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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: [email protected]
While Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is best known for their .50 BMG anti-materiel rifles they also produce a series of AR-based designs, the REC7, offering both piston and direct gas impingement systems. While the REC7 is chambered in 5.56×45 or 6.8 SPC, Barrett [Read More…]
Three-time US Olympic medallist Lt. Colonel Lones W. Wigger, Jr. passed away on the 14th December. Lt.Col. Wigger joined the US Army in 1960 and represented his country at the Olympics on five occasions, winning three medals: two gold and one silver between 1964 and [Read More…]
2018 is set to see the return of Fabryka Broni Łucznik-Radom (FB Radom)’s iconic pistol, the wz.35 VIS, widely known simply as the Radom. Milmag reports that the pistol will return to production next year and hopefully be available in the in the second half of [Read More…]
Brownells, SilencerCo and Auto Ordnance have teamed up to offer a suppressor ready semi-automatic Thompson submachine gun. The new gun is the latest in SilencerCo’s Summit series, working together with other companies and manufacturers to offer a unique package. [Read More…]
Slovenian firearms manufacturer AREX has been bought by the Czech Republic-based investment company RSBC. RSBC is a private investment group founded by Robert Schonfeld, with around €100m in assets, which focuses on investments in real estate, agriculture, [Read More…]
The veteran owned and ran Black Rifle Coffee Company have rung in the festive season – literally. The Salt Lake City, Utah based company released a special Christmas video on 15th December showcasing some of their musical and shooting skill. Using a musically [Read More…]
TFB have been closely following the news that the Civilian Marksmanship Program is set to obtain as many as 10,000 surplus M1911A1s. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law on 12th December, but the CMP had preempted this, sending out an [Read More…]
A number of British police forces are considering arming their officers. The move comes in the wake of the UK suffering five high profile terror attack in 2017. Three regional police forces are reported to feel that the large areas they police mean that the current [Read More…]
Poland’s elite counter terrorism unit, Jednostka Wojskowa GROM (JW GROM) are set to procure more M134 Miniguns. In a contract award notice published 12 December, it was confirmed that Poland would purchase a small, but unspecified, number of M134s. The Polish [Read More…]
What do you think of when you think about SOCOM Operators? Beards, Heckler & Koch MK 23s and HK416s? Well maybe you should be picturing multi-lingual, water polo loving dads instead. US SOCOM have just released their 2018 Fact Book,written by USSOCOM’s Office [Read More…]
The late 1800s and early 1900s are undoubtedly a period of American firearms design dominated by one man, John Moses Browning. But many of Browning’s contemporaries were no less able and men like Andrew Burgess, William Mason, John Pedersen, Frank Burton and T.C. [Read More…]
Episode 65 of C&Rsenal’s landmark rundown of the weapons of the Great War covers something very, very special – the Pedersen Device. John Pedersen’s ‘device’ has an almost mythical reputation as a World War One wonder weapon that could [Read More…]
In addition to adopting a new service rifle, Poland is also seeking to replace its current P64, P83 and WIST-94 pistols. In addition to the MSBS Grot 5.56×45 rifle, FB “Łucznik” Radom will also provide the PR-15 RAGUN, the Polish army’s new [Read More…]
Christmas is coming. But what do you buy the operator that has everything? He/she has every kind of 5.11 khakis available, caps from every major firearms manufacturer (including Hi-Point), a dozen pairs of tactical gloves, their gun safes are full and they even have one [Read More…]
Back in July, we reported that the Estonian Army was in the market for a new service rifle. A tender worth €75 million (approx. $86 million) was released calling for 20,000 new rifles, to be chambered in both 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm. The rifles are to replace the [Read More…]
Back in September TFB reported that Poland had officially renamed its new MSBS 5.56x45mm infantry rifle the ‘Grot’. The move to rename the MSBS came as Poland increased its orders for the new rifle. The significance of the new name has a great deal of [Read More…]
If you’re not following both C&Rsenal and Forgotten Weapons you are missing out on some of the best gun history videos around. With C&Rsenal’s current World War One focus, systematically working their way through the weapons of the Great War, and [Read More…]
Spike’s Tactical’s have unveiled their new 37mm flare launcher. Tapping into the nostalgia factor they have built a clone of the classic Vietnam War-era 40mm grenade launcher. The M79 nicknamed the ‘blooper’ or ‘thumper’ by troops [Read More…]
The Czech Republic are to purchase over 100 general purpose machine guns from FN Herstal. The Czech Army has agreed a deal to procure FN’s version of the Minimi light machine gun chambered in 7.62x51mm. In a contract notice published on 22 November, the Czech [Read More…]
America’s largest police department is set to finally decommission the last of its service revolvers. The Gun Free Zone blog shared a photograph of a NYPD memo, dated 11/20/17, announcing that all remaining revolvers are to be replaced by department authorised [Read More…]
The 27th ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet (AARM17) has concluded with Indonesia emerging as overall winners for the second year in a row. Indonesia have form when it comes to the ASEAN Rifle Meet having won the competition an impressive 12 times over the Meet’s 27 year [Read More…]
Poland’s Prison Service, Służba Więzienna, are set to purchase 500 Mossberg shotguns. The contract was announced 21 November and will see the Służba Więzienna receive new Mosberg 500 shotguns. Poland’s Central Board of the Prison Service purchased [Read More…]
Rest in Peace Interim Combat Service Rifle, we hardly knew thee. The Army’s ICSR program has joined the much more ambitious Advanced Combat Rifle program of the 1980s and the more recent ill-fated Individual Carbine program in the annals of US Army rifle [Read More…]
The US Army is potentially in the market for new suppressors for some of its sniper rifles. On 26 October a Sources Sought Notice was posted on FedBizOps for suppressors for the M24 Sniper Weapon System by the Army Contracting Command. A sources sought notice is not an [Read More…]
Back in July we reported that the Civilian Marksmanship Programme was in line to receive 10,000 newly surplused M1911A1 pistols in 2018. With the United States Senate passing the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on the 18th November the bill will now be [Read More…]
Beretta have unveiled the new successor to their iconic Modello 12 submachine gun. The new 9x19mm PMX was unveiled at the 2017 Paris Milipol expo. The PMX uses a blowback action and fires from closed bolt. It feeds from a 30 round magazine and has a right-side folding [Read More…]
Grab a drink, and maybe some popcorn, and settle in for an hour long presentation on Soviet, ComBloc and other foreign weapons with former Marine and small arms expert Harold Johnson. The footage shows a Special Forces Foreign Weapons demonstration at Fort Bragg from [Read More…]
The Dutch Army is set to procure a further fifty Barrett .50 BMG M107A1 anti materiel rifles. The purchase is being made through TBM – Technisch Bureau H.A. Muller, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing’s sales representative in the Netherlands. The contract [Read More…]
Norway’s Police Service (Politi) are set to release a tender for just under 1,000 new pistols to equip their specialist armed response unit. An advanced notice informing EU agencies that a contract for between 600 and 800 pistols will be launched in December has [Read More…]
A 74 year old, self-proclaimed history buff, has been jailed in the UK when his collection of nearly 200 firearms was discovered after a fire at his home. Paul Bushell’s collection was discovered by firefighters back in May when his home in Gillingham, Kent caught [Read More…]