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.
Good news for those looking for the strong, silent type: MilitaryTimes Gear Scout reports that AAC is bringing the Honey Badger suppressed .300 Blackout PDW to market: The Honey Badger is coming, and this [TFB author’s note: Referring to the title image of this [Read More…]
It’s not commonly remembered in today’s world of .22 caliber infantry rifles that once upon a time .30″ was “small caliber”, and with that came all of the doubts an questions about wounding and killing power of such small bullets. [Read More…]
Finnish ammunition maker Lapua is introducing three new cases to its ammunition components line: The .300 AAC Blackout, the 7mm-08 Remington, and the 8×57 JS (8mm Mauser). From the press release: Lapua New Products – 2015 300 AAC Blackout Few cartridges have [Read More…]
Good news for hunters who want to stay quiet and don’t want to handload. SilencerCo, who achieved e-fame with the “Wizard Staff”, “Johnny Dronehunter”, and “The Silencing” promotional videos (and who also make silencers) have [Read More…]
EnsignExpendable of the Soviet Gun Archives blog has found an interesting scrap of history regarding a machine gun designed by one Francis J. Orzel. In the document, Orzel is quite the salesman, attributing to his design magnificent characteristics such as it being [Read More…]
In 2012, AR-15 designer Jim Sullivan applied for a patent for a new rifle design. Apparently based on his Ultimax 100 light machine gun, the rifle features a quick-change barrel, a guide-rail-less receiver with a “backbone” guide rod attached to the lower [Read More…]
If you like high-dollar 1911s, and want to show some Texas pride, there’s a new handgun for you. From the press release: Perryton, TX- Many firearms companies claim that their products are 100% American made; with Republic Forge, this claim is authentic. Republic [Read More…]
GunBroker has for auction two very interesting STIs. WeaponsMan has covered the story: These pistols for sale on GunBroker come with a rare claim: they were used by one of the nation’s most important special operations units during a period in the mid-oughts when [Read More…]
As some of you may have already read, news stories exploded yesterday that Remington agreed to recall all 7.85 million Model 700 rifles ever made, due to trigger defects. We here at TFB consider fact-checking to be extremely important, and – while we have known [Read More…]
For many of you, it will feel like “that time of year again”, so many US pistol competitions have come and gone. The Army’s Modular Handgun System program is gearing up to replace current service pistols with a new suite of pistols, holsters, and [Read More…]
LooseRounds has posted an early review of the Colt 901 MARC rifle. In addition to doing standard 100 yard accuracy testing, he also tested the target at 1,000 and 1,200 yards. That’s really stretching its legs! ACCURACY TESTING For the accuracy testing of this new [Read More…]
Bersa has introduced its first polymer-framed .380 ACP handgun to the US market. From the press release: Wanamassa, N.J. – Eagle Imports, Inc., the exclusive distributor of Metro Arms, Bersa, Comanche and Grand Power firearms products, is pleased to introduce to [Read More…]
The Historical Firearms blog has a very interesting post on a forgotten John Browning patent for a (then-advanced) pump-action shotgun. The weapon features an enclosed hammer, dual extractors, and a tilting locking block reminiscent of the later M1918 automatic rifle. [Read More…]
As part of their series on interesting weapons found at Rock Island Auction house, Forgotten Weapons has taken a look at something… A little different: The weapon is essentially a Mauser fitted for an under barrel .22 caliber single-shot rifle with a tilting [Read More…]
While digging through the IAA Forum (an excellent resource for the cartridge collector) archives for data on the 7.65 Argentine, I came across these two threads chronicling two separate instances of spotter ammunition detonating while using an impact puller to [Read More…]
I don’t think I have to say: Kids, do not try this at home. As we reported previously, Taofledermaus, unsafety expert and ammunition experimenter has solved the rimfire ammunition crisis for those who do not so heavily weigh the continued use of their limbs. He [Read More…]
If you’re a gun person, John Browning probably makes the top of your list of “greatest firearms designers”, and for many, the 1911 handgun is his finest creation. There’s an argument to be made that (certainly for the time) the 1911 is as perfect [Read More…]
LifeSizePotato is the YouTube channel of a collector of rare, antique, unusual, and high quality handguns, which hosts video reviews of the weapons he collects. This week, he stepped outside of his box a little bit to review the Strike One handgun, a modern polymer [Read More…]
InRange has an excellent interview (and range video!) with Jim Sullivan, a designer of the AR-15, Ultimax 100, Mini-14, and other firearms. In it, they get to fire Sullivan’s improved M4, which is more tolerant of sustained fire and employs the “constant [Read More…]
One of the great innovations in the past 50 years pertaining to the study of what projectiles do in flight and why is the advent of ultra-high-speed photography – the kind that can keep a rifle bullet in focus. This sort of endeavor is not for the novice [Read More…]
Our own Alex C has already posted a thorough review of the new CMMG dedicated 7.62×39 AR-15, so be sure to go check that out. Meanwhile, CMMG has released model and pricing details, through a press release: Fayette, MO (Dec. 1, 2014)-CMMG Inc. today announced the [Read More…]
One of the many projects GunLab has been hard at work completing is producing reproduction VG1-5 (more properly referred to as the Gustloff MP 507) carbines. These were last-ditch carbines, intended to be vastly cheaper to make than either the Kar98K or StG-44 [Read More…]
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives keeps data on all firearms manufacturers and how much they produce each year. We at TFB thought it would interest our readers to take a look at this data and see which ten manufacturers produced the most. The [Read More…]
Following right on the heels of Colt Defense narrowly avoiding default on its loans, Colt Defense announced it may miss its May 2015 high yield bond payment. Forbes reports: Colt Defense may not have sufficient cash or availability under its credit agreement to meet [Read More…]
The staff of The Firearm Blog would like to extend its best holiday wishes to all of you, our readers. We’ve grown a lot over the past year, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our readers following us every step of the way. Today we here at TFB are [Read More…]
Rock Island Auction time means we get to look at a bunch of really neat guns, thanks to Forgotten Weapons’ Ian. Today he examines one of the most important early selfloading rifles, the model 1908 Mondragon: The Mondragon is widely recognized as the first [Read More…]
Good news for hunters in gator country: KEY LARGO, FL – The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to repeal the 57 year old prohibition on the use of firearm suppressors for taking deer, gray squirrels, rabbits, wild turkeys, quail, [Read More…]
Russia has clarified some of its rules regarding firearms licensees – added to the list of valid reasons for carrying a weapon this week was “self-defense”, a purpose not widely recognized in some other European countries. From Russia Today: In an [Read More…]
As part of his Vickers Tactical series on interesting and rare firearms, Larry Vickers got some trigger time on the ARES-16 belt-fed upper receiver for the AR-15. This upper receiver, formerly known as the “ARES Shrike” (a much better and more creative [Read More…]
The Gardner Gun is one of an entire generation of all-but-forgotten* manually operated proto-machine guns. GunLab has begun a series of posts documenting the effort of one Papa Joe (who receives a regular mention there) to reconstruct a Gardner Gun from scratch. Since [Read More…]
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