Norwegian Oslo-class frigate Trondheim (F302), in 2004, back when she was having a much better day
Recently, during exercise Ægir 25 in September 2025, the Norwegian Ula (U-Boot-Klasse 210) class submarine KNM Uthaug (S304) fired one of its Atlas Elektronik DM2A3 Seehecht torpedoes at the decommissioned Oslo (Dealey) class frigate ex-KNM Trondheim (pennant number F302), intending to sink the battered target vessel off the coast of Andøy in Andfjorden.
The 2,100-ton Trondheim, decommissioned in 2007, had already been the target of Naval Strike Missiles launched by the frigates HMS Somerset and KNM Thor Heyerdahl as well as previous NSM tests in 2013.
As noted by NATO, “The purpose of the shot was to verify and demonstrate the striking power that the weapon and the submarine represent. A submarine has long endurance, operates covertly, and has a unique ability to dictate the battle.”
NATO Allied Joint Force Command released the video on 17 November 2025, and it really shows you why you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a 576-pound torpedo warhead.
As a kid back in the early 1990s, we had some two dozen well-loved and only-shot-on-Friday Remington 40X and Mossberg 42 rimfire training rifles in our armory at Pascagoula High School’s NJROTC. After I left, the unit divested them in lieu of air guns, as did hundreds of other ROTCs around the country.
Those guns, along with those of unit marksmanship detachments, Rod & Gun Club rental counters, and MWR units, have filtered back to CMP over the years and are stacking up.
Remington .22 single shot target rifle used by both military and civilians. These rifles were mostly used by shooting teams and ROTC units. They may come with either heavy or tapered barrels no distinction is made in pricing or selection. These rifles have been inspected, function fired and sold with no guarantee of accuracy. Rifles are normally in good to very good condition but may show minor pitting and wear from usage and storage. No sights.
Available $700
$35 S/H Includes a 500 rd. brickof surplus .22 ammo
R22M52B
The Winchester 52B is a bolt action magazine fed 22lr. It was one of the first modern 22 target rifles often called “King of the .22s”. These rifles started production in the 1920’s and are a real collector rifle. They feature a heavy target barrel and may or may not have sights. The rifles have been fired and checked for function. Due to the age of these rifles some wear should be expected.
SOLD OUT
$35 S/H Includes a 500 rd. brickof surplus .22 ammo
R22M52CNS
The Winchester 52C is a bolt-action magazine fed 22lr target rifle. These rifles have a heavy target barrel with an adjustable trigger. Many of these rifles were used by college or ROTC shooting teams. The rifles have been fired and checked for function. Due to the environment they were used in some stocks may have modifications or missing parts. No sights.
$850
$35 S/H Includes a 500 rd. brickof surplus .22 ammo
R22M52DNS
The Winchester 52D is a single shot bolt-action 22lr target rifle. These rifles have a heavy target barrel with an adjustable trigger. Many of these rifles were used by college or ROTC shooting teams. The rifles have been fired and checked for function. Due to the environment they were used in some of the stocks may have modifications or missing parts. No sights.
$850
$35 S/H
Includes a 500 rd. brick
of surplus .22 ammo
R22M82
The Kimber 82G is a single shot bolt-action 22lr target rifle. These rifles have a heavy target barrel and were intended for the U.S. Army’s marksmanship training program. They were the replacement for the H & R Model 12. These rifles have been fired and checked for function. Some variation in metal condition and stocks will be evident in these rifles.
$600
$35 S/H
Includes a 500 rd. brick
of surplus .22 ammo
R22M82NS
Same as R22M82 but without sights.
$550
$35 S/H
Includes a 500 rd. brick
of surplus .22 ammo
R22M12
Harrington & Richardson single shot bolt action 22lr target rifle. These rifles have a heavy target barrel and were primarily used for military training rifles and as a replacement for the Winchester 52 rifles. The rifles have been fired and checked for function. Some of the rifles show wear from use and storage.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. James Stanfield/Released 250703-M-BD822-1020
With the Marines’ 250th birthday last week, this amazing presentation by Sgt. James Stanfield, Headquarters Marine Corps, working in conjunction with Jonathan Bernstein, the Arms & Armor Curator at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, is really outstanding.
The in-depth article covers each of the Corps’ rifles in turn, everything from the Sea Service Brown Bess carried by the “Tun Tavern” Continental Marines to the assorted Springfields, and then to the U.S. Model 1895 Winchester-Lee straight-pull rifle, before moving on to more modern arms like the M1903, M1 Garand, M14, M16A1/A2/A4, M4A1, and today’s HK M27.
