Good morning everyone and welcome back to another edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the awesome Turbo K 5.56 suppressor. Last week we discussed how everyone needs at least one rimfire suppressor. This week we [Read More…]
Engineers at the US Army’s CCDC Army Research Laboratory, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, part of the Army Futures Command, have developed a special rifle suppressor with an integrated muzzle brake, which they are calling the [Read More…]
Today’s photo of the day comes from General Dynamics-OTS who are current contenders in the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program. The photo was shared on General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems twitter page earlier this year. It features [Read More…]
The Firearm Blog is on a mission to review as many of the Schmidt & Bender PM II Riflescopes as we can. In case you didn’t know PM is short for Police & Military. Previously we had a look at the classic S&B 5-25×56 PM II with the LRR-Mil reticle, [Read More…]
This year’s SHOT Show was the first to have models representing all three of the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program prototypes. SIG Sauer had prototypes on display at their stand (which TFB got our first look at back in September at DSEI 2019) [Read More…]
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 & [Read More…]
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 [Read More…]
True Velocity has published a press release confirming that their 6.8mm composite-cased ammunition has been selected to the next phase of the US Army’s NGSW program as the cartridge of General Dynamics’ firearm submissions. Moreover, they showed their actual [Read More…]
Last week the US Army announced it had down selected three companies to supply prototypes for their Next Generation Squad Weapon program – to provide the Army’s next rifle (NGSW-R) and squad automatic weapon or automatic rifle (NGSW-AR). They have released [Read More…]
Late last night TFB broke the news that the US Army had selected three companies to continue development of their Next Generation Squad Weapons prototypes. These companies include AAI Corporation Textron Systems, General Dynamics-OTS Inc. and SIG Sauer Inc. This [Read More…]
Back in June, VK Integrated Systems, partnered with Bachstein Consulting, broke cover to unveil their submission to the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon programme. The AR-platform XR-68 boasts a proprietary 6.8mm round and an integrated electronic rail [Read More…]
Did you ever try target shooting with tracers? It was fun, wasn’t it? Add tracers to a fully automatic weapon system – and darkness – and you have the potential for some real fun. (By the looks of it someone else paid too.) That is the subject for [Read More…]
In April, the US Marine Corps announced an ambitious procurement programme to purchase 15,000 M27 Individual Automatic Rifles from Heckler & Koch. The contract, worth $30 million, was to begin to be fulfilled with funds from fiscal year 2019. The Marine Corps has [Read More…]
With the recent announcement of a new US Space Force, everyone on the Internet has been talking about being first in line to the recruiter’s office to become one of the country’s first Space Marines (we have seen enough movies to know it is only a matter of [Read More…]
Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier’s new commanding officer Brigadier General Anthony Potts has gotten to grips with one of PEO Soldier’s most interesting projects, Textron’s Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun. The Cased Telescoped Light Machine [Read More…]
A long-awaited update on the much-delayed Compact Semiautomatic Sniper System program came with the recent Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing that was conducted Wednesday. In his testimony, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 Lieutenant General John M. Murray told [Read More…]
The Commandant of the United States Marine Corps (CMC) has stated his approval for an overhaul of the front-line infantry Marine’s gear – including the fielding of the Heckler & Koch M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle as a standard issue rifle, to replace the [Read More…]
It’s almost 3 in the morning, and I’m lying awake in bed thinking about small arms. I’m trying to put everything out of my mind so I can go to sleep and wake up in the morning, go to the range, and bring you some raw ballistic data. So of course what [Read More…]
Is the US Army pushing for a new high-powered 6.Xmm caliber with their new NGSAR program? Recently, the listing for the NGSAR industry day in December was updated with a document describing in part the agenda of the second conference. Scheduled for 9:45 in the morning [Read More…]
Rest in Peace Interim Combat Service Rifle, we hardly knew thee. The Army’s ICSR program has joined the much more ambitious Advanced Combat Rifle program of the 1980s and the more recent ill-fated Individual Carbine program in the annals of US Army rifle [Read More…]
For better or worse the PKM GPMG has been in constant service since 1961 and is considered by many to be one of the best machine guns in its field. Comparatively light, very reliable, and disgustingly simple to maintain and operate, the machine gun has found much favor among good guys and bad guys [Read More…]
US Army, what on earth are you doing? The US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley promised that the new Next Generation Individual/Squad Weapon (NGSW/NGIW) program will give a “10 times improvement” in individual small arms capability “over any [Read More…]
Quick: What’s the definition of “assault rifle”? I’ll give you a moment to think about it. Now, a good definition for “assault rifle” in my opinion comes from Anthony G. Williams, a British author, ammunition collector, and military [Read More…]
The US Army’s plan to wrap new technologies and commercial off the shelf (COTS) improvements into the M4A1 rifle has apparently been canned. The program, called M4A1+, was originally intended to upgrade the M4A1 fleet with new COTS rails, back up sights, flash [Read More…]
As part of the recent Russian re-armament program including the T-14 Armata man battle tank, the T-50 air superiority fighter, and the AK-12 and A545 rifles, the Federation has initiated a program for a new 5.45mm caliber squad support weapon, called [Read More…]
This post was written as a companion to an upcoming Gun Guy Radio podcast, hosted by Ryan Michad. The discussion below will be expanded upon in the show when it’s released later this month, but for now, read on to learn more about the past, present, and future of [Read More…]
This is the fourth part of a series of posts seeking to describe and analyze the 7.62mm Lightweight Rifle concept promoted by the Americans, and subsequently adopted by NATO in various forms. This series will cover development from before World War II to the present [Read More…]
The AR-15 family of rifles was accepted into US service under strange circumstances. In 1962, Ordnance – previously in charge of rifle and ammunition procurement – was abolished by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and the offices themselves [Read More…]
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