The Italian Army has started adopting the next-gen Beretta ARX-160 assault rifle. Shooting Wire reports ...
The Italian Ministry of Defense has become the first military group to receive shipments of Beretta's new ARX-160 automatic rifle. The first 1,600 units have been delivered subsequent to the ARX-160's having been formally approved by the Italian Army in March.
I have previously written extensively about the Beretta ARX-160
[Hat Tip: Ed @ Tell me Why?]
Masterpiece Arms are now selling their MPA (Mac-10 clone) carbines and pistols chambered in the .460 Rowland cartridge.
.460 Rowland 16" barreled carbine.
The .460 Rowland was originally developed a decade ago as a magnum power cartridge suitable for the 1911 pistol. It is about 10% more powerful than the 10mm Auto. I have not seen evidence of the .44 Magnum performance claimed.
This video entertaining video demonstrates the .460 MPA guns. It is worth watching, if only to see the concrete block wall dismantled 
.460 Rowland 6" barreled pistol
Prices start at $579 for the pistol and $853 for the carbine.
[Hat Tip: Tactical Life]
During a firefight in Afghanistan in 2007, British soldier Pte Cole's SA80 rifle was hit three times by 7.62x39mm bullets! It continued to function and he continued to return fire, despite the fact that the scope, bodywork and pistol grip was ripped off the gun. Express and Star report ...
The first 7.62 mm Kalashnikov round hit the weapon head on, narrowly missing the barrel and tearing apart the bodywork, while the second blew the sight off and the third smashed into the side, ripping through the inside of the gun and blasting out of the pistol grip.
Miraculously none struck Pte Cole, already wounded twice in the battle, and last night he saw the remains of the weapon for the first time since it saved his life in the Taliban ambush two years ago.
The remains of the rifle is now proudly display at the 4th Battalion HQ.
[ Many thanks to Daniel E. Watters for sending me the link. ]
A plane transporting North Korean manufactured weapons and explosives has been captured by Thai law enforcement. The UN banned Nork weapon exports after their missile tests earlier this year. The Times Online reports ...
The weapons laden aircraft seized in Bangkok en route from North Korea at the weekend has been linked to two renowned East European arms traffickers by a respected Swedish think-tank in the latest twist in the mysterious saga.
The Ilyushin-76 aircraft, which was found to be carrying 35 tonnes of weapons including rockets and grenades, was most recently registered under a company called Beibars, linked to the Serbian arms dealer Tomislav Dmanjanovic. It had previously been registered with three companies identified by the US Department of the Treasury as firms controlled by the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
UN sanctions passed in June after Pyongyang tested a nuclear warhead ban North Korea from exporting any arms except light weapons — a big blow to the arms trade, which provides a significant source of income to the rogue state.
Jessie James, winner of the AAC Silencer Shoot silent auction, has received his Bushmaster ACR.
AAC Blog has photos.
Unbeknown to me, Ruger has had a Youtube channel since May of this year.
Last week they started a series on the history of firearms. The first episode, about early hand cannons, "aired" last week and is worth watching.
History of the Gun - Part 1: Hand Cannon
Also online are Part 2 and Part 3.
Promag is manufacturing 10 and 15 round magazines for the sub-compact Kel-Tec P3AT & Ruger LCP
The 10 rounders cost about $32 and the 20 rounders are going for $35, although you may be able to find them cheaper at other sources.
And now, before you ask "why?", I say "Why Not? ".
[ Many thanks to the reader who sent this in ]
Issuing pressing a press release is one thing but actually selling to the Army or Marines is another! The press release, dated 15 December 2009, infers that their product can deliver 10,000 mean rounds between failure (emphasis added)...
SARASOTA, Fla., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The 40-year-old problems of the M16 / AR15 / M4 rifle are now a thing of the past. In testing Osprey Defense, LLC has been able to install their OPS-416 system in under 4 minutes followed by firing more than 10,000 rounds without cleaning through an ordinary M16 rifle without failure. This is unprecedented from any firearm and even more amazing considering it requires no modification of the original gun.
Osprey Defense, LLC, www.GasPiston.com, a Florida based Limited Liability Company, has spent the last 3 years dedicated to developing a robust yet deceptively simple solution to the problem plaguing US Military's standard rifle platform. The M16 has historically been a less than reliable platform due to the deposits of hot gasses, carbon and debris in the critical operating areas of the rifle which cause malfunctions.
The Osprey Defense OPS-416 family of user installable gas-piston conversion systems is the solution to this problem. The company demonstrates it extensively on their website where you can watch demonstrations of the system being blasted with high-pressure sand which is enough to cut concrete, yet the rifle still runs. In another demonstration they buried a rifle using a 17-ton excavator, ground it into the earth, then dug it out caked with dirt, and the rifle still ran.
After millions of rounds of testing and an aggressive law enforcement agency and military Test and Evaluation program, the system is being made available today via their website and dealer/distributor network. New dealer opportunities are still available according to the company.
[ Many thanks to Morten for sending me the press release ]
Accuracy International has updated their .308 Win. AE rifle and Shooting Illustrated has posted an article about it online ...
Accuracy International (AI) rifles have always been something of an enigma with mainstream shooters in the United States. These distinctive-looking bolt guns are known to tactical shooters around the world as accurate and extremely well-made precision rifles, but AI once had the less-flattering reputation of being slow or altogether absent in the customer-service department. Part of the problem was due to a patchwork of U.S.-based support centers, while a state of financial flux for the company in England added to the issue.
Read the entire article here.
The MKII features Accuracy International's folding stock which is also available for the Rem. 700. It is an amazing stock (also an amazingly high price).
