ForgottenWeapons

Q&A November 2025: The 6.8x51 is Still a Bad Idea (Ad-free)

Pienoiskivääri m/91 Finnish .22 Mosin Trainer (Ad-free)

Aly & Kaufman AKB-23: Better Than the SA80 / L85 (Ad-free)

T20 Family: Springfield Makes the Garand a Grenade Launching Sniper Machine Gun (Ad-free)

Late in 1944 the Ordnance Committee recommended adoption of a magazine-fed, select-fire version of the M1 Garand as a new standard US infantry rifle. Both Springfield and Remington developed rifles to meet the requirement, with Springfield's being the T20 and Remington's the T22.

The Springfield design went through several iterations from ...

6.5x25mm CBJ: Shooting Through an APC with a Glock (Ad-free)

Carl Bertil Johansson is a Swedish small arms designer who has a wide range of experience. The project he is best known for is his 6.5x25mm CBJ cartridge, which necks 9x19mm down to 6.5mm and then uses a plastic and aluminum sabot to fire a 4mm hardened tungsten penetrator. This provides really exceptional penetration, cleanly defeating all mann...

m/27PH aka m/37: Finland's First Standard Sniper Rifle (and it's really bad) (Ad-free)

Join the Forged in Snow launch here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=f4214r

The m27PH, aka the m/37, was the first standardized Finnish sniper rifle. It was developed as part of the plan t...

Rideout Arsenal Dragon: A New Low-Bore-Axis Lever-Delayed Pistol (Ad-free)

Wauser t-shirt available from Varusteleka:

https://varusteleka.com/en/products/forgotten-weapons-wauser-cotton-t-shirt

The Rideout Arsenal Dragon is a very interesting new pistol from an independent entrepreneurial desi...

Adventures in Surplus! Finnish M28 "Ski Trooper" (Ad-free)

Get your exclusive preorder copy of Forged in Snow today!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=5st8it

Today we are going to take a look at just how much historical be read from the features an...

November Q&A: What Do You Want to Ask?

No particular theme this month, just a general request for questions...

Drum-Fed LMG for Chinese Warlords: the Finnish LS-26/31 (Ad-free)

Join the Forged in Snow launch here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=bauo53

After the Finnish Defense Forces adopted the LS26 light machine gun, Aimo Lahti and the Tikkakoski factory conti...

MY NEW BOOK! Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917-2025 (Ad-free)

Join the book launch on Kickstarter now!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/forged-in-snow?ref=2ur3bi

Forged in Snow: Finnish Small Arms 1917 - 2025 is a reference guide to military fi...

AK50: How Hard Could it Be? Brandon Herrera's 10-Year Project (Ad-free)

Scaling the AK up to .50 BMG...how hard could it be? Today we find out, with a detailed look at all three iterations of Brandon Herrera's AK-50 project.

Apache Arms Carbine: A Saga of Compliance and Crappy Manufacture (Ad-free)

The Apache Arms carbine was a Thompson SMG lookalike that was made in small numbers in the late 1960s. It was the successor to the Spitfire carbine made by the same people, after the Spitfire was deemed a machine gun by the IRS. The Apache used M3 Grease Gun magazines and was chambered for .45 ACP. It uses a square receiver tube and many ...

The Original AR-15: Serial Number 6 in Original Configuration (Ad-free)

The very first AR15 rifles submitted to US government trials were extremely light rights, with an assortment of interesting features that did not last long. They had top-mounted charging handles, one-piece hand guards, very thin barrels with plain muzzles, and a different safety selector configuration than became normal later one. Updates and mo...

Licensed Troubleshooter: Guns of James Bond UPDATE! (Ad-free)

Licensed Troubleshooter is still available for preorder:

https://www.headstamppublishing.com/licensed-troubleshooter

At long last we have proof of life for Licensed Troubleshooter: the Guns of James Bond by Caleb Daniels! This book hit...

Project PRAK: Converting the CZ50 Pistol to 9x18mm Makarov (Ad-free)

In 1966, CZ undertook Project PRAK (“Slingshot”) to investigate the possibility of converting the CZ50 pocket pistol to 9x18mm Makarov. The

In 1966, CZ undertook Project PRAK (“Slingshot”) to investigate the possibility of converting the CZ50 pocket pistol to 9x18mm Makarov. The

In 1966, CZ undertook Project PRAK (“Slingsho...

Colt LE-901 Modular Multi-Caliber AR: A Well-Designed Failure (Ad-free)

Colt originally developed the 901 as part of the US Army SCAR program, with the intention being to create a 7.62x51mm rifle that could also use unmodified 5.56x45mm upper assemblies. This would allow special operations units to customize a single weapon to a variety of different configurations for different mission profiles. Mechanically, the sy...

