Sterling SMG at the Range

This review of the Madsen Model 1945 submachine gun, presented by Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons from the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, highlights its unique design and historical context. The firearm is noted for its quality construction, pistol-like reciprocating slide, and use of Suomi magazines. Despite its advanced features for the time, its complexity and cost led to commercial failure, making it an extremely rare collector's item.

Gearhead Guns is producing a Type 100 Nambu PCC recreation, with the first batch shipping around March. It's available in 9mm Parabellum with 9-inch or 16-inch barrel configurations for SBR compliance. Customization options include various metal and wood finishes, with optional bayonet lugs.

Hank Strange provides an expert review of the M3 Grease Gun, highlighting its unique manual of arms, including the internal crank-style charging handle. He demonstrates its operation and live fire, noting its 'humming like a sewing machine' cyclic rate and historical context as a 1943 suppressive fire weapon. The review emphasizes the importance of understanding its specific loading procedure.

The CBJ-MS is a modernized Swedish submachine gun designed by Bertil Johansson, aiming for rugged durability over polymer PDW fragility. It features a unique muzzle sleeve for bipods, a forward grip with magazine storage, and a progressive trigger. The design draws inspiration from the Swedish K for reliability and utilizes a telescoping bolt similar to the Uzi, allowing for a compact receiver made from stamped stainless steel.

The Walther MPK and MPL are post-WWII submachine guns developed in the late 1950s and produced from 1963, competing with the Uzi and MP5. They feature a simple stamped sheet metal construction, ambidextrous controls, and a manageable 550 RPM rate of fire. While robust and portable, their sights are considered a weak point by the reviewer.

This review delves into the Walther MPK submachine gun, a competitor to the Uzi and MP5. Key features include an open bolt design, a non-reciprocating charging handle with a manual forward assist, and a secondary safety sear catch to prevent accidental discharges. The MPK offered selector options for full-auto and, in some variants, semi-automatic fire.

This video details the unique 'French Finger Trap' issue with the MAS-36 rifle's bayonet, where two rifles can become unintentionally locked together. A 1951 French arsenal memorandum identified this problem, proposing a simple modification to the bayonet handle. Drilling a small hole allows a tool, like a firing pin, to depress the internal spring, enabling the separation of locked rifles.

The M134 Minigun is a scaled-down 7.62 NATO rotary cannon, requiring 24V DC power and consuming 1.5 kW. Its high rate of fire (3,000+ RPM) is essential for aircraft engagement windows. The complex delinker mechanism is critical for feeding ammunition, and practical hand-held use is impossible due to weight and recoil. Live fire demonstrates rapid ammunition consumption and the need for indirect aiming.

The H&K G11 is a revolutionary prototype assault rifle designed in the late 20th century, notable for its caseless ammunition and unique rotating drum bolt mechanism. Despite advanced features like a 2000 RPM burst fire rate and integrated optics, its development was ultimately halted by geopolitical shifts and cost concerns.

This video demonstrates the assembly and live-fire of the German 1936 pattern light mortar (L.Gr.W.36). It highlights the mortar's leveling mechanism for accuracy and the difficulty in visually tracking its 50mm projectiles after firing. The content showcases historical military hardware and its operational use.