Winter is coming! The Mountain Platoon from the Swedish Arctic Rangers shows off by fighting from snowmobiles. This is a live fire exercise from a moving platform and looks like a lot of fun. The snowmobiles seem to be BRP Lynx. I think the version is called Lynx 800 [Read More…]
On the defense side, sound suppressors have been relegated to special roles ever since their invention. Used to give stealth to special operatives, assassins, and direct action teams, silencers have been valuable tools, but not central fixtures in normal military [Read More…]
More and more, it seems like we are on the cusp of a break in the small arms “plateau”, and that major changes may be coming both in the technology and use of infantry small arms and ammunition. The biggest harbinger of this coming paradigm shift has been [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…]
No matter how diverse and separated the firearms community is from muzzle loading to action 3 Gun, NFA to concealed carry, I think one thing that every single one of us can agree on is that happiness is a belt fed machine gun. This year at Knob Creek, it was hard to [Read More…]
Acadiana Gunworks is a small firearms manufacturer and training company based out of Scott, LA. At Knob Creek the company occupied a booth in the gun show section and displayed their new cut down, semi-automatic SBR and automatic Post Sample variant of an RPD. The Post [Read More…]
Thanks to my friend Irfan for sending this photo to me. The photo is a bit confusing. The camo is Navy AOR1 which is typically the camo of choice for Navy Seals. However due to the helmet and plate carrier design, as well as the American Flag patch on the chest, the [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.
The Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces will soon be retiring the venerable 7.62x51mm MAG M2 (FN MAG medium machine gun) for FN Herstals 7.62x51mm Minimi Mk3. Specifically 242 machine guns will be bought with an order of 2 million Euros from the countries own FN [Read More…]
Earlier this week, Business Insider released an article written by Christian Lowe entitled “6 weapons the US military should bring back from the dead“ with a very self-evident, but interesting premise. However, the weapons (all firearms, oddly) that the [Read More…]
The Galil ACE by IWI is the successor to the classic Israeli Galil that was itself an upgraded Kalashnikov. But is this new design worthy of the name Galil, a rifle that we here at TFB love? Can it redeem the good name of IWI after the Tavor, Uzi Pro, and X95? Well these questions […] [Read More…]
Update: The owner of MAG contacted me after the publication of this article to remind me that “there are thousands, not hundreds” of guns in the vault. Somewhere close to 4000 with 1000 of those being handguns and 2000 being machineguns. Clearly my urge to [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…]
One thing that seems apparent from the ARDEC presentation on the CTSAS program is the excessive capability and weight of the 6.5mm CT ammunition, as well as its use of lead-cored projectiles as opposed to more modern (and less dense) EPR-type projectiles. Further, the [Read More…]
Recently, I wrote an editorial regarding the LSAT/CTSAS team’s NDIA presentation on their 6.5mm cased telescoped carbine and machine gun concepts. There was a lot to say about the history of Army programs and the pitfalls facing that team, but today I want to get [Read More…]
One of the blessings of being a writer with TFB is that we are able to collaborate and learn from one another. Its a heck of perk, as between the staff here there is an incredible wealth of knowledge that I learn from on a regular basis. On the flip side, occasionally [Read More…]
ARES Defense announced a new .22 LR pistol system called the STEP-22LS. In case you were curious about the name, it stands for Strategic Target Engagement Pistol, Low Signature. The system is offered under the company’s special product division: FightLite. These [Read More…]
The National Defense Industry Association has released the PowerPoint presentations from 2016 Armament Systems Forum, including Kori Phillips’ update on the Cased Telescoped Small Arms Systems (CTSAS) program, which is the successor to the well-known Lightweight [Read More…]
Part two of the FN America factory tour in Columbia, South Carolina would be the fun guns. The Columbia factory is where they make the M249SAW, M240B, and the MK19. As we walked throughout the factory floor, we could see batches of machine gun parts everywhere. They [Read More…]
A report from Jane’s highlights a move within the British Army to review the requirements and usage of their LMG, the famously nicknamed “Minimi” (FN Para Minimi), and their M6-640 Commando 60 mm mortar system. Both of these weapon systems are [Read More…]
Two articles recently came out in the Marine Corps Times (which has absolutely no affiliation or endorsement by the USMC) concerning a variety of small arms related topics. The first one is a sort of M27 qualification that some Twenty Nine Palms battalions participated [Read More…]
We love our readers. No really, we do. You send us lots of great stuff from all the tradeshows around the world. One of your eagle-eyed kin spotted the upcoming Astra MG556 5.56 semi-auto rifle. Externally very similar to the M249 SAW or FN MiniMi, the Astra is a [Read More…]
Cool video by FN America. It touches a bit on FNH history and a brief overview of their most popular firearms such as the BAR, FN FAL, M240. M249, P90, Five Seven, and the SCAR. Lots of cool shots and scenes with their weapon systems, It is one giant montage of FN [Read More…]
On the last day of SHOT Show, my friends from Malaysia invited me to go shoot with them. They hired a local outfit called Shoot Las Vegas. We were picked up in an H2 Hummer from the Venetian lobby/pick up area. We were driven out about 30 minutes to the Las Vegas Pro [Read More…]
DSA had notable news for SHOT 2016: First, DSA’s 7.5lb (!) titanium FAL is going into production this quarter. This ultra-light, ultra premium FAL is going to have an MSRP of $3,000. Second, DSA’s RPDs are being phased out due to labor costs. They have an [Read More…]
While everyone at the FN booth is gawking at the FN M249S civilian SAW and posing for pictures with it, they’re probably overlooking the new FN 15 Competition model rifle. Sporting FN’s distinctive competition blue, this new rifle looks sharp and is built to [Read More…]
OSS has a unique suppressor design. It is not a baffle design but something along the lines of a jet turbine. There are coils that allow the gas to expand in a different method and flows out the front of the can. This design allows the gas to vent away from the muzzle [Read More…]
Almost everyone is familiar with the Grip Pod. Not only is it in use with shooters but has widespread use by law enforcement. The US military has been issuing the Grip Pod for years to our troops overseas. During it’s years of use several additions have been made [Read More…]
We blogged about the new Talon Gyro-Stabilized Weapon Mount system from Paradigm SRP last week. It attracted skepticism from readers in the comments who questioned how effective such a system would be in the real world. Yes, it is true that it does not track targets [Read More…]
The owner of Battlefield Las Vegas has yet again graced us with another high round count report, but this time purely on Optics that the range has on their rental firearms. When they say high round count, they really mean it! The range apparently went through 500,000 [Read More…]
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