Vladimir Onokoy is a small arms subject matter expert and firearms instructor. Over the years he worked in 20 different countries as a security contractor, armorer, firearms industry sales representative, product manager, and consultant.
His articles were published in the Recoil magazine, Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defence Journal, and Silah Report. He also contributed chapters to books from the “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov” series.
► Email: machaksilver at gmail dot com.
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In Part One of this article, I shared my experiences after visiting gun stores in Baghdad, and it is not what most people expect to see in Iraq. Gun stores are small and cramped, with a relatively limited choice of firearms and really high prices. Thankfully, things in [Read More…]
More than once, when I argued about gun control with different people, I heard the same argument: “If you want to have your precious “assault weapons” – go live in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Somalia, they have no gun laws, you’ll be happy there [Read More…]
When people ask me about my hobbies, I am often hesitant to say “guns”, so my usual answer is “travel”. Frankly, it is both. And the more I travel, the more I understand that there are very few places in the world, outside of the US, that have [Read More…]
The biggest Pakistan defense exhibition, IDEAS 2022, opened on November 15, offering visitors a chance to see small arms produced by Pakistan state-owned defense companies and private manufacturers. One of the biggest premiers of the expo is CW56, a new member of the [Read More…]
In December of 2021, TFB was the first firearms media to publish information about BW20, a new family of roller-delayed blowback rifles developed by Pakistan Ordnance Factories. In February of 2022, the entire family of weapons was officially presented in Saudi Arabia [Read More…]
![[ADEX 2022] New Turkish AK Rifle from Sarsilmaz](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/photo_5278291181178043815_w-1-660x260.jpg)
Despite the fact that the first AK went into production over 74 years ago, new companies and new countries are beginning to manufacture their versions of Kalashnikov rifles every year. At least 31 countries produced various AK variants, and now Turkey is joining that [Read More…]
In Part 1, we looked at some of the Azerbaijani-made small arms showcased at the ADEX 2022 exhibition in Baku. In Part 2, we’ll look at more unique and lesser known products of the Azerbaijan defense industry – large caliber sniper rifles and machine guns. [Read More…]
![[ADEX 2022] The Small Arms of Azerbaijan (Part 1)](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/top11-660x260.jpg)
The ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia brought a lot of attention to the military-industrial complex of Azerbaijan. And while many of their heavy weapon systems were procured abroad, when it comes to small arms, Azerbaijan demonstrates a surprising [Read More…]
Mass production of the famous AK-47 started in 1949, and by 1959 the design was completely finalized. Many countries tried to modernize it, some were successful, like Poland with its “Beryl” program, and some unsuccessful, like Hungary, which ended up [Read More…]
At the World Defense Show 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF) presented the BW20 family of weapons for the first time. In December last year, the first video of the BW20 rifle was published on Youtube. While the original video only featured a [Read More…]
At the World Defense Show exhibition that was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in March of this year, there were a lot of companies that you would expect to see in the Middle Eastern defense expo. Usually, it is companies from Eastern Europe, UAE, USA, Africa, but in this [Read More…]
Generally, there isn’t much information about Sudan’s military industry in general and their small arms in particular. The country has been sanctioned and isolated from the international community for a long time as a result of bloody civil war, genocide, [Read More…]
Historically, throughout the 20th century, Egypt had a strong and extensive firearms industry. Hakim and Rasheed rifles, Helwan pistol, Egyptian-made AKs called Maadi or MISR were used domestically and exported throughout the world. But at the beginning of the 21 [Read More…]
Before we talk about SMAR-100BPM in detail, we need to understand the circumstances that led to the creation of the modern Belarussian small arms industry. In recent years, Belarus has been putting a lot of effort into building its military-industrial complex. [Read More…]
In the previous article about the history of the AK-12, I talked about the “Ratnik” program and the earliest known prototype of the rifle. Now, it is time to talk about the second and third prototypes, which will be much easier, since I was personally [Read More…]
In the last 75 years, dozens of different Kalashnikov variants were developed all over the globe. At least 32 countries produced various AK rifles, hundreds of engineers tried to improve them. But, in all these years, not a single new variation of an AK has received as [Read More…]
If we take an honest look at firearms these days, it is easy to see that now, in 21 century, there is significantly less diversity in weapon design compared to 50s or 60s. Everything we see now are gas-operated rifles based on AR-15, AR-18 and AK. But another major [Read More…]
While in most countries firearms development and production are getting more and more restrictive, Turkey seems to effectively expand its gun industry, and the recent IDEF 2021 is a good example. Almost half of the firearms manufacturers at the expo were founded in the [Read More…]
While in the last 20 years many European firearms industries faded into obscurity (just look at France, Spain, and Portugal), other countries seem to successfully expand their industries. At the recent IDEF 2021 exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey, I came across several new [Read More…]
While in the US and Europe, Glocks are often considered to be reasonably priced workhorses, in some other countries, having a Glock is a luxury and a sign of wealth and opulence. For example, in certain parts of Iraq, a Gen 5 Glock 19 retails for around $4000, but even [Read More…]
Before we begin talking about the Sureshot Armament MK3, let’s see why this concept of “chassis system” even came to exist on AKs. If we’ll take an honest look at most rifles we are using today, it seems that the progress stopped somewhere [Read More…]
Just 10 years ago, it seemed like submachine guns and pistol caliber carbines would soon be a thing of the past, or at least they will become very niche firearms like revolvers or scout rifles. But the firearms industry trends move in mysterious ways, and now [Read More…]
When you were a kid, did you ever dream about going back in time and fighting the nasty villains with modern weapons? Some AR-15s at the Alamo would surely change the situation. Even a crate of Springfield 1903s would really help to win the Revolutionary War. But in [Read More…]
When it comes to AK upgrades, the average Kalashnikov aficionado is torn between American made accessories and Russian products that are often unavailable in the US and worldwide. For me, that seems odd, since, over the years, at least 30 countries produced different [Read More…]
In the previous post, I talked about some of the new AK variants developed by the Vietnamese Z111 factory, but those prototypes seem to be a side project for the new facility. The main purpose of Z111 is the production of STV-380 and STV-215, new service rifles of the [Read More…]
There are very few countries in a modern world that have a respectable firearms industry and manage to keep a veil of secrecy over it. Besides North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Sudan, and some Gulf countries, Vietnam seems to be very secretive about its new guns. Thankfully, [Read More…]
Many think of Russia as a land of Kalashnikov and the US as a realm of AR-15, but the reality is always more complicated. Many US companies produce different variants of an AK platform and several Russian companies manufacture AR-style rifles. Until recently, those [Read More…]
Everybody remembers their first car, first house, first gun, and many other “first” things. I also happen to remember my first set of electronic hearing protection – Sordin Supreme Basic that I bought nine years ago, in May of 2011, and there are two [Read More…]
Thousands of people defend their lives with firearms every year, but unfortunately, we don’t hear about it in the news. Potential legal liabilities and concerns for personal safety usually prevent people from telling their stories. Fortunately, there are [Read More…]
Have you ever thought about what got you interested in guns in the first place? For me, growing up in a small apartment in a big city with no access to guns and hunting, it was definitely action movies. But when I watch most action movies from the ’80s and [Read More…]
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