, but it also appeared in several other movies including Taxi Driver.

Welcome to the Guns of the Decades. In this article series, we’ll pick a firearm from a decade, and briefly talk about where it was at the time. It’s not meant to be an all-encompassing detailed record of the firearm or a claim that it was the best firearm of the decade. It's a fun read about a gun that you may have forgotten about or one that may have been lost in time.

The battlefield on the Eastern Front of World War II illustrated a horrific lesson—that victory can be won with tragic heroism and noble sacrifice. Still, ultimately, without technical and tactical innovation, it is a cruel waste of life. The Soviet Union learned quickly, changing tactics and developing vast small arms to combat the next war. With lessons fresh in their memories, new concepts were developed and evolved to change the world.

The PK and PKM can be traced back to the Goryunov SG-43 medium machine gun, a testament to the unwavering perseverance of Kalashnikov's design team. Their dedication and hard work in refining the machine gun are genuinely inspiring. This historical evolution, from the SG-43 to the PK series, carries significant weight in the field of military technology.

Many people who briefly looked into Kalashnikov’s biography ask the same question - how come the first gun he developed, the AK-47, became so incredibly popular? But when you dig deeper, it turns out the AK-47 was not his first design, and Kalashnikov’s early attempts to develop new guns often failed.

You never know what you’ll find when you start digging. Myself, I’ve only ever uncovered some old toy cars and Star Wars action figures, but down in Arizona, researchers have uncovered what they believe is the oldest firearm in the U.S.—an ancient conquistador’s cannon.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is auctioning off an M1D Garand sniper rifle and accessories. The proceeds of the auction will go to benefit an exhibit about the Army Marksmanship Unit at the National Infantry Museum. It’s hard to find one of these rifles in this kind of condition, and this is a rare opportunity to snag one complete with the scope.

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday, our weekly column where we discuss everything related to revolvers. Early repeating firearm designs in general and revolvers in particular are always fascinating. Today, we'll take a look at a very rare late 18th-century flintlock revolving shotgun. This wheelgun is consigned to Rock Island Auction Company and will be sold in their upcoming December 2024 Premier Firearms Auction.

Recently I wrote a series of articles about the history of Kalashnikov GPMGs: PK and PKM. However, the history of this machine gun is not limited to the Soviet Union. Different versions of it are still produced in different countries: Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Sudan, China, Ukraine, Romania, North Korea and Vietnam.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. Part 4 was about the troop trials. Part 5 outlined the final results of all the tests.

In   Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. Part 4 was about troop trials. In this chapter, I will talk about the end of the trials and their results.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through, Part 3 described the technical triаls and competition between the Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov. In this chapter, I will go into the story of troop trials that determined the destiny of Kalashnikov GPMG.

In  Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machinegun story, Part 2 was dedicated to the bureaucratic hoops he initially had to jump through. In this chapter, I will talk about the technical triаls and competition between Kalashnikov and his rivals, Nikitin and Sokolov.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the beginning of the Kalashnikov machine gun story. In this chapter, I will get into details of how Kalashnikov managed to go through with his design against all odds.

While Ukraine may be embroiled in a bitter conflict with Russia, a discovery on the Polish-Ukrainian border is a reminder that the region has been fought over many times during its history.

In this video, James Reeves is joined by Austrian gun expert Wolfgang of Black Trident as we explore the evolution of Austrian military autoloading pistols. Starting with the legendary Steyr 1907 and moving through iconic models like the Colt 1911, Walther P38, Steyr "Hahn" 1912, and the innovative Steyr GB, we conclude with the modern Glock Gen 5. Wolfgang shares historical insights and fascinating details about each pistol's design and role in military history. Don’t miss this in-depth look at some of the most influential firearms ever made in Austria!

Everyone knows AK-47. It is everywhere: movies, books, crime statistics. Interestingly enough, those who spend some time in the warzone often have stronger feelings towards another Kalashnikov creation - the PK/PKM belt-fed machine gun.

In the first part of this article, I talked about the history of the INSAS rifle and the problems that were described in the Indian press. After reading countless articles about INSAS, I had a chance to travel to India and asked every Indian serviceman I met about those problems.

Have you ever found yourself huddled over your keyboard or glued to your phone as an auction counts down on that item you’ve been coveting for days? Have you ever missed out at the last minute, pipped at the post by someone swooping in at the last second? Well there’s a new website that is making online gun auctions easier and possibly less stressful!

Every once in a while we run gun refurb stories here at TFB—but what about a cannon refurb? That’s exactly what scientists at Texas A&M are up to right now, trying to restore a cannon that was used at the Alamo.

