Guide · Ammunition and Calibers
.38 Special is a rimmed revolver cartridge introduced publicly in 1902 as the .38 Smith & Wesson Special. +P ammunition is loaded to higher pressure and should be used only in firearms designed and recommended for it.
Article · Firearms History and Technology
The DP was Vasily Degtyaryov’s Soviet light machine gun, adopted in late 1927 and remembered for its top mounted 47 round pan magazine. Its family included aircraft, tank, and wartime modernized versions before the later RPD replaced it with a lighter 7.62×39 mm design.
Article · Firearms History and Technology
The Vickers machine gun was a British development of the Maxim system, adopted in 1912 and kept in service until 1968. Its water cooling, belted ammunition and trained crews made it one of the defining sustained fire machine guns of British and Commonwealth service.
Guide · Firearm Safety and Storage
A magazine is generally the spring fed part that presents cartridges for feeding. A clip is usually a cartridge holder or loading aid, with stripper clips and en bloc clips being two important historical types.
Article · Firearms History and Technology
The SIG SG 510, adopted in Swiss service as the Sturmgewehr 57, was a heavy, robust 1950s rifle built around delayed blowback operation and the 7.5 x 55 Swiss cartridge. Its export and civilian branches included 7.62 x 51mm NATO SG 510 variants, the PE57, and the U.S. market SIG AMT.
Article · Firearms History and Technology
The Soviet PK and PKM are 7.62x54R general purpose machine guns associated with Mikhail Kalashnikov’s design bureau for infantry, tripod, vehicle, and tank roles. The PKM modernization entered service in 1969, and the family became a long lived belt fed machine gun system.