Three things have pretty much killed toy guns: But when we grew up, in the sixties, toy guns were everywhere. There were little ones in Cracker Jack and Frosted Flakes boxes. There were big ones in a whole aisle in department stores. When Saturday cartoons came on, especially as the Christmas gift-giving season approached, weContinue reading “WeaponsMan Wednesday: Some Toy Guns from Fifty Years Ago”
Author Archives: BAP45
Colt 1911 History
So I have a feeling if you’re here you enjoy the 1911. Well here are some documentaries from C&Rsenal that make youtube worth having around. In the creators own words they grew up on and were huge fans of the show “Tales of the Gun” and wanted to bring that type of show back. TheyContinue reading “Colt 1911 History”
Weaponsman: OSS Simple Sabotage Mini-Manual
A repost from Hognose, the original comments have been included for completeness. We think we’ve covered this booklet before. If we have, it wasn’t recently, and it deserves to be plugged again. This is the Simple Sabotage Field Manual of the OSS. (PDF hosted at CIA.gov). It is not a guidebook in blowing up castles or dynamiting the HooverContinue reading “Weaponsman: OSS Simple Sabotage Mini-Manual”
Weaponsman: The Rise and Fall of the Halftrack
As a kid in the sixties, you couldn’t get away from ’em. Turn on Combat with Vic Morrow, and there’d be one in every few episodes, hauling American infantry up to the point where they’d start walking. A couple years later, The Rat Patrol stuck German Balkankreuz symbols on them and made ’em the bad guys. Around that time, they made the TVContinue reading “Weaponsman: The Rise and Fall of the Halftrack”
Korean War Showcase
As you all know the Korean War is often called the forgotten war being sandwiched between two larger wars, WWII and Vietnam. Add to that, that even while the war was on going pubic attention had largely drifted away after the first year. These days that compounds as even when trying to research it thereContinue reading “Korean War Showcase”
Reproduction ARVN Rucksack Comparison
So a reproduction of the ARVN rucksack has finally come to market. Which is a welcome development in the circles that know of the elusive little pack. Particularly now that originals are becoming more expensive as well as more fragile with time. Something interesting with these reproductions is that they use reclaimed surplus for someContinue reading “Reproduction ARVN Rucksack Comparison”
Reproduction Beogam/Leopard Camouflage
For history dorks like me getting a hold of appropriate (key word here) early Vietnam War spot camo has been a real headache. Often called Beogam or leopard camo there are a ton of varieties that existed. Mainly because it was sourced from all over at the time. I might have to do a postContinue reading “Reproduction Beogam/Leopard Camouflage”
Weaponsman Throw Back Thursday : Quick Kill – Useful Skill
The Quick Kill instinctive shooting method that was once taught in the US Army remains a useful combat skill. It has been supplanted in the training world by improved sights and a focus on extremely rapid use of sights, but we believe it still has a place in the training and combat world. It’s faster toContinue reading “Weaponsman Throw Back Thursday : Quick Kill – Useful Skill”
Today in History: D-Day
78 years ago today, June 6th 1944, Operation Overlord, or as it is commonly known, D-Day commenced. The largest amphibious operation ever and arguably the most famous battle of World War II among western nations. The battle has been covered so many times and in such detail I will skip the overview and dive rightContinue reading “Today in History: D-Day”
Selection, Assessment & Training: the IJN Way
From the old Weaponsman site At the dawn of World War II, Americans had extremely solid feelings of racial and national superiority. Indeed, throughout the war national propaganda featured propaganda themes that careful analysis would have shown were mutually contradictory: the Japanese were cunning, stealthy, and powerful; yet they were dimwitted, nearsighted, bucktoothed buffoons. These feelings wereContinue reading “Selection, Assessment & Training: the IJN Way”
Scattered Shots 