In a direct rebuttal to the current state of German Army battle rifles, lets take a look at the downright primitive stuff they had a hundred years ago…
Bavarian troops pose in a trench, 1915. Note the man at the rear – his Gew98 is outfitted with a scope, and he wears both the lanyard of a Schutzenschnur that identifies him as a marksman, and the steely look of a man not to be trifled with. Click to big up
It looks like the Heckler and Kock G36 wunderschtuzen is stumbling and falling– due to accuracy issues.
German Kampfswimmers with the HK G36 underwater
Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that the controversial G36 rifle ‘has no future in the German Army,’ signalling the end of a two decade relationship between the army and the dodgy weapon.
In recent weeks the Defense Ministry had admitted that the rifle, which the Bundeswehr has used since the mid-1990s, has “accuracy problems,” specifically a loss of accuracy when the rifle gets hot – either due to the air temperature or sustained firing.
Then came a report from the UK that the weapon, used by British counter terror and domestic security units, is in hot water there as well.
A study found that, “when the atmospheric temperature reached 30C (86F), bullets missed their mark by about 50cm (20 inches) at a range of 200m (220 yards) and by up to six metres – about 20ft – over 500m (546 yards)”
Doh.
Much as once a week I like to take time off to cover warships (Wednesdays), on Sunday, I like to cover military art and the painters, illustrators, sculptors, and the like that produced them.
Combat Gallery Sunday: The Martial Art of Frank Frazetta
Born February 9, 1928, Frank Alfonso Frazzetta (he later dropped one of the Z‘s and worked professionally as Fritz and later Frank Frazetta) was perhaps the best sci-fi and fantasy artist of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
He was always with a pencil in his hand as a kid and earned a spot at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 8. By age 15, he worked for professional graphic artist John Giunta at the Bernard Baily Publications Studio who did outsource work for a number of comic to include DC.
By 1947 at age 19, he was working for Standard Comics and did everything from Westerns to War stories then moved on to work for EC, National and others.
Frazetta’s Flash Gordon send up from Famous Funnies III while he was working at the Bailey Studio
By the 1960s he hit his own stride and his work began to gain increasing notice, branching out into a series of excellent oil on canvas paintings, movie posters, album covers, and other commercial work all in a style that was increasingly his own.
Madame Derringer by Frank Frazetta
Sea Monster, 1966, by Frank Frazetta
Frazetta art used on Eerie#81-1977 2
Eerie #82 cover by Frank Frazetta
The Brave by Frank Frazetta
The Executioner by Frank Frazetta
The Indian Brave by Frank Frazetta
Cover art by Frank Frazetta for Orca the Killer Whale novel
Circle of Terror by Frank Frazetta
Bucking Bronco by Frank Frazetta
Return of the Mucker, 1973 by Frank Frazetta
Movie poster for the Clint Eastwood flick, “The Gauntlet” by Frank Frazetta. In all Frank did over a dozen film sheets
Battlestar Gallactica 1976 artwork by Frank Frazetta
Oh yeah, and he became the pencil behind all of the iconic Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan and John Carter covers as well as of course the Robert E. Howard’ Conan book covers that changed sci-fi and fantasy art forever…
Conan covers by Frank Frazetta
Conan the Buccaneer cover art by Frank Frazetta
His martial work really stands out,
Combat, 1969 by Frank Frazetta. The French MAT-49 is great.
The Lieutenant by Frank Frazetta. Great post-apoc stuff here. Love the Mini-14
Blazing Combat 4 cover by Frank Frazetta
Blazing Combat comic cover by Frank Frazetta
Blazing Combat comic cover by Frank Frazetta
Frazetta did a series of covers for George MacDonald Fraser “Flashman” series that covers the swashbuckling adventures of Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE, a fictional Victorian cavalryman who survives from the Charge of the Light Brigade to the Boer Wars, always coming out the better despite his attempts to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Flashman on the Charge novel cover art by Frank Frazetta
Flash for Freedom cover art by Frank Frazetta.
His Death Dealer painting, which was first used on Molly Hatchet’s first album cover in 1978, went on to take a life of its own and has been used far and wide since then.
The Death Dealer, 1973. Frazetta’s single most iconic work
Since 1985 it has been the official mascot symbol of the Fort Hood based III Armored Corps who has both an immense outdoor statue and two smaller indoor depictions of the Death Dealer (which they term the Phantom Warrior) at their headquarters.
One of the smaller examples deployed with III Corps units to Iraq.
Phantom Warrior being installed at Fort Hood
One of the smaller Phantom Warriors
Sadly Frazetta passed away on May 10, 2010 at age 82.
He was a inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, and others as well as earned the attention and admiration of legions of men and boys over the course of his amazing career.
Self portrait. All he is missing is a sword…
The artist, complete with his 1911
His family maintains the Frazaetta Art Museum while a number of unofficial galleries showcase his work in great detail and in a number of ways. He also has a pretty serious group of fans.
Thank you for your work, sir.
Back in the 1500s when pistols were pretty hit and miss (puns, anyone!) many designed for hunting came complete with a wicked blade that was affixed to the end to allow a hunter to finish off his harvest– or defend himself from advancing wounded boars, wolves or bears.