You occasionally see images of the Kokura Arsenal-made Japanese Type 97 (semi) automatic cannon, a gas-operated, open-bolt (!) 20mm anti-tank weapon, floating around, circa 1935-45.
A rare Japanese Type 97 anti-tank rifle captured on Guadalcanal from the Ichiki Detachment
Japanese Type 97 anti-tank rifle
U.S. soldiers with a captured 20mm Type 97 Japanese anti-tank rifle at Hollandia, 1944
Soviet soldier inspecting a captured Japanese Type 97 20mm anti-tank rifle in Manchuria in 1939, note five spare magazines. The front and rear carrying handles allow four men to carry it like a stretcher.
And, naturally, you think it is akin to similar beasts seen in the West during the same time period, such as the 28-pound German Panzerbüchse 39, the 36-pound .55 caliber Boys anti-tank rifle, and the 38-pound 14.5mm Russian Degtyaryov PTRD-41, each of which could be carried and used by a single operator in a pinch, with an optional assistant gunner always welcome.
Two-man Soviet anti-tank teams on Shumshu Island during the Kuril landing operation. August 1945. While the Degtyaryov PTRD-41 (shown) and Simonov PTRS-41 14.5x114mm anti-tank rifles were hopelessly obsolete by 1942 on the Eastern Front, they could still penetrate 30mm of steel armor at 500 meters, which was more than enough for Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha/Shinimoto and Type 95 Ha-Go tanks arrayed against them in the Kuriles which boasted 25mm and 12mm, respectively, along their toughest parts.
The Boys rifle could be, and often was, a single-man carry in the field
Then you find out that the Type 97 weighed 115 pounds unloaded, growing to over 140 when its full 7-round magazine and optional armored shield were attached. This was even heavier than the Lahti L-39 (109 pounds) or the Swiss Solothurn S-18/100 (99 pounds), and it had a TOE that gave it an 11-man crew, including nine horses.
On the 130th birthday of Hanoveran-born Prussian army reformer Gerhard von Scharnhorst, 12 November 1955, West German Defense Minister Theodor Blank inspected 101 men who, clad and armed with surplus U.S. GI gear and equipment, would be sworn in to become the first soldiers of the modern federal army, the Bundeswehr’s Heer.
Yesterday was the Bundeswehr’s 70th birthday and Scharnhorst’s 200th.
A bit of classic Cold War Bundeswehr time machine here:
Ein Soldat der ABC-Abwehrtruppe markiert den Fundort einer radioaktiven Strahlung im Gelände, Ort unbekannt im Jahr 1956. Altarchiv V-28. Gewher 1 rifle
Kradmelder fährt mit seinem Motorrad vom Typ DKW RT 175 VS bei der Ausbildung durch unwegsames Gelände im Juni 1960. Altarchiv V-9 412555 3283
Ein Soldat mit Funkgerät PRC-6/6 setzt eine Meldung ab im Herbst 1964. Altarchiv V-26 417929
Übernahme der Kampfpanzer M 41 auf Truppenübungsplatz.
West German panzergrenadier jumping off a M48 Patton during the Cold War, HK G3 in hand.
1991: Soldiers of Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 2 from Hessisch-Lichtenau practice airborne surveillance of large areas in cooperation with Hueys der Heeresflieger in the Höxter area. (Photo: Jan-P. Weisswange/Soldat und Technik)
Our Bundeswehr is Hiring Volunteers, West Germany, circa 1955
At its peak in 1989, the Bundeswehr had 509,100 uniformed military personnel, another 130,000 civilians, and 1.3 million uniformed reservists– the capability to put nearly 2 million in the field out of a population of 78 million.
Today, even with absorbing its smaller East German neighbor and a population of 84 million, the Bundeswehr can only claim 182,496 active-duty military personnel and 80,770 civilians, along with 860,000 reserves (but of the latter, just 50,000 are drilling, the rest in an IRR type of situation). Moves are afoot to push that to 260,000 active and 200,000 drilling reserve with another 1 million IRR type reserves “on paper” by 2031.
Conscription is still authorized under the federal constitution, but hasn’t been turned on since 2011. That could change, with something like a short (3-6 months) active service training period, then transitioning to a six-year drilling reserve stint.
