Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
Gunmaker SIG Sauer is in hot water after the state of New Jersey sued the company for breach of contract when they allegedly delivered defective handguns to their State Police. In mid-2014, SIG Sauer won a contract to provide pistols to the New Jersey State Police and [Read More…]
By this point in the second decade of the 21st Century, unmanned aerial vehicles armed with precision weapons are not strange or unusual. Indeed, they have so profoundly impacted the popular psyche as to have had pop songs written about them. However, these [Read More…]
Is the People’s Republic of China about to be the latest nation to abandon the bullpup configuration in favor of the “traditional” rifle layout? That seems to be the word on the street since about September of last year, when Chinese news outlets and [Read More…]
In a surprising turn of events given the recent public motions towards an all-M27 fleet, the United States Marine Corps has just released a new request for information (RFI), soliciting proposals from the industry for a whole new suite of infantry equipment, including [Read More…]
Thanks to a recent leak exclusively to The Firearm Blog, we have now become aware of a new tender for rifles issued by the Pakistani government. According to the tender document, the Pakistani Army is looking for 75,000 “modern 7.62x39mm caliber weapons”, [Read More…]
The US Military is looking into lighter weight armor for the infantry. Both the Army and the Marine Corps are looking into reducing the weight of the personal protective equipment (PPE, read “helmet and body armor”) carried by the infantrymen of both [Read More…]
The following is a guest article written for TFB by reader Tim about his efforts with his friend Paul to recreate the historical .280 British (7x43mm) round developed for the EM-2 and FAL rifles during the early pre-NATO rifle trials of the late 1940s. Enjoy! [Read More…]
Practical or not, short-barreled sawed off shotguns are nothing if not cool. Two short, big bores on a frame with nothing but a pistol grip says “bad***” like little else. Well, they are cool, except when they’re not! So runs the gag in the 2012 crime [Read More…]
Gentlemen, it has begun: The Silencing is upon us. Following a series of trials testing the feasibility of an infantry battalion equipped entirely with suppressors, the United States Marine Corps has moved quickly to field the first all-suppressed unit to the Værnes [Read More…]
Back in the days of the fighting bolt action rifle, clever small arms designers came up with a number of minor but ingenious features to make the soldier’s life a little less hard when trying to cycle their rifle’s action by hand as they faced down the [Read More…]
The French government has received the first production units of the Heckler & Koch HK416F as part of its long awaited Arme Individuelle du Futur (Future Individual Weapon). According to the French government Ministry of Defence website, the first 400 HK416F rifles [Read More…]
The US Army has released the name of the unit which will be the first to receive the new M17 Modular Handgun System pistols produced by SIG Sauer, and that is none other than the legendary “tip of the spear”, the 101st Airborne stationed at Fort Campbell in [Read More…]
I am not someone who has ever had the opportunity to travel to Africa to tackle the Big Five* most dangerous and difficult animals to hunt on the continent (and arguably the planet), and fully admit my novice status in this area. Karamojo Bell I am not. *For those who [Read More…]
Since its introduction in 2009, the Marine Corps’ M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle has proven itself as an effective support weapon that offers more firepower and range than the Corps’ other squad level weapons, the M4 Carbine and M16A4 Rifle. This good [Read More…]
Regardless of whether you own firearms for recreation, sport, or defense, it is a fact of life that any gun is an attractive target for theft. For the most part, gun enthusiasts would rather keep discussions within a comfortable zone of topics about technical and [Read More…]
In an unprecedented turn of events, the Indian government has approved the building of a private sector small arms factory at Malanpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Previously, the Indian small arms industry has been entirely nationalized, with the Ministry of [Read More…]
The US Army’s M17 Modular Handgun System, derived from the SIG P320 handgun, has crossed one of the final hurdles on the track to full replacement of previous service handguns (including chiefly the Beretta M9). The United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force [Read More…]
The United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is considering a caliber change for their future semiautomatic sniper weapons systems. Although traditionally these medium range precision weapons have been chambered for the 7.62x51mm caliber common to NATO, it seems [Read More…]
Much of the recent discourse regarding the future of infantry combat has centered around the long engagement distances encountered during the Afghan campaign, and the rise of designated marksmen as key elements in the infantry squad. However, arguably more important [Read More…]
Recently, I wrote an article about one negative aspect of bullpups which is caused by their much-touted rearward balance. Even though its scope was extremely limited, this article caused a lot of discontent in my comments section, and many of my readers expressed a [Read More…]
North Korea recently celebrated its national holiday, the Day of the Sun, commemorating the birth of the founder of the communist hermit-nation, Kim Il-Sung. In true communist fashion, the holiday was marked by a large military parade where all the latest North Korean [Read More…]
The Firearm Blog would like to extend its thanks to reader and contributor Giorgio, who lent his journalistic services to us at this years IDEX conference in Abu Dhabi in February. Thanks, Giorgio! It appears that Caracal will be expanding its regional product line with [Read More…]
The German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has announced the long-awaited program to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle in German Army service, reports the Polish gun magazine MilMag. [Read More…]
It is with a very heavy heart that I inform the readers of The Firearm Blog that Kevin O’Brien, known as “Hognose” to readers of his website Weaponsman.com, passed away yesterday morning. Kevin was a US Army Ranger, Green Beret, and veteran of the [Read More…]
The Firearm Blog would like to extend its thanks to reader and contributor Giorgio, who lent his journalistic services to us at this years IDEX conference in Abu Dhabi in February. Thanks, Giorgio! At the 2017 International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX), [Read More…]
The bullpup rifle tends to be – when it comes up – a pretty divisive subject among “tactical” rifle shooters. Bullpup detractors dismiss the layout as clunky and awkward, while its proponents cite the advantage of longer barrels and shorter [Read More…]
The Firearm Blog would like to extend its thanks to reader and contributor Giorgio, who lent his journalistic services to us at this years IDEX conference in Abu Dhabi in February. Thanks, Giorgio! The Kalashnikov Concern booth at IDEX 2017 was reportedly packed with [Read More…]
The New Zealand Defence Force is conducting a rather unique campaign: They are taking their war materiel – including select-fire assault rifles – to primary schools in New Zealand, to teach kids about leadership, values, army life, and – of course [Read More…]
The Civilian Marksmanship Program has received word that the Philippine government could be shipping 86,000 M1 Garand rifles back to the United States for distribution to American civilian shooters. Mark Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of the CMP, commented on the [Read More…]
We’ve all heard that one before, right? “There’s no point to the .357 Magnum in a snubnosed revolver, from a barrel that short you might as well carry a .38.” Well, thanks some some exhaustive testing by Chris Baker and the LuckyGunner Labs team, [Read More…]
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