Matt recently comment on this post about the Australian AUG A4 (ADI Austeyr F88 A4):
To clear up “125″ issues and confusion the A3 varient is to be upgraded to allow the firing of GLA and underslung shot gun attachment with the trigger finger. There is much speculation on INF 2012 weapon systems and the steyr will look marketly different. What is concrete is that what changes happen to the weapons system the it must have the same range or better and must not be any heavier than current weight with modifications. There is a photo around of an ugly australian modified A3, this is not the new rifle and was a test bed system and was a demo only. The ADF rumour mill is leaning more to the AUG A4 design as now Australia owns the rights of all world wide styer production and also pattened designs from Austria.
I had not idea that the A4 existed. I did some Googling and found some photos in a brochure from ADI, the Australian arms and ammunition manufacturer. They may be the “test” A4 that Matt mentioned in Matt’s comment.
I think it’s a pretty ugly design. It looks like someone attacked an AUG with a hacksaw, screwdriver and a few picatinny rails. Especially in contrast to the AUG A3 (from steyr-arms.at):
Where is the grenade launcher trigger?
I would be surprised if the Australians upgrade their A1/A2 AUGs to use the M203 when the M320 will go into production later this year (according to Wikipedia).
The blogger who blogs at THEATRUM BELLI, a french blog, has put together a very good flicker photoset with over 600 photos. Well worth checking out.
There are a few interesting photos of the Abkhazians militia. Checkout the camo.
Abkhazian paramilitaries are seen at a position near the village of Azhara, in Kodori Gorge, in the Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008. Russian troops on Friday allowed some humanitarian supplies into the strategic city of Gori but continued their blockade, raising doubts about Russian intentions in the war-battered country. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was heading for Georgia for talks with the president. (AP Photo/Vladimir Popov)
Its like a Red Dawn in reverse (the paramilitary are the invaders).
The photo below shows a couple of South Ossetia militia. The guy on the right is carrying a Sako TRG.
It is unlikely Finland would allow arms exports to South Ossetia. It was probably bought on the civilian market and then exported. I cannot imagine that South Ossetia would have many snipers so this is feasible.
Their squad sharpshooters (or whatever they call them in that part of the world) are probably using the SVD.
I cannot make out if it is a TRG-21 / 22 (.308 Win) or TRG-41 / 42 (.338 Lapua or .300 Win Magnum). I have never seen a photo of a 41/42 without a muzzle break, but I think the 21/22 can have the Sako TRG muzzle break attached, please correct me if I am wrong.
Aviation Week reports that last week the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier, Brig. Gen. Mark Brown weighed in on the M4/.223 issue:
“I don’t think we need an unhealthy, discordant debate over the current carbine because I don’t think the current carbine is a long-lived solution anyway. However, the M4 carbine has been continuously improved. It has 68 substantial engineering design changes and about 380 total engineering design changes, so it’s become a modular system. It’s very accurate, it’s the most accurate of the carbines, it’s the lightest of the carbines, and it’s the shortest of the carbines. We’re very pleased with it, and we expect it to be the Army’s carbine of record, for a little while.”
The world’s first light machine-gun, the Danish Madsen has finally been retired from service after over a century of use. The State Police of the Brazilian state of Rio De Janerio were the last users of the twenty pound weapon…
The Madsen required some precise machining, but it was not exceptionally costly to make. It was reliable, although it used an awkward top loaded magazine, carrying 25, 30 or 40 rounds. Over its long career, it was equipped to fire ammunition from 6.5mm to 8mm. The Brazilian Madsens fired NATO 7.62mm (.30 caliber) ammo. It’s rate of fire was 450 rounds per minute.
Firearms last a long time!
These photos of of a replica of the 8mm model which can be bought here. They are the best photos I could find and are probably close to the original.
But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.
With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.
Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.
In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.
Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law.
It is a long article. Somewhat sensationalist. Looks like some kids (18, 22 and 25 years old) found a source of soviet ammo and sold it. This is the kind of story that they will make into a move.
I didn’t know they used shot line adapters. When I saw the photo I thought he was using a suppressor.
PACIFIC OCEAN (March 24, 2008) Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Aan J. Doscher, assigned to the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), fires an M-14 with a shot line adapter toward the Military Sealift Command combat stores ship USNS San Jose (T-AFS 7) during a refueling-at-sea. Harpers Ferry is assigned to the Essex Expeditionary Strike Group. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua J. Wahl (Released)
I cam across this interesting M14 made by Harrington & Richardson on gunbroker. It features a folding stock and a lightened receiver. The rifle was made in 1961 for military trials into a folding stock rifle for use by paratroopers, vehicle drivers, and tank crews.
