#Germany

SIG Sauer is now making polymer magazines for the SIG 751 which are patterned after the SIG 550 magazines. The SIG 751 SAPR is essentially a scaled up 7.62mm version of the SIG 550.

… and it is in Germany. If you don’t do anything else today, just make sure you watch this video.

Recently two European firms, Hera Arms in Germany and Astra Arms in Switzerland, have entered the AR-15 market. I have been told that US Department of State export regulations have made it increasingly hard to import firearms from the US. Even Canadians have problems getting certain types of AR-15 rifles across the border and so have resorted to importing AR-15s from China.

East Germany, in the period before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, was short of foreign currency. In an attempt to generate cash for imports Wieger developed an AK-clone chambered in 5.56mm NATO. It was apparently very reliable. The collapse of the wall saw the demise of the company which found itself in direct competition with West Germany’s H&K.

I have blogged about the German grenade pistols before. They were an intriguing segue in the history of firearm development which was not really revisited until recently with the development of small caliber 20mm and 25mm grenades. The WWII In Color forum has some very interesting photos of various Sprenggranate Leuchtpistole (“explosive-round signal pistol”) designs. Here are a few of the more interesting pictures …

Of all the guns which I have written about this year, few have been as interesting as the Steinkamp SW1. The sleek polymer bullpup stock of the SW1 looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie, and yet it is a double rifle, a type of firearm that is most associated with hunting in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Waffen Greger, a German company, makes bullpup conversions of the Browning BAR (the hunting rifle, not the military BAR).

Defense Aerospace reports that many of the Walther P1 pistols, which Germany donated to the Afghan police force, have found their way onto the black market. Defense Aerospace reports:

I am sure of you are familiar with, and have lusted after,the StG 44 clones built by the German firm Sport-Systeme Dittrich. I am very pleased to see that PTR 91 Inc., known for their H&K rifles built from parts kits, will be importing a limited quantity of the StG 44′s. The imports have been given the designation PTR 44.

The American Tactical Imports / German Sport Guns Kalashnikov has finally arrived. The Kalashnikov, endorsed by General Kalashnikov himself, is a AK-47 patterned rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle.

The man was a professional hunter. Spiegel Online reports:

In 2006 Sauer, a 257 year old German company, produced their first semi-automatic rifle the S 303

Gary Sterne discovered the huge ‘Maisy Battery’ after he found a crinkled map which fell out of an old pair of US serviceman’s trousers at a military memorabilia fair in Stockport.

Yes, I know, I am the last gun blogger to blog about this!