Silah Report’s editor in chief, Miles Vining, recently published a new TFBtv video discussing the history, mechanics and use of the Egyptian 7.92×57mm Hakim rifle.
Egyptian Army
Egyptian Vickers Gun
At the beginning of the Second World War Britain ordered 200 Vickers medium machine guns, chambered in .303, to be sent to Egypt. The guns were ordered directly from the Vickers-Armstrong company and were to be used by the Egyptian army. The Vickers MG Collection & Research Association recently shared an interesting video examining one of these Egyptian Vickers.
Podcast V26 – Part Three: Galal Abdo Hashem – Defiance, Victory and the Dream
In our journey to uncover wartime stories from all sides during the Arab-Israeli Conflict, we managed to meet Galal Abdo Hashem, an Egyptian living in his home city of Ismalia, a city that has witnessed the horrors of war more than once during the 20th century. Galal Abdo Hashem is not a war veteran with military training, in fact, he never fired a single shot towards his enemies, but he decided to do something instead that gained him notoriety and his name written on Egypt’s Honor List. To this day he gives lectures, speaks with journalists, and appears on TV shows to speak about his experience and journey during a time when Egypt was at war with Israel. This article is the story of one of Egypt’s civilians who, despite taking up arms to defend his homeland, decided there was another way to contribute to the war effort – art.
The FN-49 Rifle in Egyptian Service
The year is 1948. The world has only just begun to recover from the global cataclysm of the Second World War. For many of the western nations just pulling themselves out of the rubble, their largest security concerns were now the Iron Curtain that had descended over Eastern Europe, and the fear of Communism spreading to developing countries. Tensions would soon lead to what would become known as the Cold War, which would shape the second half of the 20th century. While Egypt would not escape these growing global tensions they also had their own local concerns. These included enduring European imperialism, which they had been subjected to since the 1800s, but also the emerging threat of Zionism, embodied by the recently declared Jewish nation of Israel. Against the backdrop of these global and local events, Egypt’s military began to examine a new, modern rifle – the FN-49.
Tokagypt: Egypt’s Forgotten Handgun
In 1957, the Hungarian conglomerate “FEG” (Fegyver- és Gépgyár-Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company) received a contract from the Egyptian Armed Forces requesting 30,000 Tokarev handguns. The Tokarevs would be in 9mm Parabellum instead of the 7.62 Tokarev round, magazines would have finger supports, a one-piece plastic grip, and a safety catch on top of the left side of the receiver.