Introduction The original “Mark 2 combat knife” was introduced to the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and also adopted by the US Navy. The design provided both fighting and utility applications, was inexpensive to manufacture, and saw frequent use in...
Introduction The original stielhandgranate (German for ‘stick hand grenade’) design was introduced during the First World War as the Model 1915 (M15) variant. The Imperial German Army enjoyed the longer throwing distance provided by the weapon’s...
Introduction Designed in the 1890s as an improvement of the Borchardt C-93 pistol, Georg Luger’s ‘Pistole Parabellum’ was adopted by the German Army in 1908 and is widely known as the Luger P08. The gun saw widespread service in both World Wars, and...
Introduction The M1 Garand, officially designated “United States M1 Rifle, .30 caliber”, was adopted in 1936 and served as the first standard-issue, self-loading (semi-automatic) rifle of the USA, and indeed, of any major army in history. General Patton...
Introduction The classic ‘Tommy Gun’ or ‘Chicago Typewriter’ was too expensive a weapon (in its M1921, M1928A1, and even M1 variants) for wartime production, so the US military commissioned Auto Ordnance to simplify it further. The resulting...
Introduction Designed by John Browning, the M1911 semi-automatic pistol was used in World War I and then upgraded to the M1911A1 in time for World War II. In regular army use until the 80s, ‘Old Slabsides’ is the classic American, .45 caliber handgun....
