I am a threat to public hygiene.

The Avenger Submachine Gun,

During “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, the country was awash in paramilitary groups who took a personal vendetta to bring about a certain political result.  The Irish Republicans wanted Northern Ireland to be reunited with Ireland.  The Ulster Loyalists held fast to the United Kingdom.  With almost open warfare being conducted by both sides, the need for arms was plenty.  However there always were not enough weapons to go around.  It was not uncommon for paramilitary groups to improvise their own weapons.  One such improvised weapon was a submachine gun called the “Avenger”, which was popular with a loyalist group called the Ulster Volunteer Force during the 1990’s.

To the casual observer, the Avenger SMG may look like a crudely cobbled together piece of junk.  However the Avenger was a simple yet deadly weapon.  Produced by cottage industry, these improvised SMG’s were constructed in garages, basements, and attics around Belfast.  Pretty much the entire firearm was constructed from stamped sheet metal.  After all sheet metal is very easy to find, cheap, and easy to fabricate.  The Avenger also included a simple folding stock and a sound suppressor. Chambered from 9mm, it fired from an open bolt and used 32 round Sten magazines. In many ways the Avenger was a very crude weapon, especially compared to regular SMG’s used by military and police forces.  The Avenger’s barrel lacked rifling, which limited the accuracy of the weapon.  However, for its purposed it didn’t really need much accuracy.  The Avenger was intended as a close up weapon where firepower was more important than accuracy.  The Avenger could only be fired in fully automatic only, and lacked a safety.  It had a rate of fire around 900-1,000 rounds a minute, which quickly depleted its magazine.

The Flieger-Doppelpistole Model 1919,

The Flieger Doppelpistole was a Swiss creation shortly after World War I for a light aircraft machine gun that could also be used as a submachine gun.  The weapon featured two barrels which fired cyclically, creating a rate of firepower around 1,900 rounds per minute.  Chambered in 7.65x21mm Parabellum, the submachine gun used a toggle delayed blowback which fired from an open bolt.  

I created this entirely from scratch. As I had no model of this particular Wildcat. It may look similar but it was far different than the F4F. To aid in my creation of this, I studied dozens of photos for reference and technical spec drawings to finally build General Motors' variant of Grumman's F4F Wildcat. the FM-2 serving as a lighter, more powerful, and heavily modified version optimized for small "jeep" escort carriers.

The FM-2 featured a distinctly enlarged and taller vertical stabilizer (tail fin). This was added to counteract the increased torque and propeller wash caused by the upgraded, more powerful engine. Powered by a lighter, more potent single-row Wright R-1820-56 Cyclone engine. It produced 1,350 horsepower with its water-alcohol injection at takeoff with a 50 horsepower boost. It had a noticeably better climb rate, acceleration, and superior high-altitude performance over baseline F4Fs.

#Wardbirds #WWII

“Berdan Sharpshooter and Pennsylvania Bucktail”, by Don Troiani

The Mauser M1917 Trench Carbine,

Produced during the last years of the World War I, the Mauser Trench Carbine was designed to be a light, compact carbine or personal defense weapon to be issued to artilleryman, stormtroopers, and rear echelon troops.  It was Mauser’s answer to the Artillery Luger, a Luger pistol with an elongated barrel and detachable buttstock.  The M1917 was a Mauser Broomhandle pistol also with an elongated barrel, as well as a pistol grip buttstock, and a wooden forearm.  The most important aspect of the M1917 was its 40 round magazine.  In contrast the Artillery Luger either used an eight round pistol magazine or a 32 round drum magazine.  This gave the M1917 an edge in light, compact firepower, a necessity in the close quarters of WWI trench warfare.

The Sharps Military carbine with coffee grinder stock,

During the American Civil War the Sharps Military Carbine was the most popular breech loading firearm with over 90,000 in use.  Because of its easy loading mechanism and short compact size it was popular among cavalrymen as well as scouts and specialty soldiers.  Unlike most firearms of the day, which were loaded by the muzzle, the Sharps carbine was loaded through the breech.  The user pushed the trigger guard forward, which exposed the breech, inserted a paper cartridge, closed the breech, placed a percussion cap on the nipple, then fired by pulling the trigger.  On horseback this was a much easier process then loading a musket from the muzzle with a ramrod.  It also gave the Sharps a greater advantage in firepower because it was faster to load than common muskets.

The North Korean Type 68 Semi Automatic Pistol,

The standard service pistol of the North Korean Army since the 1960’s, the Type 68 is an interesting copy of the Soviet TT-33 Tokarev. Originally the North Koreans simply imported TT-33 pistols from the Soviet Union, but when the Soviets switched to the Makarov, the North Koreans adopted their own design manufactured by their own state arms factory.  While similar, the Type 68 is not an exact clone of the TT-33.  First and foremost the Type 68 utilizes a ramp based locking system rather than the cam links of a TT-33.  The Type 68 also added a safety in the form of a half cock on the hammer.  Also note that the hammer is exposed and enlarged, unlike the TT-33 which has a small hammer.  Finally the Type 68 had a different magazine, while TT-33 magazines are interchangeable with Type 68 magazines, a Type 68 magazine will not fit in a TT-33.  They were still chambered in 7.62x25mm Tokarev and used an 8 round single stack magazine.

