Know Your Weapons: German Maschinenpistole 18

June 12, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Another Reason to Be Armed, Armed Citizen Corner, Armed Citizen Corner Video, Arms and Ammo, Firearms History, Know Your Weapons, World War I History, World War One, WW1 Era Weapons and tagged Curio and Relics, Firearms History, German Arms, German Small Arms, Know Your Weapons, Sub-Machine Gun History, WW1 History, WW1 Weapons

Know Your Weapons: The Astra 600 – Old School Cool

May 10, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Armed Citizen Corner, Armed Citizen Corner Video, Arms and Ammo, Curio and Relics, Firearms History, Historical Study, History of Weapons, Know Your Weapons, Warrior Tech, Weapons & Ammo, World War II History, WW2 Era Weapons and tagged Arms and Ammo, Astra 600, Curio and Relics, German Military Weapons, Historical Study, Know Your Weapons, Nazi Pistols in WW2, WW2 Weapons

The Astra 600 – Old School Cool

In my 20 or so years collecting I only came across an Astra 600 once, and I passed on it because the guy was way too proud of it and would not budge on the price, primarily because of the German markings.

I regret that now. This model has serious history!

Know Your Guns: History of the East German Makarov

May 10, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Another Reason to Be Armed, Armed Citizen Corner, Armed Citizen Corner Video, Arms and Ammo, Curio and Relics, Firearms History, Historical Study, History of Weapons, Know Your Weapons, Military History, Military Tech, Military Weapons from the Past, Military Weapons History, Soviet Military history, Weapons & Ammo and tagged 9x18 Caliber, Boris Semin, Curio and Relics, Firearms History, Historical Study, Know your History, Makarov Pistols, Military History, Nickolay Makarov, Soviet Military history, Weapons History

HISTORY OF THE EAST GERMAN MAKAROV

When I was hot and heavy into Curio and Relic collecting fifteen or so years back I had several different flavors of Makarov, including a true East German PM (with original DDR markings) a Polish P-64, A Hungarian FEG PA-63 and a very rare Bulgarian PPK clone.

As with all Eastern Block C&R Military pistols, the double action trigger on Mak’s were atrociously bad, somewhere between 15 and 25 pounds. This was a purposeful design however to keep peasant conscripts from shooting their own dicks off.

Other than that, they were a real pleasure to shoot with a caliber I would describe as a “.380 ACP on growth hormones”.

SKS Collecting And Identification: A Buyer’s Guide

April 9, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Another Reason to Be Armed, Armed Citizen Corner, Arms and Ammo, Curio and Relics, Firearms History, Gun Hacks, Gun Maintenance, Military History, Military Tech, Military Weapons from the Past, Military Weapons History, Weapons & Ammo and tagged Curio and Relics, FFL 03, Firearms History, Military Weapons History, Norinco SKS, Russian SKS, SKS Identification Guide, Yugo SKS

SKS Collecting And Identification: A Buyer’s Guide

I had a C&R License (FFL 03) for around twenty years off and on back in the “golden era” when you could find plenty of German and Yugo Mausers, Lee- Enfields, Mosin-Nagants, Swiss K-31’s and Norinco and Russian SKS’s all for very reasonable prices.

It was a great way to learn about firearms, improve your gusnmithing skill-set (I taught myself how to repair Mausers this way) and amass a nice “collection” of very usable military weaponry including pistols and revolvers.

One of the many perks of having a C&R License is you get the weapon delivered directly to your home without the need of a Gun Dealer as a middleman. I cannot tell you the excitement of seeing the Big Brown Truck of Joy come rumbling up the road!

Know Your Weapons: Mannlicher M1895 Rifle

March 31, 2022 by The Tactical Hermit in Armed Citizen Corner, Arms and Ammo, Curio and Relics, Firearms History, Know Your Ammo, Know your History, Know Your Weapons, Military History, Military Weapons from the Past, Military Weapons History, Rifle Corner, Weapons & Ammo, World War I History, WW1 Era Weapons and tagged Austria-Hungary History, Curio and Relics, Know your History, Know Your Weapons, M1895 Mannlicher Rifle, Rifle Corner, Weapons and Ammo, WW1 History, WW1 Weapons

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY’S M-95 Rifle

“The M95 proved itself one of the finest battle rifles of the First World War. It weighed around a pound less than its equally lengthy peers and was slim and almost delicate by comparison. The soldiers who carried it appreciated its light weight but the Allied soldiers facing the M95 in the icy Alps and trenches took note of its high rate of fire compared to their turn-bolt action guns. The M95 was capable of 30–35 rounds a minute while turn-bolt actions were generally limited to 15–20 shots a minute. The simplicity of the straight-pull’s forward-backward bolt operation certainly made it easier to master than a turn-bolt action, which requires twice the number of motions to cycle. In addition, the upward motion to lift a cock-on-opening bolt handle — for example the Lebel, Berthier, M1903 Springfield, Carcano — is physically more difficult and more disruptive to the aim. The British SMLE, which cocked on the forward stroke like the Mannlicher, was the M95’s closest rival in speed of operation.”