This photo of Belorussian Soviet Snipers was taken in Germany on May 4, 1945. These woman had 775 confirmed kills between themselves, out of the 12,000 confirmed kills credited to female snipers in the Soviet Army. Female snipers of the 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian [Read More…]
There has been a lot of news about the Russian AK-12 rifle to come out this past Winter, and we at TFB have stayed on top of our coverage of the design’s evolution. However, since late January, there are a few things we have learned, so now it’s about [Read More…]
Andrew at GY6 did an excellent review of the Russian/Italian STRIKE ONE pistol. He liked the pistol a lot and compared the Strike to a Glock with an aftermarket trigger. As far as I know this pistol is legal to import into the USA (its not affected by sanctions).
Six weeks ago I announced that Alexey Krivoruchko, the CEO of the Kalashnikov Group, would be interviewed by me and he was willing to answer question submitted by TFB readers. As promised, I chose the highest up-voted questions and sent them to the Kalashnikov Group, [Read More…]
RT (Russia Today) posted this on their Facebook page. It shows Russian soldiers fighting Islamic Terrorists. WARNING: There is some graphic content. Images of dead terrorists are in this video. There are some interesting weapons being used in this video. [Read More…]
There is something strangely beautiful about ultra high-speed videos of firearms. In this video Larry Vickers shoots a Russian PSM (Pistolet Samozaryadny Malogabaritny) while being filmed by a high speed camera. It is well worth watching.
TFB’s IDEX 2015 coverage is courtesy of Giorgio, who traveled to Abu Dhabi for the show, and provided all photos and information. JSC KBP is a Russian design firm that designs weapons. This picture piqued my interest. As a fan of the Magpul FMG, I had to find out [Read More…]
The AN-94 was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s to replace the AK-74M. Like all contenders for Russia’s next-generation assault rifle it has faded into obscurity. It features a novel delayed recoil mechanism called “blowback shifted pulse.”. [Read More…]
I am excited to announce that TFB will be interviewing Mr. Alexey Krivoruchko, the CEO of Kalashnikov Concern. This interview was made possible by the excellent public relations team at Rostec, the massive Russian State Corporation that either fully or partly owns [Read More…]
Lindy, who blogs at Vodka and Espresso wrote … RPK-74m w/ PO4x24P2 optic, conversion build off of a 5.45 VEPR. Comes in at a svelte 14 pounds. A very nice build indeed. The RPK-74M was basically a AK-74M’ed RPK. Plastic furniture replaced the wood and a [Read More…]
The Russian Ministry of Defense has selected Kalashnikov Concern’s AK-12 rifle to be the next standard-issue service weapon. Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov says that up to 70,000 AK-12s are expected to be delivered in 2015, Vestifinance.ru reports: [Read More…]
The AK-12 has just been approved for use in the Russian Army, but what else do we know about the weapon? TV Zvezda has released a helpful video describing the rifle to the public: The problem for monolingual English-speakers such as myself being that we cannot [Read More…]
TacTV was able to head over to Russia and has a short profile on Andrey Kirisenko, a Russian 3-gun IPSC Champion. In it, we get a glimpse of one of Russia’s premier training facilities and Andrey’s custom Saiga-12 shotgun. The shotgun showcases custom [Read More…]
Coming on the heels of (and surely related to) news that Kalashnikov Concern has decided to launch the AK-12 on the open market, the Russian Army has announced today that both the AK-12 and the A545 (improved AEK-971 variant) have passed state trials and will be [Read More…]
Russian news media today reports that, one year after Mikhail Kalashnikov’s death, the company that bears his name has officially launched the AK-12 rifle on the open market. Russia Today reports: Концерн «Калашников» планирует в [Read More…]
Today’s POTD is a little different. I don’t normally feature company marketing photos but today I am sharing with you the new Kalashnikov Group promotional images sent to the press. The first photos are for Kalashnikov, the sub-company of the Kalashnikov [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…]
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…]
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…]
This video was posted on Facebook. It seems some soldiers are using GoPros mounted to their weapons during a training drill. There seems to be quite a few safety violations with some flagging of their fellow soldiers.
Mr. Max Popenker sent us this photo he took of a range of Soviet-era Spetsnaz and KGB pistols. Max writes … From quiet to silent: Soviet Spetsnaz pistols, L to R: 9×18 PB integrally suppressed pistol, 7.62×63 S4M silent pistol firing PZAM gas-seal [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…]
Russian Marines were recently spotting during a training drill using an underwater pistol and APS underwater assault rifle. The APS underwater assault rifle is a pretty interesting design that was developed during the early 1970s that fires steel bolts and has a [Read More…]
Max Popenker, a very well known Russian gun writer and friend, sent us this photo of his Rossi 92. My Rossi 92 in .357 Magnum. Despite being grown in the “AK-47” land, it seems that I watched too many Western movies like the “Magnificent seven” [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern, makers of Tigr SVD, Vepr and Saiga rifles and shotguns, and KBP Instrument Design Bureau, the less well known manufacturer or the GSh-18 pistol and VSK-94 rifle, have been added to the Government of Canada’s list of sanctioned Russian [Read More…]
Over at All Outdoor Oleg Volk shoots the VEPR 12 shotgun and he likes it…. The shotgun comes equipped with RPK light machine gun open sights. At first, I was confused by the decision to make 1,000-meter adjustable sight with fairly short radius on a shotgun, but [Read More…]
As I am sure you are aware, the latest round of US sanctions targeting the Russian defense industry included Concern Kalashnikov and any companies Concern Kalashnikov has business interests in. In 2010 civilian exports to the USA accounted for approximately 30% [Read More…]
Arto Pulkki, Eastern Europe military expert and writer at Suomen Sotilas, emailed us the above photo of Igor ”Strelkov” Girkin, the infamous leader of the Donbass People’s Militia which occupy two of Ukraine’s eastern provinces. Girkin’s choice [Read More…]
While American kids are busy occupying their time trying to stack cups or solve Rubik’s cubes as fast as they can, these Russian students are competing in a competition. The goal? To disassemble or reassemble an AK. Just watch the kid at 3:00 min into the video. [Read More…]