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TheFirearmBlog.com – Managing Editor
OvertDefense.com – Managing Editor
Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. He also runs Historical Firearms, a blog that explores the history, development and use of firearms. Matt is also co-founder of The Armourer’s Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms.
Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news.
Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
At the end of July, we reported that SIG Sauer had been awarded the $48 million contract to provide US SOCOM’s Suppressed Upper Receiver Group or SURG. At the time there was no confirmation of what form this new SURG took. SIG Sauer has since released a press [Read More…]
Back in May, we reported that the US Marine Corps would, at last, be replacing its venerable M40A6 sniper rifles with the Mk 13 Precision Sniper Rifle. The Marine Corps has now confirmed that the Mk 13 Mod 7 will be fitted with the Nightforce ATACR Scope. The ATACR [Read More…]
The British Army is set to refinish its infantry weapons with flat dark earth cerakote to better match its multi-terrain pattern uniforms. The move comes as the SA80A3/L85A3, currently being introduced, already sports the new colour scheme. The British Army’s [Read More…]
The British Army has announced some major changes to its infantry small arms. Confirming that it will drop the FN Para Minimi or L110A3 at the fire team level. Additionally, the M6-640 60mm mortar will also be phased out and the L86A2 light support weapon will also be [Read More…]
Riflemen from the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles have proved their skills during the British Army’s annual Army Operational Shooting Competition at the historic Bisley ranges. Shooting teams from across the British Army took part in the competition. The [Read More…]
SIG Sauer have been granted a patent for what they have called an ‘Integral eccentric firearm silencer’. The firearm appears to be based on the popular P320, with an elongated frame and an added silencer/suppressor module. The patent was filed in March 2016, [Read More…]
The Department of Defence has announced the award of a $50 million contract to ADS for the supply of holsters for the Army’s new Modular Handgun System. Atlantic Diving Supply Inc. Beat off bids from six other interested companies to win the contract to provide [Read More…]
Another Police Department has selected a SIG Sauer pistol, but not the one you are thinking off. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, of Columbus, Ohio has adopted SIG’s venerable P226, not the P320 which is being increasingly favoured by law enforcement [Read More…]
DroneShield, manufacturer’s of the DroneGun have announced that their lightened DroneGun Tactical has been certified safe for human exposure. The DroneGun Tactical is an improved anti-drone device which can jam and take control of aerial drones from ranges up to 1 [Read More…]
A federal Judge from the Western District of Washington, based in Seattle, temporary block on the publication of a series of 3D printed firearms plans by DEFCAD.com. The plans had been due to go online on 1st August, after the way was cleared for publication by [Read More…]
The Department of Defense has selected four companies to manufacture NATO spec ‘commercial off the shelf carbines’ for sale to the US’ international allies. Colt, Daniel Defense, FN and Remington have all been selected to produce the M4 spec carbines. [Read More…]
SIG Sauer has been awared a near $50 million contract to supply the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) with an suppressed upper receiver for their M4A1s. The contract will see SIG Sauer provide SOCOMM’s Suppressed Upper Receiver Group or SURG. The Department [Read More…]
Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems, India’s first privately owned small arms manufacturer, are set to begin building IWI X95s in Madhya Pradesh. The new joint venture with IWI will produce not just the X95 but also the Galil designated marksman variant, the Negev light machine [Read More…]
In April, the US Marine Corps announced an ambitious procurement programme to purchase 15,000 M27 Individual Automatic Rifles from Heckler & Koch. The contract, worth $30 million, was to begin to be fulfilled with funds from fiscal year 2019. The Marine Corps has [Read More…]
We at TFB have been following the US Army’s Sub Compact Weapon programme closely. It was initially announced at the beginning of May, this was quickly followed by the news that weapons submitted by no less than 13 companies would be evaluated. At that point the [Read More…]
The French Army is set to adopt Aimpoint’s CompM5 red dot rifle optic. The CompM5 will be paired with the French Army’s new service rifle, the Heckler & Koch HK416 F, which is currently being rolled out. Aimpoint introduced the CompM5 in September last year. The [Read More…]
With the adoption of the SIG Sauer P320 last year, the US Army has been searching for a new laser/light module for its M17 / M18 Modular Handgun System. Back in June, we covered the module shown off by Program Executive Office Soldier at a Pentagon Close Combat [Read More…]
As we reported last week SIG Sauer are about to release versions of their government-adopted M17 ato the civilian market, however, only one of these will be identical to the US Ary’s Modular Handgun spec, complete with manual safety. Just 5,000 of these [Read More…]
SENTRY-owned Hexmag have launched their new Glock compatible magazine, a clear polymer magazine with Hexmag’s characteristic hexagon texture pattern. Hexmag first teased their Glock mag back in January 2017, at SHOT Show. Those early magazines were black polymer [Read More…]
Orbital ATK and Heckler & Koch have reached a settlement in their lawsuit which saw ATK sue the German firearms giant for $27 million. The case was filed in early 2017, with ATK demanding compensation for the failure of Heckler & Koch to deliver 20 XM25 [Read More…]
Ever since the formation of a dedicated US military Space Force was announced by President Trump back in March the internet has been having its fun. Facebook, Reddit and the forums have been awash with Space Force jokes and memes. Many jokingly suggested Heckler & [Read More…]
The Virginia State Police look to be the latest in a string of recent law enforcement agencies to adopt the SIG Sauer P320 as their next sidearm. It follows recent contracts from police departments across the country including Tampa PD, Arkansas’ Jacksonville PD and [Read More…]
A new study published by the Small Arms Survey has estimated the number of firearms held by both military and law enforcement agencies around the world. The study estimates the total number of firearms owned by civilian, military and law enforcement agencies to be over [Read More…]
In a new study published by the Small Arms Survey estimates that American civilians own owning just under 400 million guns. Worldwide it’s estimated that civilians own nearly 1 billion firearms, with India a very, very distant second to the US. American Civilians [Read More…]
The US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, has issued a sole source notice to find potential future manufacturers of the Army’s 7.62x51mm M240 general purpose machine guns. This is an exercise in market research as the Army try to identify potential sources for [Read More…]
Confirming our report back in June that the US Army’s future Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle program has identified five current contestants and awarded opportunity notice awards to facilitate prototype development. Back in June Miles reported that five [Read More…]
Rheinmetall have won the contract to equip the German Army’s special forces, the KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte, with a new laser light package. These will be mounted on the KSK’s new G95 (HK416) rifles, adopted in 2017. According to a contract notice posted [Read More…]
The US Border Patrol’s parent agency the US Customs and Border Protection have released a solicitation for a family of new 9x19mm striker-fired, semi-automatic pistols. On 2nd July, the Customs and Border Protection agency published a solicitation with a [Read More…]
Two of France’s national police forces the Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie Nationale are set to adopt the Heckler & Koch UMP. Following an request for information in 2017 a contract, worth 3.2 million Euros, will see the police and gendarmerie replace [Read More…]
In 2015 we reported that Defense Distributed had teamed up with the Second Amendment Foundation to sue the Department of State over the “Censorship of 3-D Printing Information”. Three years later it has emerged that Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment [Read More…]
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