The second most famous creation of Michail Kalashnikov, general-purpose Kalashnikov machine gun, had a multitude of names over the last 50 years: PK, PKM, M84 in former Yugoslavia, Konekivaari KK PKM in Finland. In some southern regions of Russia, where shooting at weddings is a mandatory part of the celebration, PKM is semi-officially called “the Handsome One”. New versions of this weapon still emerge all around the world, and several years ago Arsenal Bulgaria presented its own version called  MG-M2.

As the sun began to set in the southern Nevada desert, Industry Day at the Range came to a close. The targets were taken down, the firearms stowed and the products started making their way to the SHOT Show floor. Most would call it in, go grab a bite to eat and maybe hit the casino floor after a long day of walking, talking and shooting but the TFB writers. For us, as the sun was setting on Industry Day at the Range, the TFB “Do it In the Dark” machine gun shoot was just about to begin.

The Expeditionary Warfare section at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, who deal with weapons procurement for the US Special Operations Command, have published a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation seeking a Crew Served Weapons Optic or CSWO for various machine guns currently in use.

The US Army is in the market for more 7.62x51mm M134 ‘Miniguns’. A Request for Information (or RFI) was posted on the US Government’s new SAM procurement website on 30th January, 2020. The sources sought notice covers not just the M134 weapon system but also the necessary tools, parts and accessories to keep the guns in action. The ‘market survey’ is seeking “to identify sources/vendors capable of supplying M134” and its accessories.

The Ultimax Mark VIII has been out for several years now but this is the first time that the light machine gun has been out on Range Day at SHOT Show, allowing the public to get some hands-on with the light machine gun. Developed in the 1980s by Jim Sullivan, the Ultimax is perhaps most famous for its extremely controllable rate of fire (sometimes balancing the buttstock on a shooter’s nose or chin). Despite decades since its inception, the light machine gun still hasn’t seen widespread adoption throughout militaries throughout the world. The Mark VIII attempts to change that by showing the U.S. market what ST Engineering (ST Kinetics, formerly Chartered Industries of Singapore, CIS) still has to offer.

Chiappa Firearms of Italy added several new rifles and pistol to their line up this year. Available on the US market this year will be their new CBR-9 (Chiappa Black Rhino 9)Pistol, a new 22 Long Rifle folding survival type rifle and several offerings of side-gate lever-action rifles. Of particular interest was the CBR-9 Collapsing Brace Pistol which was revealed last year and is rumored to have full-auto variants in the European market for law enforcement and military applications.

Out on the FN booth, on a pedestal all of its own, was the new FN Mk48 Mod. 2 6.5CM light machine gun, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, it was a response to a US Special Operations Command tender for a version of the 7.62×51 Mk48, a larger calibre variant of FN’s Minimi (or the M249 normally chambered in 5.56×45).

SIG SAUER showcased a massive new lineup at SHOT Show 2020.  On display were both military and civilian variants of SIG’s ever-growing lineup of firearms and accessories.  Of all the firearms on display, here’s what’s new to the SIG lineup.

We had the pleasure of attending SIG Sauer’s SHOT Show pre-range day, and check out some of their recent new offerings ranging from the P365 SAS all the way up to the MG 338. There’s something for everyone at the range day and we certainly enjoyed working our way along the firing line. Let’s take a look at some of the products SIG brought out.

MAC, LLC, the Mississippi-based lightweight polymer tech specialists, have won a $10 million indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract to provide the US Marine Corps with uptp 2.4 million rounds of hybrid polymer/brass-cased .50 calibre ammunition. The contract will allow the USMC to evaluate the new ammunition in user trials

SIG Sauer have announced that their light weight medium machine gun, the MG 338, has been purchased by US Special Operations Command (US SOCOM). The guns weigh under 20lbs and are chambered in .338 Norma Magnum giving the gun an effective range out to 2000 metres. The gun uses a short-stroke gas piston system and SIG Sauer’s proprietary recoil mitigation system, it can also be re-chambered to 7.62x51mm.

Geissele Automatics have announced the acquisition of the technical data packages and intellectual property for the 240LW and 240LWS lightweight general purpose machine guns developed by Barrett Firearms Mfg. Geissele announced the news on their social media earlier today, saying they look forward to “adding our forged long life barrels and Nanoweapon coating to provide the U.S. warfighter and our allies a machine gun for the 21st century.”

At the beginning of January Ruotuvaki, Finland’s armed forces magazine  published a story about Hannes Tuovinen, a veteran of the Continuation War, who was reunited with the Finish Maxim M/32-33 after 76 years. As an 18 year old Tuovinen had been trained to use the Maxim M/32-33 and fought during the Continuation War – a conflict separate from but fought concurrently to World War Two by Finland and Nazi Germany, as co-belligerents, against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944. The Continuation War began just over a year after the end of the 1940 Winter War.

What the hell is a centrifugal machine gun? In the plainest of terms, it’s a gun that requires no propellant powder and a system which has sparked the imaginations of inventors and gun designers for over 200 years.

