#WWI

The Fedorov Avtomat is an important milestone in the history of modern small arms. With the Federov, for the first time, an individual soldier could possess automatic firepower in a package small enough to move and fight with, while at the same time not significantly compromising the range or effectiveness of the bolt-action rifle. However, the weapon fell out of favor during the Soviet era, and was never produced in large numbers. By way of WeaponsMan.com (H/T to Hognose), we are brought yet more details of the Fedorov’s story, written by Alexander Vershinin for Russia Beyond The Headlines:

The title of this article is an Anglicized version of the title of the article linked below.

Some of John Browning’s contributions to the effort of the First World War – like the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle and the M1917 Browning Machine Gun – are well-known, but there’s one that never made it to production, or even any substantial degree of recognition: A Browning infantry rifle design, utilizing a totally unique hesitation locked mechanism.

During World War I, manufacturers on both sides, including sporting arms manufacturers, lent their material support for the war effort. One of the more mysterious instances of this has come to be known simply as the “Beholla”, after its primary producer, the German sporting arms firm Becker & Hollander.

The truly high capacity magazine has been a dream that firearms inventors throughout the world and time have endlessly pursued. One of the crazier attempts to improve the capacity of the Steyr-Hahn 1912 handgun was a system designed by Arthur Kottas. Over at Historical Firearms, Matt elaborates about this unusual and eyebrow-raising magazine design:

The Editor Writes: This week’s Friday Field Strip Video/Article combo is on the fascinating 1907 Roth-Steyr. Watch Alex’s video above then read Nathaniel’s article below …

The Mauser 1914 is not a well-known firearm today, but during the First World War, it became one of the most important small semiautomatic handguns of the early 20th Century.

I am partnering with C&Rsenal’s Othais to bring you companion articles to his Primer series of videos looking at some of the most important firearms in history. First, Othais tackles the iconic Mauser C96 pistol, used by diverse characters from Chinese resistance fighters in WWII, to fictional rogue smugglers from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Keep a look out for further articles in this set as they come out!

A week ago, Alex C. and Miles Vining pitted the Russian Mosin-Nagant against the German Mauser Gewehr 98 in a battle royale shootout to see which was the best rifle. Unsurprising to some, and outrageous to others, Paul Mauser’s masterpiece took home the gold and handily beat the Three Line Rifle, scoring more hits more quickly in all the shooting sessions.

It appears that TFB might have momentarily forgotten it has some exclusive access to my creative process, often being years ahead of the rest. But that’s OK, because I’m here now to share the next version of the POV project.

The National Firearms Museum in Fairfax Virginia is one of the most important collections of small arms in the world, but their representatives also leave the museum and travel to places where they can find firearms that they don’t have in their collection. As part of their Curator’s Corner segment on the NFM Curator’s YouTube channel, the Museum has released two videos filmed at the Wanenmacher Tulsa Arms Show covering some of the rarest of the rare 9mm handguns:

WWI was a time of runaway technology that in many ways outstripped the tactical and strategic thinking of the era. Older concepts of the dominance of technologies like the bayonet, and long-range rifle fire, and of the preeminence of the elan or morale of soldiers died hard as thinkers of the era struggled to integrate new weapons like machine gun and the long-range breechloading artillery piece into a theory of warfare that would give whomever found it first the winning edge.

YouTube user JManTime posted up a video on a very unique firearm from WW1 that I would contend that our own Ian from Forgotten Weapons would not know its provenance. The design is a mechanical marvel, if only for the complexity and sheer number of parts that go into the design.

Over at NitroExpressForums is a series of photos of the rare 1918 improved Mauser rifle prototype. Some are embedded below, but be sure to click through to see them all:

Prior to seeing the beautiful photo expose on MessyNezzyChic, I had no idea this place existed in the world (especially surprising, considering the 30+ times I’ve been to France on business). The “Zone Rouge” is “forsaken territory” from the first World War following the old front lines from trench warfare. The zone is filled with unknown amounts of human remains and a near impossible level of un-exploded munitions, both conventional and chemical.