Infantry Marine, based in the Midwest. Specifically interested in small arms history, development, and usage within the MENA region and Central Asia. To that end, I run Silah Report, a website dedicated to analyzing small arms history and news out of MENA and Central Asia.
Please feel free to get in touch with me about something I can add to a post, an error I’ve made, or if you just want to talk guns. I can be reached at miles@tfb.tv
Cabot, most famous for crafting a matching pair of 1911s from a meteorite has released a press release detailing the company’s acquisition and future production of Alchemy Custom Weaponry, a small but specialized handcrafted 1911 manufacturer. Alchemy Custom [Read More…]
At a small and lightly covered ceremony at Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Massachusets location, the U.S. Army officially turned over control of the Colonel Benton Small Arms collection to the National Park Service of the United States. Previously the U.S. [Read More…]
Known by the companies that produce them, Simunitions or UTMs, or by their colloquially gifted name “Blue Guns”, reality-based training firearms for Law Enforcement and Military training exercises have been in constant use for the past several decades. Their high prices and strict [Read More…]
Firearm parts producing KE Arms has recently added two 9x19mm handgun barrel compensators to their product line up. Machined from 7075 billet and available in either an “Enhanced” or “Carry” configuration, both variants have “long” [Read More…]
Republic Forge, a Perryton, Texas-based manufacturer of 1911s in various configurations has recently announced that the company has transferred ownership to an undisclosed private equity group. Along with the transfer of ownership, Republic Forge is also moving to the [Read More…]
Hang S. has contributed this post to TFB covering the history of the K2 rifle and various attempts at upgrading it from 2005 until today. This is Hang’s first post for TFB. Failure of XK-8 In 2003, S&T Motiv (previous known as Daewoo Precision) started to [Read More…]
This is a guest post by Richard L., who is reviewing his personal VCOG. It is also Richard L.’s first guest post on TFB. We’ve reported on the VCOG when it first hit the market in 2013, and then again with an in-depth look at SHOT 2014. The Trijicon Variable [Read More…]
Conflict Armament Research has released a report featuring the results of in-person findings of what the so-called Islamic State has been using in the past three years. These findings (40,000 items, 845 small arms) have resulted from personal visits to the frontlines [Read More…]
Ian and Karl of Forgotten Weapons lore have recently announced a two gun competition open to the public, based in Arizona. Desert Brutality will take place in early February is based on the theme that Forgotten Weapons has always been known for, championing historic [Read More…]
A relative newcomer to the field of small arms, Turkish company Satek Arge has recently shown a working prototype of a rotating six-barrel machine gun design with variants in 4 different calibers (7.62x51mm, .50 BMG, 20x102mm, 25x137mm). The company was most [Read More…]
UTS Defense, known for their commercial pump action 12 gauge shotguns in the United States has featured a promotional image on the Turkish website (not the U.S. one though) that shows a 5.56x45mm AR15 derivative titled the UT512 and a 9x19mm version titled UT9S. The [Read More…]
With what appears to be a gadget straight out of Star Wars, a Ukrainian developmental agency by the name of Innovations Development Platform is looking for international partners and possibly investors to take part in the agencies Limpid Armor product. Using an [Read More…]
An Armenian social media personality who closely follows the Armenian Military side of the extremely contested eastern border with Azerbaijan recently posted a narrated video on his Facebook page of what appears to be a filmed engagement of Azeri troops in the disputed [Read More…]
al Masdar News has recently shared photographs of so-called Islamic State fighters using belt-fed 12.7x108mm W85 (Chinese derivative of the Soviet DShK) Heavy Machine Guns mounted on commercial motorcycles. The machine guns appear to be using a standard pintle [Read More…]
Since 2007, Iran has attempted numerous indigenous polymer framed, striker fired handgun designs such as a Walter P99 copy known as the M9-02, in addition to a simple attempt at a Glock copy known as the “Raa’d”. However, recent photographs have come [Read More…]
A new remotely controlled weapon system has recently emerged from Syria. The Sham R3 is the third variation of the original Sham series of remotely controlled weapons stations that use a 12.7x108mm DShK Heavy Machine Gun to engage targets from a stationary position. One [Read More…]
A recent promotional video released by the Chinese state television program CCTV highlights developments in the joint venture between North China Industries and Chongqing Jianshe Industry Group to bring to market a Chinese copy of the SCAR. The 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm [Read More…]
Two important decisions by the Army have stood out among the recent news of the M17 handgun starting to replace M9s throughout armories service-wide. First, is the news that within the Army Infantry, the handguns will be issued down to team leaders. Second, is [Read More…]
Taking drones down with so-called “soft measures” has so far been the fruit of most efforts to counter enemy UAVs. From using Picatinny rail mounted devices to interfere with signals to the enemy UAV, to using 40x53mm ammunition fired out of an automatic [Read More…]
In what some analysts are claiming as some of the most vicious urban combat in Southeast Asia since the end of hostilities in Vietnam, the Marawi campaign earned an infamous spot in Military and Filipino history. We covered the battle whenever major news breaks came [Read More…]
Michigan based Pratt & Miller Defense recently updated their Trackless Moving Targets- Infantry variant this year for I/ITSEC 2017. The company makes 4×4 vehicles (with targets mounted on them) that move autonomously on a training ground and react to fire. [Read More…]
The Pakistani Ministry of the Interior made an announcement in November of this year, that Pakistani citizens who have Prohibited Bore licenses with registered fully automatic firearms will have to either surrender their firearms or convert them to semi-automatic by [Read More…]
Along with the recent defense deal that the United States is in with Ukraine over Javelin anti-tank missiles, is the news that the State Department just approved an export license for Barrett Firearms to sell M107A1s to Ukraine. The Ukranian military has had a constant [Read More…]
The USMC M27 IAR first came on the scene in late 2010 when it was issued to five deploying units that would see if the new automatic rifle was to be as viable as claimed. This video will cover some of the issues with the weapon system and some of the debate surrounding it, getting […] [Read More…]
Researchers from MIT have recently found a way to trick Google’s image search engines and identifiers into confusing a popular photograph on the internet of three M16s (and one M4) representing chronological development as a helicopter. Check out the article on [Read More…]
Government officials from the Pakistani province of Punjab Province (capital, Lahore) have recently announced through local television outlets and in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn that a small arms procurement program for the provincial law enforcement forces is [Read More…]
Air Force testing crews from Eglin AFB in Florida were recently in the news as testing the Army’s newly adopted Sig Sauer 9x19mm MHS handgun for pilots being ejected out of their aircraft. Actual testing was conducted at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio at the [Read More…]
Commemorative Firearms are a class of their own in that they can sometimes be seen as the wall plaques of small arms. Simple ones have a small engraving or something etched in the metal or wood while much more ornate ones can be gold plated and even diamond stuffed. In this case, Miles takes a look [Read More…]
WarLeaks recently published a video on their Youtube channel showing Ukranian Paratroopers of the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade in a live fire range shooting modified DShKs. This footage is actually U.S. DOD footage shot during Rapid Trident 2017, a [Read More…]
Photographs of Egyptian Security Forces armed with 7.62x39mm CZ 807s have recently surfaced, thanks to the efforts of Egypt Defense Review and Mahmoud Gamal, both in-depth analysts of Egyptian defense programs. The 7.62x39mm rifles were recently seen in what appears to [Read More…]
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