An important pair of cased Gustave Young style factory-engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy Revolvers, USA 1863

Both revolvers with a 7.5", 36 cal. barrel provided with brass cusp foresight, marked "- ADDRESS COL. SAM.L COLT NEW-YORK US AMERICA -". Both revolvers with working mechanism, three snaps and working trigger safety lock. Frames stamped "COLTS PATENT". Brass grip bands. Grips of walnut briarwood, decorated with a silver star on one side and an emblem depicting an Aztec coin on the other. In both Colts, "E" code marked above or below the serial numbers on the frame, barrel and grip bands. The revolvers are engraved with very similar patterns, in the typical style of Gustave Young with scrollworks on punched dots, present at the breech, on the sides of the frame and, in segments, on the grip bands. These alternate with skilfully undecorated areas (to avoid overburdening the appearance and slenderness of the pistols) and other small decorative elements, such as small frames on the nozzles and around the markings, shells on the back of the grips and wolf's heads on the sides of the hammers. There are slight differences in the decorative motifs between the two revolvers. One of the two trigger guards is marked "2". In a wooden box, probably adapted but not recently, containing some accessories: a powder flask marked "COLTS PATENT", a Colt-type bullet mould, a disassembly tool and some containers.

Lance Head from Funen, Denmark dated to the 2nd Century CE on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark

This lance head from the Roman Empire was found among numerous other weapons in what is thought to be a votive offering in Vimose, Funen. While the Roman Empire did not extend into much of Scandinavia but the colonies traded and travelled with the nations there. There are records of Danish aristocrats serving in the Roman army as auxiliaries. Offerings like this suggest that they brought their weapons back to be offered up in a religious ceremony.

On the lance there is a depiction of what is thought to be an animal, perhaps a horse. This would perhaps suggest it was used by a cavalryman. Due to its small size it is most likely a Lancea, a light spear used for thrusting over arm (as depicted in carvings) or thrown from horseback.

Viking Age Sword Discovered on School Trip in Norway

A six-year-old boy on a school trip in Norway has uncovered a sword believed to date back more than 1,300 years.

Henrik Refsnes Mørtvedt found the weapon while out with classmates in Gran, eastern Norway. He noticed a rusty piece of metal protruding from the ground and picked it up, thinking it was an old tool or scrap iron.

Instead, it turned out to be an ancient sword.

Teachers contacted local archaeologists after seeing the object.

Experts later identified it as a single-edged iron sword from the late Merovingian Period or the early Viking Age.

The Merovingian Period lasted from around AD 550 to 800, before the better-known Viking swords with double-edged blades became widespread across Scandinavia.

Despite centuries underground, the sword has survived in good condition. The blade is heavily rusted, but its shape remains clear. Parts of the hilt are still hidden beneath layers of corrosion and soil.

Archaeologists said the pommel and guard resemble a “Type F” sword identified by Norwegian scholar Jan Petersen in his 1919 study De Norske Vikingesverd (“The Norwegian Viking Swords”). His classification system is still used today when identifying Viking and early medieval weapons.

Type F swords are normally dated to the first half of the ninth century.

Researchers believe the find could offer more information about the period between the Merovingian era and the rise of Viking culture in northern Europe. Single-edged swords from this time are less common than later Viking weapons, which makes discoveries like this important for archaeologists.

The sword has now been taken to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. Conservators will clean and preserve the weapon before carrying out X-rays and metallurgical testing.

The analysis may reveal how the sword was made, how old it is and whether it saw combat or ceremonial use.

Norway regularly produces archaeological discoveries because erosion and farming often expose buried objects. Even so, experts say it is rare for a child to uncover a weapon of this age during an ordinary school outing.

Henrik has since appeared in Norwegian media, where he has already been jokingly described as a future archaeologist. Video from a local interview shows the young boy proudly holding the corroded weapon that had remained hidden beneath the soil for more than a millennium.

Medicine Chest, England, c. 1830

Reiger Manual Repeating Pistol M1889 with brass frame.

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Apparently this single prototype was offered to US Army Ordnance as a possible repeating rifle for the US Army in 1877.  The army had rejected many other repeating lever action and bolt action designs in favor of the single shot breechloading Trapdoor, so it is quite possible that the maker of the rifle was trying to utilize the army’s favored weapon, claiming cost effectiveness as a selling point..

The maker of this rifle removed the cleaning rod and in its place inserted an 8 round tube magazine.  Then a repeating mechanism was added to the breech.  By working a lever in front of the trigger guard a cartridge was removed by spring mechanism from the magazine and placed on a rising block.  The user would then insert the round into the breech by hand.  In a way this rifle is technically not a repeating rifle, but a hybrid between a repeating rifle and a breechloader since the user still had to eject spent cartridges and insert new cartridges by hand. All the mechanism did was advance rounds in the magazine.