Albania's Rather Odd Grenade Launching AK (Ad-free)

In addition to its regular ASh-78 (fixed stock) and ASh-82 (under folder) Kalashnikovs, Albania also made a model specifically for launching

In addition to its regular ASh-78 (fixed stock) and ASh-82 (under folder) Kalashnikovs, Albania also made a model specifically for launching rifle grenades and it has some odd features. The rear sight...

Q&A October 2025: Weird Pistols & Future Plans (Ad-free)

Use code "FORGOTTENWEAPONS10" for 10% off Kyrö Distillery spirits at their web store:

https://kyrodistillery.com/

Personal questions

03:07 - How is Ian doing?

04:38 - Family firearms background

05:47 - Favorite Finnish firearm

08:22 - Am I st...

CZ-531: A Czech Browning in 7.62mm Tokarev (Ad-free)

The CZ-531 was developed as a replacement for the vz.52 pistol in 1953. Even as the vz.52 was being adopted, the Czech military knew that it

The CZ-531 was developed as a replacement for the vz.52 pistol in 1953. Even as the vz.52 was being adopted, the Czech military knew that it wasn’t a great gun, and they wanted a long-term replaceme...

M1E10 Garand-Ljungman Prototype (Ad-free)

Springfield Armory was involved in experimenting with he M1 Garand throughout its production, looking at various different elements that cou

Springfield Armory was involved in experimenting with he M1 Garand throughout its production, looking at various different elements that could be improved. A series of experimental models were made, w...

Hungarian K1 "Kucher" Light Submachine Gun (Ad-free)

In the early years after World War Two the Hungarian government needed new small arms, but chose to license Soviet designs instead of develo

In the early years after World War Two the Hungarian government needed new small arms, but chose to license Soviet designs instead of developing their own. when it came to submachine guns, this entail...

Foldy-Glock: The Full Conceal M3D (History and Shooting) (Ad-free)

Full Conceal was a company that designed a folding Glock. The intent was to create a pistol that could be easily, discreetly, and safely carried in a pocket but still offer the handing and capability of a full size service pistol. They did this by cutting off the grip of a Glock 19 (M3D) or Glock 43 (M3S) and rebuilding it with a hinged trigger ...

ZK-466: CZ Makes a Folding Submachine Gun (Ad-free)

The ZK-466 was one of the post-war submachine guns developed in Czechoslovakia as part of the competition for a new Czech military SMG. Deve

The ZK-466 was one of the post-war submachine guns developed in Czechoslovakia as part of the competition for a new Czech military SMG. Developed by Josef Koucky (who was also designer of the ZK-383 b...

Gerät 06: Germany's Incremental Steps Towards Roller Delay (Ad-free)

The Gerät 06 is one of the steps in the development of the roller delay system that became H&K. The initial experiments involved replaci

The Gerät 06 is one of the steps in the development of the roller delay system that became H&K. The initial experiments involved replacing the flaps in a G43 rifle bolt with simpler rollers. In ...

GIGN's Unique Bren 2 in 7.62x39: Counterterrorism and Hostage Rescue (Ad-free)

GIGN - the "Group d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale" (Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie) is the tip of the spear for French counterterrorism and major crime response. They are a relatively small (a few hundred operators) unit that deploys anywhere in France any often around the world. They curate a wide range of individual ...

ASh-78: Albania Makes the Worst AK (Ad-free)

Albanian AKs are both pretty scarce to find outside Albania, and also a bit unusual in the AK field. Where most countries followed Russian A

Albanian AKs are both pretty scarce to find outside Albania, and also a bit unusual in the AK field. Where most countries followed Russian AK development, Albania instead patterned theirs on the Chine...

October Q&A: Free for all AMA - Question Request

I don't have a specific theme for this month's Q&A, so it's an open forum - what would you like to ask me?

Forgotten SIGs: SIG Pro SP2009 & SP2022 (Ad-free)

In 1998, SIG released the SIG Pro SP2340, essentially a polymer framed P226 chambered for .40S&W. This was followed the next year by the SP2009; the same gun but in 9x19mm. These pistols proved quite popular with law enforcement agencies, and SIG was able to win a very large contract with French law enforcement (Gendarmerie, Police Nationale...

Type 85: China's Special Forces SMG (Regular and Silenced Versions) (Ad-free)

Jason Clower's video on the development and use of the Type 85:

https://youtu.be/-XB3axKpn98

The Type 85 was a submachine gun developed in the 1980s in China to replace the failure that was the Type 79. It was a very simple design; firing from an open bolt and using...