Tag: history

Here are some photos I took while in the Middle East recently. They were taken with a Canon S95, Nikon V1, Pentax K-01 and iPhone 4S.

I'm gonna try to keep this short, which for me is anything under 5000 words... I grow weary of people claiming that certain products or techniques were invented recently, and that much adulation and praise must be heaped upon those who "invented" them. In reality, there is only so much that can be done while shooting or designing things that shoot. This leads to overlap, current or historical. Take muzzle devices. The way some people tell it, the Battle Comp is the greatest thing ever. A few other companies came… Read More

The following is an excerpt from the book A Rifleman Went to War, by Captain Herbert W. McBride, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the United States Army. He fought in World War I, mostly in France, and went from junior enlisted to officer during that time. Most of this book is a discussion of rifles, machine guns, or the war in general; all of it is fascinating to a history buff like me, and I found this section on pistols quite interesting. This was written in 1935. As I… Read More

Aberdeen Proving Grounds 1960 AR-15 Test Linked above is a PDF report from February, 1960, about some early AR-15 testing. I've had it for a while but don't believe that I've discussed or posted it in the past. There's a large amount of technical data, to include precise gas port diameter and location, distance the bolt travels before unlocking, precise travel of the front sight post per notch moved, and so on. It also includes multiple 10 shot group accuracy testing, 6000 round endurance testing, extreme heat and cold testing,… Read More

We've all heard that the M1 Garand is the "greatest battle implement ever devised", and many folks speak of it as if the weapon never malfunctioned. It's pointed to as an example of how a semiautomatic rifle with a piston and an op-rod is immune to external influences such as mud or dirt. Unfortunately, this article from 1941 tells us that that simply wasn't the case. One sentence accurately describes the testing: "Sum & substance of the findings was that the Garand was a fair-weather rifle." Roy Dunlap's book Ordnance… Read More