Shipbucket

You are certainly welcome cplnew!
Hi, APDAF. You are completely wright! And your comment solves a conceptual mistake that I had since 1981 or so! I thought that belgian/argentine/peruvian mausers were fed by a Mannlicher type magazine, but thanks to your comment, I found that they were different systems, despite a rather similar appearance (5 rounds, single stack, protrusion of the magazine from the wooden stock). I am fixing it! Thanks!

Excellent drawings! Keep up the good work!

Thanks, Eswube! Your feedback is very important!


The "knee mortar"! Type 89 grenade discharger or light mortar was a well designed support weapon. Able to put accurately a grenade up to 200 yards, it was invaluable in the fierce fight in the jungle. It was so cleverly designed that even the standard infantry hand grenade can be fired from it! (screwing to the base of the grenade a proper propulsive charge). Cheers.


PS: Edited! Oh, my spelling!

Knee mortar , a nice design , good work reytuerto

Nice work! Great to see the knee mortar in this scale

Thanks, Farooq; thanks, Ian!

A trio of spanish pistols: The Astra family.

This one is the Astra 400. Built by Unceta at the Basque Country (almost al the firearm spanish industry was in the Basque Country, mainly at Eibar), was sucessor of the Campo Giro pistol. Like the Campo Giro, it had a blowback mechanism that needs a powerful spring able to withstand the powerful 9x23 Largo. The pistol was well made, with top grade steel and with ample tolerances that allowed the use of different cartridges like the 9x23 Styer, .38 Auto and 9x19 Parabellum. It was adopted by the Spanish Army in 1921 and was used by both sides during the SCW, and nicknamed, perhaps inevitably, "puro" ("cigar", due the cylindrical shape of the barrel). During WWII, it was exported to Germany. The germans suggested some changes, which result in the Astra 600 pistol:

Slightly shorter and lighter, was chambered for 9 Parabellum and had a different magazine release. Was well liked by the Wehrmacht and after the war, it was among the first sidearms adopted by the West German military and police forces in the 1950s.

Finally, the little brother of the Astra 400, Astra 300. Chambered both for 9x17 (9 Short) and 7.65x17 (.32 ACP) it was a much smaller and lighter weapon. Oftenly concealed carried, it was known as "falangista" because was the gun used by the underground fascist gunners of Falange Española, in the years before the eruption of the SCW in 1936. An important batch was exported to the Luftwaffe. Cheers.

Truly impressive work, looking forward to more of your pieces, reytuerto.

Great Britain - Welrod Mk.I

Nice drawing of the Welrod, DP!
Thanks! Pantsu!

Good morning, gentlemen!
Some firearms of the SCW. The first one is a smg from STAR Bonifacio Echeverria, RU-35.

Very well made, in nicely machined high grade steel. It was a very sturdy and reliable weapon, but expensive and of labour intensive manfacture. 10,000 were ordered in 1935, but less than 500 were delivered before the eruption of the SCW in July 1936.

In Catalonia, during 1938 a smg was made locally, Labora Fontbernat M-1938 (with the aid of the smugled blueprints of the RU-35: the Basque Country fell to Francoist forces during the first half of 1937).

Well made (with exception of the rear sight, which was of weak construction, and was the main problem with the gun) and machined, it was expensive, and less than 2000 were made at the Olot factory in Barcelona, before the factory switch to the production only of mauser rifles. It was used after the war both by the spanish military, and the anti-francoist republican maquis.

Finally, a gun never officialy adopted by the spanish military but widely used in the SCW, "the pistol for the armless", JALOAR.

Designed by Jose Lopez Arnaiz in 1919, it can be locked with the side lever using only one hand. It was carried unlocked, and the pistol does not have any safety device, and was tiggerguardless. It was made in several calibres, from .25 ACP to .45 ACP. Up to 30,000 were built during the 1920s. The main military order was from the peruvian mounted police (the peruvian police, Guardi Civil, was spanish trained), a clever choice for cavalry, in 9 mm Largo for the troopers, and 9 mm short for officers (as sidearm). It was a massive gun but well liked, as it can be locked with one hand with the other being used to hold the reins, and also was reliable, well balanced and accurate. It was used by the peruvian Guardia Civil in the short lived war against the ecuatorian border troops in 1941. Cheers.