This week on Wheelgun Wednesday I have the great pleasure of talking about one of my personal favorite revolvers and this time with some historical province. We are covering Pat Garret’s Presentation Engraved Colt 1877 “Thunderer”. Everyone has heard of Billy the Kid. Western anti-hero, reluctant outlaw, or no good people shootin' runt to some. Billy’s name is synonymous with Western history but much less so is the man who killed Billy the Kid - Sheriff Pat Garrett. Let’s dive right into his revolver and the history behind it!

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the fascinating history of CZ99 which involved the shady international arms dealer, the collapse of Yugoslavia, and an unknown gunsmith who couldn’t tell the difference between numbers “8” and “9”. In the second part of this story, I want to talk about the intricate destiny of this design after Yugoslavia was sanctioned in 1992 and lost access to the US market. From the beginning, CZ99 was developed specifically for USA customers, and losing your main client is always challenging.

Palmetto State Armory’s sub-brand Harrington & Richardson has a pair of new retro pistols for sale. These new models feature an arm brace that mimics the look of the classic CAR-15 stock while still being intended for single-handed use. It is adjustable for the length of pull and has a QD sling cup in the rear of the brace for shooting with sling tension.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world! Last time we talked about the AMT Automag II .22 Magnum pistol. As I assumed would be the case in the comments, most of you guys love the idea, and the looks of the sizeable silver handgun but absolutely loathed the size of the grip, and the lack of consistent reliability across all models with most types of ammo. However, as with any discontinued handgun, not every example is a negative and at least a handful of you mentioned that the pistol was not only stylish but was entertaining as heck to shoot due to the gigantic fireballs the handgun produced. I think we all share the sentiment that it’d be pretty cool to have a modern, decently functioning replica of the Automag II around. This week we’re going further back to a legend within the rimfire pistol scene. Born out of the “Standard” series released in 1949, the eventual Ruger Mark or MK series of pistols would completely change the rimfire pistol scene forever. Today we’ll check out a very nicely preserved sample of the Ruger Standard model sent over to us by our friends at FirearmLand. FirearmLand has been helping us get a closer look at some of these rare and discontinued historical pieces so be sure to check out their website if you’re interested in collecting or even selling some of your rare firearms!

Headstamp Publishing have announced the release of their latest volume in their Heckler & Koch book series! Volume 3 covers HK’s iconic roller-delayed blowback based rifles and machine guns including everything from the earliest G3s to the ill-fated G41 as well as a host of rarely seen prototypes and machine guns like the HK21!

On the way back from my short trip to Finland to participate in Finnish Brutality 2023, I had the chance to finally watch a movie I had been told about for months – Sisu. Sisu is a Finnish-made film set in 1944 during WWII that follows the bloody, painful, and wildly impossible journey of a man whose only wish was to be as far away from the war as possible and enjoy his newly found gold. Obviously, without a conflict, we can’t have a movie so long story short, our main character ends up going on a one-man killing spree as he tries to retrieve his stolen gold and take down the Nazis who took it from him as they retreat during the Lapland War.

The Cody Firearms Museum, located at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, is an icon. This incredible museum houses what they advertise as “the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world.” With the current count of more than 7000 guns and some 30,000 gun-related artifacts, this bold claim is well warranted. The museum is not publicly funded but is supported in part by admission tickets, tours and events, and membership options. Recently, GunBroker.com teamed up with Ruger’s Custom Shop, artist Paul Lantuch and Baron Engraving, and Rangehot photographer Hunter Elliott to further support this important institution. These entities collaborated to offer an auction benefiting the museum, for a gorgeous one-of-a-kind .45LC Ruger revolver, dubbed the “Jade Vaquero”. Check out the Jade Vaquero’s auction page here for details, and to see how much it sold for, and see below for a copy of GunBroker’s announcement for more.

We’re now officially into 2024, and that means it’s time for the latest CMP rule changes. Some of these changes were teased earlier but we can now look at the full text. As far as I can tell, these all seem like improvements.

In part one of this series, I wrote about the history of DDR AKs which by many are regarded as the best in the world. In this part of the article, I will describe some experiences I had when I repaired those guns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

AK rifle is often thought of as something crude and easy to produce with shabby craftsmanship performed by slave laborers in dystopian socialist factories. So many times I heard: “Oh, what do you expect, it is an AK”. That is why it is ever more interesting to look at East German AKs, produced in a country that for the last 100 years has been thought of as the synonym of quality products.