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.
Hognose tackles one of the most confusingly designated of all Heckler and Koch weapons, the HK36 (distinct from the G36) and its 4.6x36mm round (itself distinct from H&K’s 4.6x30mm PDW round): Around 1970, Heckler & Koch was doing well, but their restless [Read More…]
LuckyGunner Lounge has a new writer: Melody Lauer, who comes with an full set of credentials as an NRA handgun instructor and rangemaster. Her first article is well worth reading, documenting her abortive first handgun purchase – a Kimber Ultra Carry: The day I [Read More…]
It seems that if you want a reproduction late-war German experimental rifle design, you should get in touch with GunLab’s Chuck. Besides his VG-1-5 project which we’ve covered several times in the past, he also mentioned a year ago that he was doing a run of [Read More…]
Wilson Combat has announced a new full-size carry 1911 handgun, the “Tactical Carry”. The handgun comes loaded with luxury features like glare-reducing serrations, checkering, inverse angled crown, and high visibility sights. From the press release: The [Read More…]
SIG Sauer has announced a new addition to its nascent ammunition line: Supersonic .300 Blackout. Loaded with 125gr Sierra MatchKing projectiles, this load rounds out the SIG-branded .300 Blackout for their MCX rifle. From the press release: Newington, NH – SIG SAUER, [Read More…]
Rifleshooter continues his series on velocity versus barrel length with different rifle cartridges (.300 Winchester Magnum, .223 Remington/5.56×45, and .308 Winchester/7.62×51), this time with a rifle chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum: Test Protocol Ballistic [Read More…]
Heckler and Koch have announced a compact variant of their excellent P30 series of hammer-fired polymer framed handguns. From the press release: Columbus, Georgia — Heckler & Koch adds a new subcompact pistol, the P30SK, to its renowned P30 series line. Retail [Read More…]
Sometimes, it seems like there just isn’t enough innovation in the firearms world. Most firearms on the market today are the result of a century of product improvement, and the overwhelming majority of those that aren’t are designs that have roots going back [Read More…]
Following on the heels of another clone of John Garand’s M1 rifle, was the Type 4 (ambiguously synonymous with the designation “Type 5”) another product-improved copy. Compatible with existing 7.7mm ammunition and stripper clips, the Type 4 fed from a [Read More…]
The number of accessory mounting options for AK owners continues to grow; UTG has announced new 13″ AK handguards compatible with Vltor’s KeyMod rail/accessory mounting system. From the press release: The Venerable AK47 has seen numerous upgrades and [Read More…]
Atlantic Firearms and Definitive Arms have partnered to create a US-made 9mm AK rifle for the US civilian market. In January, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing testing of the rifle, and its bolt-hold-open feature: Earlier this week, however, a semi-official [Read More…]
German Sport Guns GmbH has introduced a combination .410 bore/.45 Long Colt derringer for personal defense. All4Shooters has the story: The new .22 Long Rifle pistol lines and the 9x19mm caliber semiautomatic version of the legendary Mp40 sub-machinegun design are not [Read More…]
Taofledermaus, master of unconventional (and some would argue unsafe) ad-hoc gun modifications has taken the Kalashnikov hobby to a new level. A well-made AK with good magazines is one of the most reliable firearms on the planet. It’s certainly no mystery why [Read More…]
The 5.56mm M855 round has received considerable criticism for its terminal characteristics. Detractors point out that the round fails to fragment when the striking velocity is too low – such as when fired from a very short barrel or when the bullet has slowed [Read More…]
The Gewehr 41 was Nazi Germany’s first attempt at a standard-issue selfloading infantry rifle. It utilized a front flap-locking bolt coupled with a Bang-type gas trap operating mechanism. This mechanism has a reputation for not working very well (more on that [Read More…]
The recent controversy surrounding the H&K G36 rifle (previous articles regarding on the subject available here, here, here, and here) may come to a head soon. The issue of a new Bundeswehr rifle was brought up recently in the German government. From [Read More…]
Toele Shooting Supply, LLC, writes on their Facebook page: Got a couple of the new Taurus Curve pistols today. Before they arrived, someone from Taurus called us to tell them we couldn’t sell them, and had to send them back to the factory… due to issues they [Read More…]
Rock Island Auction seems to always have something special, but this particular item is exceptional even by those standards. Forgotten Weapons has a video overview of an extremely rare Pedersen GY rifle. This rifle was a Pedersen design from the late 1930s that copied [Read More…]
Aftermath Gun Club has posted images of the Leader T2-derived AAA SAP pistol on its firearms identification site ID.Gun.FM. The Leader T2 was not a commercial success, resulting in the dissolution of Charles St. George’s company Armtech Pty Ltd in 1983. [Read More…]
It’s not so unusual to hear of sub-MOA accuracy or better from a well-tuned rifle. Bringing the accuracy of a rifle below half-MOA, though, is a challenge to the gunsmith and shooter alike, and every increment below that is an increasingly difficult challenge. [Read More…]
Good news for .32 cal fans; Ruger has re-introduced its SP101 revolver in the .327 Federal Magnum caliber. From the press release: Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) is pleased to introduce the SP101® in .327 Federal Magnum. The Ruger® SP101 in .327 Federal [Read More…]
The metallic cartridge case underwent significant – though difficult to see – changes in the period between 1860 and 1945. Case metallurgy, manufacturing methods, priming configurations, and even the basic configuration of the metallic case changed and [Read More…]
I certainly won’t pass up a chance to post about the AR-18; the rifle has a uniquely 1960s-chic about it that I can’t resist. The marriage of unadorned stamped steel and black polymers makes for a rifle that looks like it’s ready to be carried by a [Read More…]
The Army and Marine Corps’ ongoing schism over standard issue 5.56mm ammunition came to a head during a recent House Armed Services Committee meeting. The USMC, which still uses the 1970s-era M855 round, supplemented by their Mk. 318 SOST ammunition, were a [Read More…]
As in all Small Caliber Book Reviews here at TFB, I will be covering the area of relevance and strengths and weaknesses of the book, as well as whether it is more introductory or advanced. To write my ongoing series of posts on the Light Rifle, I first had to hit the [Read More…]
The Sturmgewehr is a rifle that will never lose it’s place in history; it is one of the single most influential weapons of the 20th Century. It is not the first of its kind, however, and we at TFB have previously taken a look at some of the rifle’s [Read More…]
The caliber wars have raged for as long as there have been calibers. At the end of last year, we looked at an article from 1891 deriding as useless small caliber rounds – that is, .30 caliber rounds – versus their larger .45 caliber counterparts. But how do [Read More…]
Earlier, we covered Microtech Small Arms Research’s immediate close and the sale of their assets. As a result of his coverage of the closure, Ethan of Aftermath Gun Club received several emails from a well known manufacturer seeking to buy the MSAR tooling. As [Read More…]
Faxon Firearms has released a new variant of the ARAK-21 rifle/upper. This variant has an ambidextrous dual-ejection port, allowing ejection from either the right or the left. From the press release: Faxon Firearms Releases Ambidextrous Ejection Window ARAK-21 First [Read More…]