According to the German finance magazine BILANZ the former Managing Director of Heckler & Koch, Mr. Nicola Marinelli, wants to force his former employer before the Discritc Court to expose its true shareholders. As you may remember there was a another change of [Read More…]
During September 2017 there is a large Military exercise in Sweden called Aurora 17. It’s the largest Swedish military exercise in over 20 years, and there are a lot of awesome photos and videos in the media stream. Almost 20 000 soldiers from the Swedish Armed [Read More…]
Over 600 companies from 30 countries around the World exhibited at the 24:th International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO in Poland. One national company was happy to announce a rather successful contract. The Polish firearms manufacturer FB “Łucznik” [Read More…]
French steelmaker Aubert & Duval have announced a new high purity steel alloy that could allow future firearms barrels to be stronger, be tougher, and last longer. The steel, called “ARMAD”, is a 3% chromoly steel made with a similar composition [Read More…]
As always, it’s important for you, dear reader, to understand that we are all aware that blanket statements like that in the title have exceptions. Yes, there are cops and Soldiers who do know a thing or two. The point here is that we often run into a conversation [Read More…]
Ever lusted after the obscure and ultra-scarce Walther WA 2000 semi-auto sniper rifle? You aren’t alone, I have often wondered how they shoot, what the trigger feels like and so on. Well, my friend Ian over at Forgotten Weapons had a chance to get behind one of [Read More…]
Late in 1978, Nelmo Suzano started work in the development of a 5.56x45mm assault rifle in the bullpup configuration, a long-time idea that had flashed on-and-off in his mind. Sure, the British EM1 and EM2 of the 1950s may have sparked the fire, more so in the mid-1970s [Read More…]
As TFB has reported before France will phase out the FAMAS rifle, of which they have about 400,000 pieces of in the F1 and upgraded G1 variant. The FAMAS has been in service for over 30 years. For a period of over 10 years France will phase in the Heckler & Koch [Read More…]
Will Heckler & Koch’s HK416 rifle become the most successful assault rifle model of the early 21st Century? It’s starting to look that way. After the French adoption of the HK416F as their standard issue weapon to replace the FAMAS, and a likely [Read More…]
France has just adopted the HK416 as its new standard infantry rifle, replacing the FAMAS, and Germany is on a path to a new weapon, aiming to divest herself of the controversial G36. This raises the question: Will Germany and France adopt a unified arm? These two [Read More…]
The ZK-22 bullpup chassis has a storied history. Originally developed at Red Jacket Firearms and featured prominently on one of their TV episodes, the ZK-22 started with the now ill-fated company with a slow release. With major controversy over the arrest of Will Hayden [Read More…]
If any of you still had doubts about the HK416’s rumored win of the French AIF (Arme Individuelle du Futur – Future Individual Weapon) contract, doubt no more. The French DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement, their defense procurement office) has released [Read More…]
Multiple French news outlets are confirming the victory of Heckler & Koch’s HK416 rifle in the French Army’s AIF (Arme Individuelle du Futur – Future Individual Weapon) program to replace the FAMAS, in which it has evidently unseated the FN SCAR, its [Read More…]
The French Foreign Legion Facebook page posted his video on their page. It shows some Légionnaires practicing with M249 Paras, modified FAMAS, and what looks like a Beretta M9.
In the ongoing controversy about the G36 assault rifle, German gunmaker Heckler & Koch have won a major victory against the German federal government, as the Koblenz court where the company’s lawsuit against the government was tried ruled that the company was [Read More…]
According to an as of yet uncorroborated report from the French publication RETEX MAG, the next French rifle will be a variant of the German-made Heckler & Koch HK416. The report cites notices sent out to the five participants in the French Army’s AIF (Arme [Read More…]
At the 2016 Eurosatory defense trade show, Czech gunmaker CZ debuted for the first time its improved 806 Bren 2 rifle on the international market. The Bren 2 was announced in October of 2015, and improves on the 805 Bren by being lighter, having an improved selector [Read More…]
Is it Toggle Month, or what? Readers of TFB have so far been treated to several posts in April on the famous toggle-locked Luger pistol, but the fun’s not over yet! In the 1930s, the Japanese were – like many major powers at the time – looking to [Read More…]
The concept of a stockless – or “bullpup” – rifle has been around since the very dawn of the 20th Century. It was invented in the United Kingdom, the country with which it still is most closely associated. After World War II, the concept began [Read More…]
When it comes to rifles, most firearms owners are familiar with gas-operated rotating bolts, as it is the most prevalent type of operating mechanism being the heart of an AR-15 and AK-47 (and most other modern semi-automatic weapon systems, for that matter). Few owners [Read More…]
Let it not be said that when provoked, Paris won’t respond in kind. Following the cowardly attacks on the city last week, the French National Police came out in force armed with several different kinds of firearms, some fairly old but still very capable in the [Read More…]
A little over eight years ago I published a map of the world showing countries which had adopted the AR-15 either as a primary service rifle, or as a niche special forces weapon. Back then about half the world was using the AR-15. (Ironically this map was made just [Read More…]
Tavors, SA80s, FAMASs, AUGs, QBZ 95s. Whether for better or worse, the majority of bullpup weapon systems in the world are manufactured and in use by countries and militaries outside of the United States. Sure there was the Bushmaster M17S way back when, and now we have [Read More…]
The Sturmgewehr is a rifle that will never lose it’s place in history; it is one of the single most influential weapons of the 20th Century. It is not the first of its kind, however, and we at TFB have previously taken a look at some of the rifle’s [Read More…]
Strike Industries is a great outfit that really knows how to make use of all the machine tools at their disposal. They produce some truly spectacular pieces of gear for shooters of all types and I have yet to evaluate a piece I have not been thoroughly impressed with. [Read More…]
Could the next French rifle be Croatian? Anything is possible, it seems, as Croatian firm HS Produkt has submitted its new VHS-2 rifle to the French government for testing. Unfortunately, machine translation of Croatian to English is significantly ambiguous. [Read More…]
Soldier of Fortune has a post that links to a recent video montage of French forces in Afghanistan. The country’s forces have all since left the country but the video shows an interesting portrayal of how the 1970s technology FAMAS has entered the 21st century [Read More…]
10. Thorneycroft Carbine Some of you might be familiar with this gun, but few know that almost all available pictures of it are misleading, at best. The picture below is not of the original Thorneycroft Carbine, but of the later Thorneycroft-Farquhar rifle. The title [Read More…]
Since the French announcement earlier this year that they would begin replacing the aging FAMAS with a new design by 2017, there has been some speculation over what design would be chosen as its replacement. One question that hovered over the heads of myself and a [Read More…]
Marking the latest entry into the somewhat brisk resurgence of rifles chambered for the venerable Soviet short .30 caliber, the new Polish MSBS rifle will be chambered in 7.62x39mm, in addition to its already established calibers of 5.56mm and a proposed 7.62x51mm [Read More…]
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