Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
So far in our exploration of firearms operating systems, we’ve covered ten different mechanisms for locking and actuating an automatic firearm, with two supplementary introduction posts. There’s still a lot more to talk about, but at the request of our [Read More…]
According to sources at the Eurosatory exposition in Paris, France, the Russian Army has nearly completed tests on the new pistol design likely to be adopted to replace the 9x18mm PMM Makarov and 9x19mm PYa Yargin pistols currently in service. The Udav (Russian for [Read More…]
One week ago, we reported that Remington had distributed letters to owners of the troubled first generation R51 pistols that their replacements from the new second-generation were ready to be shipped. Since then, YouTuber and R51 buyer RyeOnHam has received his second [Read More…]
In the first article discussing the mechanisms by which a firearm locks its breech, we mentioned briefly two quantities that are important for small arms design: Pressure, and bolt thrust. The latter we’ll discuss in a later installment, but today we’ll [Read More…]
This is one of those posts I’ve been meaning to get to for a while, but haven’t really felt the urge to write. The subject came up recently* in my comments, though, and I really enjoy responding to people, so I might as well kill these two birds with one [Read More…]
Dear reader, are you a manufacturer looking to expand your lineup? Here’s a suggestion: How about entering the fully automatic shotgun market by buying the rights to the successor of the famous Atchisson AA-12? That’s what the below video published by BC [Read More…]
What if there was a caliber that was suitable for everything from coyote to brown bear, kicked less than your whitetail gun, fit in a micro-length (2.25″/58mm) action, and cost a quarter a round to shoot? That would be a pretty awesome caliber, wouldn’t [Read More…]
Heckler and Koch has won a major victory against the German government this week, regarding the sale of G36 assault rifles to Saudi Arabia. In the mid-2000s, Heckler and Koch sold tooling for the G36 to the Saudi government capable of producing 14,000 rifles per year. [Read More…]
Previously in our introductory series on ballistics, we’ve discussed the concept of caliber, as well as ballistic coefficient and its close relative form factor. Today, we’re going to look at the concept of rifling, and how it relates to bullet stability. [Read More…]
Previously in TFB’s series on weapon operating mechanisms, we examined both the closed-bolt blowback system and the open-bolt API blowback system, two very close relatives that share a common feature: Closure of the breech through the inertia of the breechblock [Read More…]
The history of the IWI Tavor is a subject that has interested me for close to a decade. The rifle’s history doesn’t seem to have been well-documented so far, at least in sources I have read; yet available on the Internet are many of the original concept [Read More…]
Remington has just informed purchasers of the original R51 pistol that the second model – which aims to fix the issues of the initial production version – is now ready to be shipped. Remington has taken the extra step for initial buyers of the R51 of not [Read More…]
Locking systems we have previously covered include tilting barrel locking, the most common pistol locking mechanism, and rotary bolt locking, the most common rifle locking mechanism. However, at one time another locking mechanism was widely believed to be optimum for [Read More…]
At the 2016 Eurosatory defense trade show, Czech gunmaker CZ debuted for the first time its improved 806 Bren 2 rifle on the international market. The Bren 2 was announced in October of 2015, and improves on the 805 Bren by being lighter, having an improved selector [Read More…]
Previously on Operating Systems 101, we discussed the straight blowback method of firearms operation; today we’ll be talking about its close cousin, API blowback. “API” stands for advance primer ignition, which refers to the chief way that the [Read More…]
In this 201-level post on the devices and mechanisms that automatic firearms use to do their work, we’ll be discussing a distinction between two very similar types of gas systems. These are what’s commonly known as the “Ljungmann-type” gas system [Read More…]
It’s no good to discuss how firearms work without also giving the context surrounding the firearms themselves. With that said, let’s talk about the AR-15, its copycats, competitors, and relatives. Together these rifles share space under the loose umbrella [Read More…]
Previously, we looked at the most common type of locking mechanism for rifles, but what about handguns? Well, today we’ll be looking at tilting-barrel locking, a method used in virtually every modern locked-breech handgun today. Tilting barrel locking was [Read More…]
We introduced you to the concept of locking in a previous one of our 201-level posts on how firearms work, and today we’re going to talk about what has become the most common locking mechanism for rifles: Rotary locking. If to lock an action, you need to create [Read More…]
In the second of our 101-level discussions on firearms operating mechanisms, we mentioned that firearms may have what’s called a locking mechanism, which prevents the separation of the breech and barrel during the high pressure ignition of a round of ammunition. [Read More…]
S&T Motiv, the successor to Korean defense company Daewoo Precision Industries, was showing off a new variant of their K2 rifle that equips the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, alongside the M16A1 which remains in use with second-line units. The new rifle is called [Read More…]
Previously, we looked at the incredible damage and penetration caused by the US Army’s new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR), thanks to a video published by William of the Wound Channel. What happens, though, when that kind of performance is scaled up to .30 [Read More…]
While today the Italian company Franchi is not a heavy-hitting military small arms manufacturer, in the mid-1950s the company did produce some very interesting rifles, carbines, and submachine guns for the military market. The most recognizable of these is the LF-57 [Read More…]
Now, based on the four previous articles on gun operating mechanisms, some of my readers may be thinking “jeeze, Nathaniel, we already know all this stuff! Why are you telling us this?” Don’t worry! I haven’t forgotten about you, and that’s [Read More…]
Previously in Operating Systems 101, we covered the simple, inexpensive principle of blowback, and the reliable principle of short-recoil. Both of these mechanisms together form the foundations of almost all automatic handguns in common use today, but what about rifles? [Read More…]
Two basic mechanisms dominate the field of handguns today: The aforementioned straight blowback system, and short-recoil operation. The latter of two is a mechanism as clever as it is old; the first short-recoil weapons date back to the latter half of the 19th Century! [Read More…]
The first entry in our coverage of automatic weapon operating mechanisms will be the humble straight blowback method. Conceptually simple, it is one of the most common systems, being applied almost universally to .22 caliber rimfire autoloaders the world over, as well [Read More…]
The US Army’s plan to wrap new technologies and commercial off the shelf (COTS) improvements into the M4A1 rifle has apparently been canned. The program, called M4A1+, was originally intended to upgrade the M4A1 fleet with new COTS rails, back up sights, flash [Read More…]
What makes an automatic (or semiautomatic) weapon work? How do these weapons accomplish being able to fire round after round through a single barrel with no interference from the operator? That’s what I aim to explain in this series, which hopefully will give my [Read More…]
We live in a world today that is completely inundated with AR-15 pattern rifles. In 2016, for just five Benjamins – sometimes even less! – you can purchase your very own fantactical black rifle and rely on it to work when you need to and shoot where you [Read More…]
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