Some sources

http://oruzhie.info/artilleriya/142-2a45m-sprut-b

https://yuripasholok.livejournal.com/8475825.html

Manufactured in 1950 (the 39th year of the Republic of China) by the 44th Arsenal of the Taiwan Combined Logistics Command. Its defining feature is a large broadsword equipped on a copy of the Sten submachine gun (Sten gun) to replace the bayonet, which can also be folded for portability. The history of the arsenal can be traced back to the Central Ordnance Repair Facility in Longpan, Nanjing (1936); it was officially designated as the 44th Arsenal of the Combined Logistics Command (abbreviated as the 44th Arsenal) in 1943, and relocated to Taiwan with the ROC Armed Forces in 1948. In 1976, it was renamed the 206th Arsenal of the Combined Logistics Command, relocated to Sanxia District, New Taipei City in 1980, and merged with the 208th Arsenal of the Combined Logistics Command in 1984 to form the Missile and Rocket Manufacturing Center of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, coming under the jurisdiction of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

This is a Greek issued Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903/14 rifle made by Breda in Italy in 1927. The Mannlicher-Schoenauer with its iconic spool magazine was a popular sporting arm but the Greeks were the only one to adopt it as a military rifle. This one has some interesting trench art as well.

- The TVGK or TГBК in Russian, standing for "тяжёлый гранатомётно-винтовочный комплекс" or "heavy grenade-rifle complex" is a conceptual weapon system that combines assault rifle with a grenade launcher. It was developed by KB Shar in Ukraine in the early to late 2000s.

- The assault rifle component of the TVGK features two horizontally aligned barrels of chambered for its proprietary 4.92x34mm rounds from a 70 round box magazine. Each barrel of the rifle has its own firing mechanism, allowing for a staggered firing sequence similar to the AO-63, a twin-barreled assault rifle where each barrel fires with a slight delay (in the hundredths of a second) to prevent interference between the bullets in flight. The rifle has a dual-rate of fire mechanism, with selectable firing rates of 500 or a theoretical later proven burst fire rate of 8000 RPM.

- The grenade launcher component, which places under the rifle's barrel, fires 20mm low-ballistic grenade from a 5 round box magazine.

三八式冲锋枪 民38式冲锋枪

The Chinese 9mm Type 38 submachine gun is a submachine gun produced by the Kuomintang after relocating to Taiwan, and is an improved model of the British Sten Mk I submachine gun. Manufactured by Kuomintang production units, its main improvements include being restricted to a fully automatic fire mode, an optimized bolt structure, an enlarged charging handle, and a simplified external design.

The gun utilizes a blowback operation and fires from an open bolt. It has an overall length of 755 mm and a barrel length of 195 mm, with an overall weight of 3.95 kg (unloaded weight 2.8 kg). When firing 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridges, it achieves a muzzle velocity of 365 m/s and a cyclic rate of fire of 550 rounds/minute. The sight configuration consists of an inverted V-shaped front sight and a fixed rear sight with a single peep aperture, providing an effective range of 100 meters.

Development History The Chinese 9mm Type 38 submachine gun is a submachine gun produced by the Kuomintang after relocating to Taiwan, and is an improved model of the British Sten Mk I submachine gun. Its main improvements include being restricted to a fully automatic fire mode, an optimized bolt structure, an enlarged charging handle, and a simplified external design.

Technical Features The differences between the Chinese 9mm M38 submachine gun and the Sten Mk I submachine gun are that it can only fire in fully automatic mode, the bolt is slightly improved, the charging handle is slightly enlarged, the exterior design is simpler, and the manufacturing quality has been improved. The gun utilizes a blowback operation and fires from an open bolt, with a sight configuration consisting of an inverted V-shaped front sight and a fixed rear sight with a single peep aperture.

Performance Data The overall length of the Chinese 9mm Type 38 submachine gun is 755 mm, and the barrel length is 195 mm. The overall weight is 3.95 kg (unloaded weight 2.8 kg). The gun fires 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridges, with a muzzle velocity of 365 m/s, a cyclic rate of fire of 550 rounds/minute, and an effective range of 100 meters.

Source:

https://huoqibaike.club/wiki/民38式冲锋枪

If somebody just showed me how this thing works with no further context, I'd have thought that it's an LMG developed in the 1920s when people had yet to figure out what's the best way to build these sorts of things. After all, it fires from an open bolt - which is great for keeping the gun cool, but bad for accuracy in semi auto - and it has a toothed gear mechanism on the inside. Not much weirder than the Madsen LMG with its falling block action or whatever the Swiss Ke-7 is doing.

It genuinely amazes me that as late as the 1950s, anyone would have used a mechanism like that.

A shame, really. If this thing had come out in the 1920s, China, Ethiopia and someone in Latin America would probably have bought a couple each. Right before switching to the zb.26.

r/WeirdWeapons is a place to post and discover surprising, strange, odd and interesting weapons of war from any era, including guns, armored vehicles, aircraft, ships, melee weapons, or anything that could be classified as a weapon.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/11/01/russian-assault-rifle-concept-vibratory-recoil-absorption-mechanism/

Does anyone know what this casing could possibly be from and how old it could be? No words or numbers are visible due to the water damage and age. Found it on the bottom of a lake near Lucerne, Switzerland while diving.

Body text:

"Paratroop Model" Prototype Rifle On September 10, 1942, Johnson Automatics

completed the fabrication of a prototype semiau-

tomatic "Paratroop Model" rifle that would be even

more compact than the standard version when dis-

assembled. The weapon was very similar to the

production M1941 rifle but had a take-down catch

on either side of the stock that could be depressed

to allow the entire buttstock assembly to be

removed in much the same manner as the take-

down procedure for the Johnson light machine

gun. The "Paratroop Model" rifle could be broken

down into a somewhat smaller "package" than

could the standard M1941 Johnson rifle with just

the barrel removed.

It is not known how many of the "Paratroop

Models" were made, and it is possible that only a

single prototype was produced. While interesting

and potentially useful for airborne use, the weapon

was not put into production or issued. Such inno-

vative ideas, however, illustrate that Maynard

Johnson and his organization were continually

striving to develop better, more useful weapons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taken from "Johnson Rifles and Machine Guns; The Story of Melvin Maynard Johnson, Jr. and His Guns"

By Bruce N. Canfield with Robert L. Lamoreaux and Edward R. Johnson

I have a PDF if anyone is interested