This photo shows Ukrainian Special Forces deployed in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine where they have been fighting Pro-Russian rebels. They are armed with Fort-221, the Ukrainian licensed version of the Tavor TAR-21. This must, I think, be the first time the [Read More…]
Travis sent us a photo of himself taken and members of his squad in Afghanistan taken during 2009. He wrote… This is myself (the big dude) and two of the guys in my Squad circa 2009 Helmand Province Afghanistan. Weapons are FN M4, MK 12 Designated Marksman [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…]
Gregor writes … This is a MG74 with Aimpoint M4H, Aimpoint Magnifier and a TLLM (light/laser infrared module), mounted on the left side. This setup was used as the front gun of the passenger seat of the “Sandviper”. The Sandviper is a modified Puch G [Read More…]
Armament Research Services (ARES) researchers Jonathan Ferguson & N.R. Jenzen-Jones have produced an exhaustive report, Raising Red Flags: An Examination of the Arms and Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict un Ukraine 2014. I know both Jonathan and Nic personally, [Read More…]
Dwavinchi sent us this photo of the M14 EBR (Enhanced Battle Rifle) he was issued Afghanistan. The US Army M14 EBR is one of many variants of the US Navy Mk. 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle created in the early 2000s at the request of the Navy Seals who needed a compact [Read More…]
TFB’s resident adventurer Claymore sent me this photo from his archives. This maybe the MOST “exclusive” photo ever on TFB! I was looking up a photo of my 762 gear for somebody and saw this. It is a photo on me receiving my “adviser [Read More…]
dwavinchi sent us a photo of his Springfield Armory National Match M1A with a Sage EBR (Enhanced Battle Rifle) chassis / stock system installed and scoped with a Leupold 3-9x. The resulting rifle is not very dissimilar to the Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (and [Read More…]
For a change I thought I would feature an interesting military munition for todays POTD. A reader sent us this photo asking if we could identify it and if it was a real cartridge. It is indeed real, but it is not a firearm cartridge. This round is a 30mm AHEAD Air [Read More…]
“The gun has to work, and it has to work well” is a guiding principle that Dave Walls sets his companies standard to. And as well he should, because as one of the founders of Accuracy International, he co designed and brought into production the L96, [Read More…]
MNOR sent us this photo of his friend’s service rifle. He did not say which country his friend serves. The HK416 is a popular rifle for special forces around the world, and the standard service rifle for a number of European countries. This rifle features a slim [Read More…]
This is a little off topic, but we often discuss international arms deals on TFB and, like me, many of you readers are big fans of the movie Lord of War (2005) which has been also discussed on TFB a number of times. If you have ever wondered how international arms [Read More…]
Thanks to arrangements by The Firearm Blog and NRA, the author recieved the pleasure of touring the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, VA with a personal commentary on the collection by the Senior Curator Doug Wicklund. Mr. Wicklund has been with the NRA [Read More…]
Recently, World Conflict Films promoted some combat footage from a Ukrainian infantry battalion named the “Donbass Battalion” in action against rebels in the Ukraine. Some of the Youtube movie is very revealing as to what the Ukrainan forces are actually [Read More…]
Wired has published a fascinating photo essay on the targets used by the world’s militarys. German photographer Herlinde Koelbl worked with militaries around the world to gain access to their shooting ranges and explore their target systems. Koelbl faced [Read More…]
Thanks to USMC03Vet for this photo of his patrol loadout … Picture of my OIF Fallujah patrol loadout with a very worn M16A4 and aluminum mags. Certainly not high speed low drag compared to what is available today, but thought showing well worn weapons of war [Read More…]
A report leaked from to journalists says the carbines competing in the Army’s Improved Carbine competition outperformed the M4A1, despite the Army’s attempts to make the competition as favorable to the M4 as possible. Washington Times reports … A [Read More…]
Funkertactical posted up a video of U.S. Marines cross training with French Foreign Legion soldiers. According to Funkertactical: In this video filmed by SSgt Tanner Iskra we are witnessing incredible footage of U.S. Marines and The French Foreign Legion cross [Read More…]
The self-proclaimed rebel Federal State of Novorossiya, the unrecognized confederation of Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic located inside Ukraine, are now manufacturing their own DIY submachine guns. The Novorussian SMG appears to [Read More…]
US Military camouflage developments (or misadventures depending on your point of view) inevitably influence firearm and tactical gear industry. Poor designs, such as the much hated Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), had lead to the National Defense Authorization Act [Read More…]
We don’t usually cover artillery but the SPEAR Mortar System was definitely one of the niftiest new products that were on display at Eurosatory 2014. Manufactured by Elbit Systems, Israel, this 120mm mortar is an evolution of the Cardom system used by the [Read More…]
The author recently had the privilege and opportunity to qualify with 40mm Low Velocity Less Lethal rounds. As a Marine infantryman in Afghanistan, these rounds are usually not part of our tool kit. They would be much more commonplace among Military Police, Marine [Read More…]
Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice … well, you are not going to fool me a third time. The US Army has announced that they want to replace the Beretta M9. No, you are not experiencing Déjà vu. First there was the Future Handgun System (FHS), then there [Read More…]
The New Zealand Defense Force is looking to replace their aging inventory of Steyr AUG rifles. They will purchase 8,800 rifles. Over the past few years the NZDF has upgraded a number of their weapon systems. I first reported on the search for a new service rifle [Read More…]
A guy on reddit received an unsolicited package from UPS. It is a $400k unmanned aerial vehicle. It appears to by part 1 of 2 packages. He is missing the propulsion and the imaging portions of the drone. The response from UPS is amazing. OP here, just [Read More…]
The Pentagon is planning on destroying $1.2 billion dollars worth of ammunition, representing less than 2% of the $70 billion conventional ammunition stockpile. USA Today … WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition [Read More…]
Last year we published photos of the service rifle being developed by the Taiwanese military. According to the Youtube video embedded below they are also developing a 9mm submachine gun. The submachine gun is patterned after the rifle and probably shares a number of [Read More…]
The assault rifle is the defining individual weapon of warfare in the latter half of the 20th century, and the 21st. It’s history is deeply intertwined with the political and war-making developments of the era. Fast, mechanized maneuver warfare, the decline of [Read More…]
FN Manufacturing has been awarded a $27 million contract to produce spare 19 grenade launcher receivers for the US Army. The full press release … (McLean, VA – March 6, 2014) FNH USA, LLC announced today that FN Manufacturing, LLC in Columbia, SC has received [Read More…]
Nathaniel Fitch blogs about the wisdom (or lack thereof) for having a single general purpose cartridge that can satisfy the needs of riflemen, machine gunners and sharpshooters to replace both the 5.56mm NATO and 7.62mm NATO … The first group of cartridges all [Read More…]