Weirdest of the French Trials SMGs: the EROP 1954
“EROP” was a small company based in Paris, which produced about 18 submachine gun prototypes between 1954 and 1956. These were submitted to French military trials in several different configurations...
View ArticleGear-Ratio-Accelerated? Yep, It’s a Thing: French MAT 1955 Prototype
EDIT: Shoot, I managed to get the gear ratio backwards. Sorry! The recoil action provides the necessary delay, and then the gear ratio provides acceleration to ensure the bolt can open reliably, akin...
View ArticleReplacing Beretta: the S&W XM10 Trials Pistol
When the US adopted the Beretta Model 92 as the new M9 standard issue handgun in 1985, it was not without controversy. In particular, there was a scandal of cracked and broken M9 slides shortly after...
View ArticleMAS-49 Carabine Mitrailleuse: A French Prototype Lever-Delayed Assault Rifle
When France was developing it’s new suite of small arms in the late 1940s, there was a debate over whether to adopt an intermediate-power cartridge or retain the full-power 7.5x54mm round for the...
View ArticlePT83: The Sneaky Silenced Version of Poland’s P83 Pistol
When the P-83 pistol went into production, the Polish military decided that it wanted a dedicated suppressed version of the gun, and the result was the PT-83. Thw P-83 was a 9x18mm pistol with a fixed...
View ArticlePatchett Machine Carbine MkI: Sten Becomes Sterling
The Patchett Machine Carbine Mk I is the predecessor to the Sterling SMG. It was developed by George William Patchett, who was an employee of the Sterling company. At the beginning of the war,...
View ArticlePrototype Czech Silencer-Ready vz70
Courtesy of CZ and their reference library, we are looking at a prototype model of the vz.70 pistol intended to use a suppressor. It has an extended and threaded (with interrupted threads for quick...
View ArticlePrototype vz.80: Improved Czech vz.50/70
The vz.50 pistol was a compact .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning) double action pocket pistol used by police forces. It was given a face lift and redesigned the vz.70, and there were plans at one point to...
View ArticlePrototype Matra Manurhin Compact SMG at the Range
https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/matra-manurhin-smg-at-the-range I came across this prototype (serial number 7) PDW/compact SMG in a collection, and had the opportunity to take it out to try on...
View ArticleEarly Development of the MAC 1950 Pistol
Today we have a short look at two of the predecessors of the French MAC 1950 service pistol. The first is the Type SE MAS 1948, which retains many of the characteristics of the previous MAS 1935...
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