Weapons on hand for the 5th Marines, 9 November 1942, at Guadalcanal, including an interesting collection of H&R Reising submachine guns, M1928 Tommy guns, M1903 Springfields, M1911s, and Mr. Browning’s assorted .30-06 machine gun designs in M1917, M1918, and M1919 variants. Also noted are 28 beefy .50 cals, eight Lewis guns, and a whopping six Garands.
Beyond the above arsenal, of course, today is the 250th anniversary of the Corps.
Birthday message, narrated by the current Punisher, follows:
We came across the OMSsc while doing a review on a pistol and thought enough about it to do a separate review of the optic. Naturally, one would only do this to either be the town crier to shame the optic for poor performance, or to point out how original or pioneering it came across while in use. This review is the latter.
Springfield Armory sent us a Hellcat .380 for review purposes in August 2025 with a Shield OMSsc 4-MOA red dot installed– which has the same form factor and proven performance of the RMSc, but with a panoramic see-through top hood.
Since we spent three months running that pistol with this interesting new sight mounted, we felt a separate review of the sight was in order.
Candidly – and stay with me here – I am just not a fan of micro red dots on carry guns, despite having extensive use with both. Don’t get me wrong, I own probably 10 rifles right now with electro-optic red dots (Aimpoint PRO, Eotech XPS3, Vortex Spitfire, SIG Romeo 5) on them as well as several full-sized pistols with large mailbox-sized enclosed red dots (think ACRO, Steiner MPS, Burris Fast Fire E, etc) but have just always struggled to “find the dot” in a fast enough time on a open emitter MRD to justify losing a half-second on my draw.
I find myself faster on target when drawing a small gun from concealment when using iron sights. This may be because I’ve been shooting handguns for 40 years, with a lot of that being on guns with very poor sights (looking at you, J-frames). Micro carry red dots only came into play in the past decade, so I default to what I am comfortable using. On larger, more full-sized pistols, I can get a better grip and don’t suffer the same “bounce and adjust” when coming up on target, especially when using a big honking, almost competition-sized enclosed dot.
However, with the Shield OMSsc, I felt the time shift in bringing the dot to my eyes, a feeling more akin to using a larger sight. Cutting back on the hood without cutting back on the hood helped me to very rapidly “hook into” the dot, if you can follow.
TL;DR: I liked it and shot well with it, without having to search for the dot as much as I usually do with other open emitter red dots.
I spent the week at the Guns.com Vault in Minnesota filming podcasts with guests and friends, so you know I had to go poring through the thousands of firearms in “the stacks” of the warehouse.
I give you a 1916-marked lP08 “Lange” Luger made by DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken). The 8-inch barreled lP08 was adopted in 1913 to replace the thoroughly obsolete Reichsrevolver in use by the German field artillery.
Widely thought of as rare, they aren’t really that hard to find, as something approaching 200,000 examples were made during the Great War (~175,000 by DWM, 23,000 by the Royal Arsenal at Erfurt).
A prized trophy that was often retrieved at the last minute from piles of munitions headed to the scrap yard, I wouldn’t doubt most are still floating around out there, somewhere.
The guys in the warehouse say they see three or four a year pass through there.
And if you wish hard enough and your heart is pure, one will surely find you.
One of my favorite American subguns is the S&W M76.
I mean, just look at it:
Developed in 1966 for the U.S. Navy SEALs, the Smith & Wesson Model 76 Submachine Gun was built to replace the famous and much more prolific M/45 “Swedish K” after U.S. supply was cut off during the Vietnam War. Production of the M76 continued until 1974, with a total of roughly 6,000 units built.
Chambered in 9mm Parabellum, the Model 76 Submachine Gun featured a simple blowback operation and had a cyclic rate of around 600–700 rounds per minute. It fed from a 36-round box magazine and had an ambidextrous selector lever allowing either full or semi-auto fire, a folding stock, optional suppressor capability, and long rifling-like grooves to allow dirt and fouling to accumulate without impacting the gun’s reliability.
Jerry Miculek, probably the nicest guy in the gun industry, gets into the Smith & Wesson Vault and lays hands on an M76 for the win.
Looking back over the huge photo dump from the recent UNITAS 2025 exercise– which has been trucking along annually since 1960– a somewhat composite view arises of the Marine’s new Maritime Reconnaissance Companies (MRC), and the drone supply boats it looks to use to supply its pair of expeditionary Marine Littoral Regiments in forward, likely isolated, islands in the Western Pacific.