Welcome back to the TFB Cinema room!  The ’80s were a time of Big Hair, Short Shorts, Glam Rock and of course Big Guns. With the Cold War winding down following the close of the Vietnam War, movie audiences still thirsted for fast-paced action and big muscled dudes wielding every gun under the sun. Today we’ll go over TFB’s Top 10 Gun Guy Movies from the 1980s.

Earlier this year the Netflix original series Stranger Things debuted its highly anticipated 3rd season. While not specifically targeted at the gun-toting audience, Stranger Things brings plenty of firepower to the Home Screen. Today we’ll look at a few guns from Guns of Stranger Things Season 3. Obviously, if you haven’t seen Season 3 of Stranger Things be warned, there are minor spoilers ahead. Also, get out from that rock you’ve been hiding under.

You know it was bound to happen sooner or later. So here we are guns ablaze picking out the top 10 sci-fi movie weapons to grace the silver screen. For these articles criteria, we are choosing only weapons that are based on real-world functioning firearms with sci-fi features added for the film. Also, with this article, we’ll be taking a deeper look at the actual firearm used in the movie instead of any particular scene. So strap in and load up as we blast away at TFB’s Top 10 Sci-Fi Movie Weapons.

Occasionally I’ll sit down in a restaurant with family or good buddies and strike up gun related conversations. A few years ago my dad jokingly said he would love to give me a million dollars to buy whatever gun parts I wanted, but the catch would be I only had an hour to spend it. He always laughed and said he had no doubt I could easily spend that on guns and gear if given the opportunity. It was a great conversation and whenever I go to trade shows or out to dinner with friends in the industry, I always ask the same question. Now don’t get me wrong, I know this article isn’t very scientific or informational but it’s something really fun to think about. Let’s dive into my choices for my 1 million dollar spending spree.

Occasionally police operations across the world churn up weapons produced solely for the criminal market. Some of these are improvised while others are semi-professionally produced in illicit workshops. Documented here are a handful of interesting examples uncovered in recent months.

General Dynamics have closely guarded their Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes, despite my best efforts they stuck to their guns and saved the big reveal for this year’s AUSA Exposition in Washington, D.C.There have been murmurings that their submission would be a bullpup for sometime and it has now been confirmed, meet the General Dynamics RM277.

Thompson submachine gun is one of the first weapons of the XX century that become a true mass culture icon. Even now very few weapons are as legendary as an old Tommy Gun (“Chicago Typewriter”, “Trench Broom” or any other nickname you want to use). It was developed for the trench warfare of the First World War but became famous in the 20s, gaining an undeserved reputation of “gangster weapon”.

Recently the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program moved into its next phase, with three companies down selected, one of these was SIG Sauer. We had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with SIG Sauer’s CEO, Ron Cohen, at the 2019 Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) exposition in London. We were able to discuss SIG Sauer’s next generation of weapons with Cohen and find out a little about the company’s approach to the NGSW program and the development of not only their weapon prototypes but also the ammunition they designed around the US Army’s new 6.8mm projectile.

The first photo of AAI/Textron’s Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes has emerged. The NGSW-Rifle and NGSW-Automatic Rifle were photographed at Fort Benning, Georgia, during the Annual Maneuver Conference at the Fort’s Maneuver Centre. The 2019 Maneuver Warfighter Conference was held over two days, 10-12 September, and was attended by dozens of vendors specialising in small arms systems, accessories and equipment. One of Textron’s submission partners, Heckler & Koch, were also in attendance.

As we have recently reported the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program has moved into its next phase, with three companies downselected, one of these was SIG Sauer, who had their NGSW prototypes on display at this year’s 2019 Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) exposition in London. TFB were on-hand to get our first detailed look at the new family of weapons.

Marketing to Law Enforcement in the 1970s – Apparently this is how it looked like in at least one instance, from The Law Enforcement Ordnance Company.

Last year, I had an opportunity to work with Larry Vickers during his visit to Russia, when he and his co-author James Rupley were working on the “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov” series of books. One day we were at a so-called “dungeon” – the basement of Central Armed Forces Museum, one of the largest military museums in the world, and came across several interesting German weapons that eventually made it into Vickers Guide: WWII Germany.

The US Army has announced that two companies have been selected to produce mounted machine gun optic mounts, with the companies competing for the various orders within a $48,800,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the optics.

Following on from their recent procurement of .50 calibre heavy machine guns and 5.56x45mm FN Minimi’s to supplement their FN MAGs, the Norwegian Army is now seeking a ‘light weight machine gun’ in 7.62x51mm. An initial batch of 1,000 7.62 light machine guns is sought with the option of upping this order up to 4,000 to enable Norway to re-equip its Home Guard or Heimevernet units.

While at the Cody Firearms Museum symposium Arsenals of History, an interesting thought experiment was brought up after a presentation by Scott Gausen, of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, on 3D printing and scanning in museums. While discussing this, several of us threw out a thought experiment that would be a radical change to how we view firearms images and especially reference images.

When it comes to the improvement of the main service rifle of the Armed Forces, different countries demonstrate various approaches. Some decide to completely replace the existing stock of weapons, like France, that replaced the venerable FAMAS with HK416. Other countries prefer to go a different route, modernizing the existing weapon instead of replacing it. And that is exactly what Finland did with RK62M.