Competing elements of the Ukrainian Special Operations Command came together recently to participate in a skill of arms testing precision rifle capabilities, teamwork, handgun marksmanship, care under fire, among numerous other skill sets often required by sniper teams [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern recently released a new English language video regarding their PL-15K compact pistol, MP-444 pistol, AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles, and SVCh semiautomatic sniper rifle. By way of a walkthrough from Kalashnikov Concern technical consultant [Read More…]
Lobaev Arms is a precision rifle company that produces high power precision rifles in calibers ranging from 6.5mm to .408 Chay Tac. The company is mostly focused on the civilian competition market, although the founder said in an interview to the Russian press that [Read More…]
Essentially Yugoslavian 7.62x39mm M70B1 rifles, the Tabuk series of small arms were produced in Iraq, with the help of Yugoslavian engineers in the late 1970s, just in time for the Iran-Iraq conflict that endured for an agonizing decade afterward. There were different iterations of the Tabuk, the [Read More…]
A live webcast from the Concern Kalashnikov shooting club was broadcasted last weekend as part of the Army 2017 exhibition. I was there recently for the first IPSC Rifle World Shoot, and it was a great event. Their shooting range is second to none and features a massive [Read More…]
Army Inside have released an interesting video with the APS pistol and the PP90 and PP91 sub-machine guns. The video is well made and includes subtitles The Stechkin pistol APS is a 9×18 mm Makarov pistol adopted in 1951, at the same time as the Makarov PM pistol. [Read More…]
Creating improvised firearms is one thing, but a recent propaganda video released by the Yemeni rebel and terrorist group Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis) threw the spotlight on some weapons that take this to the next level. 20mm, 23mm, and even 30mm caliber [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern has released several new handguns this year at ARMY 2017, most notably a compact version of the Lebedev PL-15, the company’s flagship semiautomatic handgun. We’ll post some photographs below, which are courtesy of Maxim Popenker, the [Read More…]
“Archer” is the public nickname of a Polish volunteer currently fighting in the highly contested city of Raqqa with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces working right now to take it from the so called Islamic State. Countless U.S. and European volunteers have gone [Read More…]
Today’s Photo is training and shooting with 40 mm grenade launchers, by soldiers in the military academy in the Austrian Army. They are using the Madritsch Weapon Technology ML40, launching 40×46 mm grenades. Notice the Aimpoint Micro, I suspect those are H2s or [Read More…]
A few postcards landed on our doorstep and we feel obliged to share them. Apparently the Kampfschwimmers (“Combat Swimmers”) have been busy traveling the World. At least some of the destinations look far away from German soil! Some say the have visited the [Read More…]
Dat Viet, a Vietnamese language news website has reported that the production of Vietnamese made bolt-action, five round magazine-fed12.7x108mm KSVK anti-material rifles has commenced at the Israeli IWI built, Vietnamese MoD owned factory Z111 in Vietnam. The factory [Read More…]
In an era of increasingly resilient body armor, new small arms ammunition solutions are required to even the odds between the shooter and shootee. The company Stiletto Systems, based out of the UK, is advertising its new bullet as a possible solution for this problem. [Read More…]
As most readers know Schmidt & Bender (Germany) won the Precision Sniper Rifle Program of the United States Special Operations Command. Since 2011 S&B have been been supplying the Special Forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines with high quality [Read More…]
It’s not every day that you see a gun that knocks your socks off in terms of history, engineering, rarity, and insanity – but today is that day. At the Institute of Military Technology these are the qualities we look for in firearms – we revel in them [Read More…]
Steyr Arms has added an OD Green M9-A1 to their pistol lineup finally. Even though they have been using OD Green polymer on their firearms for nearly 50 years on both the SSG 69 sniper rifle and the AUG, they must have just got around to it. I guess late is better than [Read More…]
TFB is proud to add a new rifle to the list that the Finnish Police are using: AR-15. To our knowledge we are first to report this. This follows the trend we have been reporting for a while. German Police, Swedish Police etc. are going for AR-15 style rifles, at least [Read More…]
In a previous article (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/03/03/weapons-rios-crime-war-pmerj-side/), TFB showed some images of PMERJ – Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro in the frontline of the war against crime in Rio. Being the major responsible for [Read More…]
Back at the 2017 NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, we stopped by the Keystone manufacturing booth to check out the upcoming Model 722 PT rifle that they put together with the help of the guys over at AB*Arms. The new rifle will feature either a 16.5″ or 20″ [Read More…]
Having previously shown some of the items that the Força Aérea Brasileira (Brazilian Air Force) ground elements currently pack for their ground work (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/06/23/brazilian-air-force-infantry-weapons/), it’s time, now, to see what [Read More…]
Asian Defense News recently published a compilation of high-quality photographs lifted from various Mandarin news sources such as Ifeng and Nownews of Chinese Military Police competing in a skill of arms competition, in Yunnan Province. The literal Mandarin [Read More…]
The German Army is acquiring a new suppressor for the currently fielded .338 Lapua G29 precision rifle in use by the infantry’s snipers. The device was produced in a joint collaboration between Brugger and Thomet and the maker of the G29 (civilian RS9) C.G. Haenel [Read More…]
According to Russian news agency TASS, the Kalashnikov Concern officials have informed them that the AK-12 has successfully passed all the government tests and trials and it is planned to be adopted by the Russian armed forces. The key phrase is “planned [Read More…]
We previously discussed the small arms capabilities of the so-called Islamic State-affiliated Maute group, we will proceed to cover the opposing Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that have been successful in crushing the rebel uprising. Despite this success, there [Read More…]
I discovered this webpage of historical photos and it’s too good not to be shared with all Firearmblog readers. Marina Amaral decided to combine her fascination with history and Photoshop skills, and discovered that the combination was magical. By restoring black [Read More…]
When one mentions an air force, what almost immediately probably comes to mind are images of sleek, fast-flying jet fighters, huge transport aircraft, and helicopters of all variations. However, it should be remembered that a whole lot of equipment is involved in the [Read More…]
Russia hosted the first ever Rifle World Championship, practical rifle shooting according to the IPSC rules. TFB flew to Moscow, armed with a Troy rifle and a camera, to document the occasion and to compete in the main match. 30 stages of world class practical shooting [Read More…]
Numerous Australian media outlets have reported that the New South Wales legislature is opening up the budget to accommodate patrol rifles within NSW Police Force patrol officers. This would mean that similar to a number of Law Enforcement entities in the United States, [Read More…]
It is generally accepted that the first serious attempts at using the .50BMG (or 12.7x99mm, if you’re into metrics) round for long-range sniping dates to the Vietnam War era, first using actual, scope-fitted Browning M2HB machine guns, and at a later stage some [Read More…]
John Moses Browning gifted upon the world a large variety of firearms gifts. From the still-in-service 1911 handgun, to the BAR, and the venerable M2 or “Ma-Duece” machine gun, his designs have persisted and even thrived over the last century. Calibers he [Read More…]
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