I present to you the carbon-fiber hulled Whiskey Bravo boat in operation, utilizing a tire-clad, retired USCG 87-foot Marine Protector-class patrol boat as the target for a training VBSS team. In Marine use, the 40-foot Australian-built Whiskey Bravo is referred to as the more official Multi-Mission Reconnaissance Craft, or MMRC.
U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division and marines with Batallón de Infantería de Marina, Armada de la República Dominicana, (marine Infantry Battalion within the Dominican navy) board a moving ship while on Multi Mission Reconnaissance Craft-A littoral craft, to conduct visit, board, search and seizure training during exercise UNITAS 2025 Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 23, 2025.
U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, prepare to visit, board, search, and seize a vessel during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 24, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michail Stankosky)
U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, prepare to visit, board, search, and seize a vessel during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 24, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michail Stankosky)
The Whiskey Bravo accommodates up to six operators seated on shock-absorbing seats and two crew members at the forward control console.
It can carry twin 4-round Rafael (Lockheed) Spike NLOS canister launchers on the stern (17nm range and a Mini-Typhoon remote-controlled stabilized .50 cal up front.
Without the armament, it can carry as many as 17 combat-loaded troops for short stints. The boat can be rushed to a forward area via C-17 and is air-droppable. Further, the WB can be optionally manned, controlled instead via remote datalink.
A take on how it could be employed.
As described in a November 2024 Proceedings piece by Lt.Col Brian Lusczynski, three active and perhaps one reserve Maritime Reconnaissance Companies will be established, each with 18 Whiskey Bravo boats (MMRCs) and 12 unnamed USV types.
Within a Marine division, the MRC will fall under a parent O-5 command such as the future mobile reconnaissance battalions (which are replacing the light armored reconnaissance units). Each MRC will consist of a headquarters element and three maneuver platoons operating MMRCs and USVs. Each platoon will comprise a headquarters element and three maneuver sections, with each section consisting of two MMRCs and two USVs.
Next, we have the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel, or ALPV, which takes the nearly awash “narco sub” concept long used to run all sorts of contraband and options it for remote use to carry supplies to calm little lagoons right under the eyes of the PLAN.
It has been tested out by the Logistics Battalions of the Marine Littoral Regiments, and is described as “a semi-submersible autonomous logistics delivery system that has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain.”
An autonomous low-profile vessel assigned to 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, pulls out of Mile Hammock Bay during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 15, 2025. 2nd MLG is working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to experiment with the ALPV for a more lethal, agile, and resilient capability while conducting expeditionary advanced base operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo Lance Cpl. Franco Lewis)
U.S. Marines with Maritime Distribution Platoon, 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2 open an autonomous low-profile vessel for refueling operations during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 18, 2025. 2nd Marine Logistics Group is working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to experiment with the ALPV for a more lethal, agile, and resilient capability while conducting expeditionary advanced base operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo Sgt. Rafael Brambila-Pelayo)
ALPV has also been seen recently underway in Okinawa.
The Marine Corps tested the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel (ALPV) during exercise Resolute Dragon 2025 (RD25), in Okinawa, Japan, and surrounding outlying islands. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system that can be configured to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Connor Taggart)
And a recent view of the cargo capability of the 65-foot ALPV, which seems to have several pallet-sized cargo holds.
The concept of getting some diesel, a few pallets of MREs and water, plus extra batteries and an assortment of lickies and chewies, shipped quietly into a forward atoll, could be a realistic way to keep isolated garrisons fed and semi-happy.
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Conor Bassham, left, a metal worker and Sgt. Daymion Noisewater, a small craft mechanic with Combat Logistics Battalion 8, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, guides cargo onto an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during a concept of operations test at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 23, 2025. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system that the Marine Corps is testing to resupply a dispersed lethal fighting force discreetly and allow those operating in the littorals to be more sustainable, resilient, and survivable, both in competition and in conflict. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christian Salazar)
250923-N-N3764-1097. ATLANTIC OCEAN (Sep. 23, 2025) A U.S. Navy Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean during UNITAS 2025, the 66th iteration of the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise. Unmanned and remotely operated vehicles and vessels extend the capability of interconnected manned platform sensors to enhance capacity across the multinational force. (Official U.S. Navy photo)
250923-N-N3764-1077 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Sep. 23, 2025) A U.S. Navy Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean during UNITAS 2025, the 66th iteration of the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise. Unmanned and remotely operated vehicles and vessels extend the capability of interconnected manned platform sensors to enhance capacity across the multinational force. (Official U.S. Navy photo)