Hunting knife and wheel lock pistol made in Munich Germany, 1546. The large blade has a calendar etched into it surface along with other personal markings and decorations. Currently in the New York Museum of Art. Click to big up
These knife-guns fell out of favor over time but come back up in other forms in recent generations.
Here is a Soviet military version that has a neat photo shoot over at English Russia
“This is a special Soviet knife designed in the 1970s at the order of the Ministry of Defence and KGB of the USSR. An ordinary scout’s knife had to turn into a combined multifunctional weapon. They made a knife with a firing device adapted for a special 7,62 mm cartridge. “
The knife is similar to a AKM style one often encountered in the Warsaw Pact, although it doesn’t appear to be able to mount as a bayonet
In sheath (note the low-powered 7.62x39mm cartridges). Note the similar wire-cutter style sheath
Its fired by a recessed trigger of sort
The muzzle is in the pommel and is semi-sealed in rubber. The gun is likely for emergency use at bad breath distances only
Reload is slow and the firing unit seems like a commercial made zip gun
And is uses a lightly loaded 7.62x39mm round although it can probably be used (once) with a full power load.
Reminds me of the U.S. Made GRAD and the Italian made Arsenal .22LR revolver knives that have been imported for years as AOWs. They are little 5-6 shot revolvers that double as a M7 style (AR-15/M4/M16) bayonet.
I covered them and other knife-guns in more detail over at Guns.com a few years back.
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Ford B-24H-30-FO B-24 H Liberator, s/n 42-95379, ‘Extra Joker’ in the last photo taken of her on August 23, 1944.
She belonged to the 725th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. 15th US Air Force. (USAF Photo/Colorized by Royston Leonard)
Joker was attacked by German Fw-190s over Turnitz, Austria while on a daylight raid.
All 10 crew members, consisting of the regular crew of THUNDER MUG (42-7475), were KIA.
The lost crew members spanned from coast to coast and ten different states:
1st Lt. Kenneth A. Whiting – pilot Salt Lake City, Utah
1st Lt. Alvin W. Moore – copilot McMinnville, Oregon
2nd Lt. Francis J. Bednarek – navigator Ashley, Pennsylvania
2nd Lt. Edward S. Waneski – bombardier Brooklyn, New York
Sgt. Peter Breda – top turret gunner Lima, Ohio
Sgt. Harry V. Bates – ball turret gunner Reinholds, Pennsylvania
Sgt. Joseph Garbacz – right waist gunner Detroit, Michigan
S/Sgt. Milton R. Nitsch – left waist gunner Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sgt. Elmer J. Anderson – nose turret gunner Los Angeles, California
Sgt. Oscar W. Bateman – tail turret gunner Baton Rouge, Louisiana
After the war the 725th was inactivated for 15 years before being stood up as the 725th Strategic Missile Squadron, manning HGM-25A Titan I ICBM missile silos. Once Titan was withdrawn, the 725th was shuttered for a final time on 25 June 1965.
With the focus in the past week or so on the retired super-carrier USS Ranger (CV-61) and the Doolittle Raiders, I figured this was a neat tie-in.
The restored World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft “Heavenly Body” takes off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) in 1992. It and another B-25 are being launched in a re-enactment of “Doolittle’s Raid” of April 18, 1942, during which 16 B-25’s were launched from the aircraft carrier USS HORNET (CV-8) in the first attack on the Japanese mainland. PHCM TERRY MITCHELL – ID:DN-ST-92-09801. (click to big up)
Restored B-25 “In the Mood” lifting off of Ranger, same day, same occasion.
Of course, these planes had in some cases a take off run more than double that of the raiders who took off from the Hornet in 1942, but hey, they still flew B-25 bombers off a flat-top. And when you add to the fact that the Mitchells were pushing 50 years of age…not bad.
The Joe in the picture is one Spc. Matthew Tattersall, who, as a paratrooper of the All Americans of 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, made his final jump earlier this month before leaving active duty.
Yes, if you look closely, he made a selfie of the occasion, complete with a C-17 behind him in a blue North Carolina sky.
And in the water bottle, his pet fish “Wily Makeit.”
Both survived the jump (relax it was a stateside daylight ‘Hollywood’ jump made without the typical 100~ pounds of combat gear and weapons that a paratrooper normally drops with).
Although as reported by Army Times, Tattersall was instructed to write a 1,000-word essay on the importance of airborne safety and professionalism in the Army.
Not a bad representation.
Click to very much big up, its 12000×8000
From the hard rock Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina down to the palmetto marsh of the Everglades and the East to the waterfowl-thick Mississippi Delta, the Southeastern United States has some of the best and most exclusive hunting preserves in the country.
I’ve been working with Remington to help identify 35 of the best.
Let me know if I missed any that you know of.
In the lever gun biz you basically have Marlin (which was taken over by Remington in 2008 and now is more of a “Remlin” beast), a number of imported Brazilian (Rossi), Italian (Uberti, Cimarron, Chiappa) and Japanese made guns (Winchester, Browning). Oh yeah, and then there is Henry. They run a little more but I’ve never picked up one that sucked.
Well it seems that they are now making a whole series of Mare’s Legs that I ran across in Nashville last week as seen by this poorly taken image that has all of my hallmarks.
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The ones they had on hand, which felt smooth to me, were in .45 Long Colt.
But….It seems they come in a number of flavors
