Although most Brazilian law enforcement agencies have for long been limited – mostly, forced by legal restraints – to acquiring service guns in the local market (e.g. Taurus, IMBEL, CBC), this trend is now gradually changing. To set the record straight, it should be [Read More…]
Brazil was recently (late-May 2018) involved in a nationwide truckers strike, the economic and political implications of which are, obviously, outside the scope of TFB. But occasional and unavoidable conflicts from blocked roads tensions did emerge, which in turn had to [Read More…]
Shortly after completing the previously-described (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/02/28/brazils-ina-submachine-gun-reloaded-part-2/) .45 ACP-to-9x19mm INA conversion at Brazilian Army’s Arsenal de Guerra General Câmara, in the Rio Grande do Sul State, the [Read More…]
After more than two decades of active service with the Brazilian Armed and LE Forces, the .45 ACP M.B.50 and M.953 sub guns manufactured by Indústria Nacional de Armas S/A during about the same time period, began to be gradually phased out from service as a result of [Read More…]
After long decades of mainly using pistols locally made by Forjas Taurus, Brazilian LE agencies have been turning their attention to products from overseas manufacturers, mainly in the wake of multiple reports of technical/safety issues with the “bull brand” [Read More…]
Since mid-2017, news has circulated in the local Brazilian media concerning the proposed acquisition of 5,000 .40 S&W pistols by PMESP – Polícia Militar do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo State Military Police) as an initial step to start replacing the [Read More…]
My previous (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/11/06/imbels-ia2-based-subgun-carbine-prototypes/) mention of some submachine guns and pistol-caliber carbines that have emerged from Forjas Taurus in recent years generated a number of requests to elaborate more on [Read More…]
This fourth assessment of the first 9x19mm submachine guns to come out of Brazilian Army’s — and IMBEL’s, after 1975– Fábrica de Itajubá (Itajubá Factory) will be somewhat of a flashback to the early 1970s. I have skipped the actual timeline back [Read More…]
In 1978, three years after Brazilian Army’s Fábrica de Itajubá (Itajubá Factory) had become part of the IMBEL – Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil conglomerate, the unit’s Oficina de Protótipos (Prototypes Workshop) decided to give the earlier 9x19mm [Read More…]
The next evolutionary step in 9x19mm submachine gun design by Itajubá Factory’s Prototypes Workshop was very trivial, indeed, and took the form of replacing the initial, somewhat clumsy, shaped-wire folding stock with a tubular model somewhat based on the model used [Read More…]
Having very recently (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/11/06/imbels-ia2-based-subgun-carbine-prototypes/) written about submachine guns and pistol-caliber carbines currently under development at the Fábrica de Itajubá (Itajubá Factory) facility of IMBEL – [Read More…]
The non-stop drug war taking place in Brazil’s most famous city during the last years has usually brought firearms to the attention of the general public and, much more so, to that of the TFB-type readership. As it happens when the going gets tougher than it usually [Read More…]
Worldwide, military parades are a good chance for the general public – and gun buffs, in particular – to take a look at what is in use by the country organizing the event. Brazil’s 195th anniversary of its independence from Portugal was celebrated last September 7 [Read More…]
As a result of the alarming crime rates recently recorded in Rio de Janeiro and the extreme violence of the local crime war — 97 police officers killed on and off duty so far (mid August) this year – it has frequently happened that the Brazilian Armed Forces are [Read More…]
An armed gang got together last July 10 to rob a bank in the city of Santa Margarida, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, which they did. As it frequently happens these days, when almost everyone is carrying a cell phone with a built-in video and photo camera, different scenes [Read More…]
For five whole decades or so after World War II, the .45 ACP and 9x19mm calibers were, as known, the most widely employed in pistols and submachine guns worldwide, this including Brazil. Types in wide use by the country’s armed and police forces included the [Read More…]
Gathering material for articles here at TFB is a mixture of results for this senior scribe, ranging from full exultation to sheer deception. Sometimes an interesting photo negative is dug out from surviving files, just for yours truly to find out that no related info is [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…]
In my recent article (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/06/09/brazils-7-62x51mm-mosquefal/) on the Mq 7,62 M968 rifle made by Fábrica de Itajubá (Itajubá Factory) for the Brazilian Army, I also showed said gun in a photo alongside two shorter carbines, one [Read More…]
DS Arms, Inc. was present at SITDEF 2017 this year with a number of the companies FAL modernization upgrades, continuing to offer their legacy upgrade packages to various South American Military/LE forces that are still armed with FN FALs or Brazilian Imbel license made versions. Although there were [Read More…]
The idea is far now new: have a smaller-caliber gun to replace the real one for initial training so that you can achieve substantial cost reductions in the process. Simple as that. The formula has met with varying degrees of success (or lack of) in different countries [Read More…]
In a previous post (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/02/21/weapons-rios-crime-war/), TFB showed some of the weapons in use by criminals in Rio de Janeiro’s crime war, which demonstrated an apparent unlimited quantity and variety of guns available to the [Read More…]
It’s generally well known that Brazil, like many (most?) of the world’s countries, is pretty much involved in a war against crime, more so when it comes to drug trafficking-related offenses. Nationwide (and here we’re talking about 8.5 million square kilometers), [Read More…]
Weapons in use by the world’s leading military and LE forces are usually well known to the general public due to their being frequently shown in the mainstream media as a result of their respective countries’ public relations efforts and/or some publicity generated [Read More…]
This is part 2 of the “Country Rifles” by Rainier Arms and Blown Deadline as shown at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016. Part 1 can be found here. Bonjour! Some Freedom Fries with your SBR? Aimpoint Micro T-2 2 MOA on top. French flag. Together with [Read More…]
Its a sad day when a collection goes up for sale, especially when it is not because of an owner’s death. In this case, some poor soul is getting divorced and its obvious that someone is getting half (or more!). While we get these tips from readers on a fairly [Read More…]
We blogged about Brazilian gun manufacturer Taurus’s recall of almost one hundred thousand pistols a year ago, but apparently the problems with Taurus weapons have not stopped since nor are they limited only to the 24/7 DS model then recalled. Weaponsman has [Read More…]
Earlier this month I wrote about Argentina’s experiments converting the FN FAL from 7.62mm to 5.56mm. Ronaldo Olive sent me an article he wrote back in the mid-1980s about a FN FAL 5.56mm kit developed in Brazil … … from the November 1986 issue of the [Read More…]
Ronaldo came across a negative of a photo of an AR-18 he photographed at the Brazilian Army’s Fábrica de Itajubá back in October 1982. The gun is unusual for having a rifle-length handguard, carbine-length barrel and rifle-style flash suppressor. It also [Read More…]
Brazil is looking to replace the IMBEL MD-2 service rifle (and MD-3 & MD-4 variants). The MD series of rifles is based on the FN FAL design, but instead of a FAL tilting bolt it has a M16 style rotating bolt. A Brazilian general has said that three rifles are in the [Read More…]
Your Privacy Choices