Over the past 10 years the Swiss conscript army have had 4300 firearms lost or stolen from their homes (the army issues firearms to citizens to keep at home). Although it should be pointed out that an estimated 1.5 million army firearms are in circulation.
In that year 82 rifles were stolen from an army depot in Marly in French-speaking Switzerland, bringing the 2006 total to 84 rifles plus 15 pistols.
Endrich told the Swiss news agency that the army did not keep statistics that made a distinction between lost or stolen weapons. Those that simply disappear are categorised as lost, he said.
Under Swiss law, all able-bodied men aged 20-30 are conscripted for about three months and are issued with a rifle. They are required to do up to four weeks of army service a year until they have served 260 days or are aged 34.
Throughout this time they keep the rifles – but no ammunition - at home. According to some estimates there could be as many as 1.5 million army weapons in circulation.
Trying to become predators instead of prey, Marines headed to Iraq will go through training built on advice from big-game hunters, soldiers of fortune and troops who grew up around firearms in the woods or the inner city.
The U.S. Army and Special Operations Command are stepping up efforts to procure a lighter, modernized .50-caliber machine gun more easily transported than the standard 85-pound M2.
The goal is not to replace the M2, a combat fixture for 70 years, but to augment the inventory with a .50-caliber weapon that brings the same firepower at less than half the weight, Army officials said here at the Feb. 27-29 winter convention of the Association of the U.S. Army. Early models of the Light Weight .50-caliber (LW50) are expected to be delivered this year.
I came across these stunning photos of the Czech 601st Special Forces Group in Afghanistan at MP.net (Click through for these photos in high resolution).
I did not realize the Czech special forces use an AR/M16 variant.
Military.com reported a few days ago that the entire Iraqi army is moving to the M16A2 and M4. Some Iraqi units have been using M16s since May last year. The move was originally announced last April.
So far, the U.S. military has helped the Iraqi army purchase 43,000 rifles - a mix of full-stock M-16A2s and compact M-4 carbines. Another 50,000 rifles are currently on order, and the objective is to outfit the entire Iraqi army with 165,000 American rifles in a one-for-one replacement of the AK-47.
“Our goal is to give every Iraqi soldier an M-16A2 or an M-4,” Scott said. “And as the Iraqi army grows, we will adjust.” - Military.com
Reasons given are logistical and that the M16 is a superior and more reliable weapon. Many think it is superior but few would say more reliable. It is easier to see the logistical benefits. I imagine training will also be easier.
The big advantage is that the rifles can be easily traced. Mexico has gone down this route by using a weapon they themselves designed. If a FX-05 “Xiuhcoatl” ends up in the hands of a drug runner, the Mexican army will know where to find the culprit who supplied it.
Last year it was reported that then an Iraqi soldier gets issued an M16 he is finger printed, undergoes a digital retina scan, and is photographed with the rifle serial number. The information is then transfered into a central database.
The weapon exchange is just the first step in a five-day program of instruction for the Iraqis. However, new rifles are not handed out in a one-for-one swap. Coalition Forces assign each IA recruit a weapon using a high-tech, biometric issue system.
Verified against a master list and having tuned in his old rifle, the IA soldier and his new M-16 continue on to one of ten biometric stations, where he is finger printed, undergoes a digital retinal scan and is photographed with the M16’s serial number. Officials then transfer the information to a database in Baghdad, to ensure accountability and to prevent the weapon from ending up in the wrong hands. - Blackanthem Military News
The BAT (Biometrics Automated Toolset) in Iraq
The DOD Biometric Task Force
My thoughts on the move to the M16
The move of course also sends money to American factories. It makes sense as hundreds of millions have been spent on arms for the Iraqi army. At the end of last year Iraq’s defence Minister Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi announced a US$230 million deal with Serbia for what is likely to be rifles, machine guns, explosives and ammo.
Serbia has signed a US$230m (£116m) deal with Iraq to sell weapons and military equipment, the defence ministry said yesterday.
It did not specify the weapons but Serbian military experts believe they include Serbian-made assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and explosives. - IRAQ UPDATES
Training with M16s in Iraq. May 2007. US Army photo.
Unfortunately for the rest of us who do not own shares in ammunition manufacturers the supply of 5.56mm to yet another army at war, and who will be at war for a long time, means the price is only going to go up and up.
What does not make sense is why they do not supply them with the gas piston AR variants. Politics would be my guess. I think they had enough media attention over the body armor, they don’t want to be accused of issuing the Iraqi superior rifles.
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I want this blog to appeal to a worldwide audience and so I will be focusing on firearms and shooting rather than country specific politics. There are already many great blogs defending your rights!
Hi, welcome to my blog! This blog is dedicated to all things firearms related. I hope you enjoy it.
