I’ve been quite surprised over the past couple of months at just how many people still seem to be out shooting not only for training but recreationally as well. Despite the ammo shortage, it seems like people are just dying to get out of the house and blast some [Read More…]
Down in the Big Easy on the last day of GunFest 2021, Cody Wilson and his team from Ghost Gunner brought out their Ghost Gunner 3 and a new product that has been highly anticipated for the past year. The Ghost Gunner AK-47 kit is finally here. Last January at SHOT Show [Read More…]
![[TFB GUNFEST] Century Arms Thunder Ranch AK-47 (1)](https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TFB-GUNFEST-Century-Arms-Thunder-Ranch-AK-47-1-660x260.jpg)
When it comes to firearms training schools, Thunder Ranch is among the foremost in the business. For almost 30 years, this premier institution now based in Oregon has served to provide top-level instruction for a variety of gun/shooting types and the full spectrum of [Read More…]
There are several reasons why you may need to cover the metal stock of your rifle. One of them is not to have bare metal rubbing against your cheek when shooting the gun, especially in long shooting sessions. For me, the primary reason is that metals are materials with [Read More…]
At SHOT Show 2020, Phoenix Technology introduced featureless grips for AK-47 and AR-15 pattern rifles. Normally, the ergonomics of featureless grips leaves a lot to be desired, however, these particular ones are quite comfortable. Let’s take a closer look. As you [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Media continues their series of videos telling about some of the rarest experimental and prototype firearms created by Mikhail Kalashnikov and we at TFB make sure to deliver the most interesting stories to our readers. Today we are taking a look at one of [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Media has published a video showing a very interesting AK-47. This is an experimental Type 1 AK that has some design changes done by Mikhail Kalashnikov himself. The experiments were done in the early ’50s, shortly after the adoption of AK-47 in 1949, [Read More…]
Welcome everyone to the 35th edition of ‘Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?’, one of our many series here on TFB. If you’re new to the series, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question – is this Gat a sweet [Read More…]
Earlier this year I took it upon myself to source all the parts I needed for my “Dream AK”. The goal, take a Romanian DRACO, and turn it into the side folder AK I had always dreamed of owning. Many months and a tax stamp later, my dream AK was finally finished. [Read More…]
The very first Kalashnikov rifle that received the AK-47 model designation is displayed in the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps which is located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This rifle has always been somewhat mysterious because its [Read More…]
Recently, on September 19, Russians celebrated a very unusual annual holiday – “The Gunsmith day”. As usual, I tried to use this opportunity to shoot some interesting weapons and get some footage. The project was named “Kalashnikov [Read More…]
Right now its fall across the US where the leaves are changing colors, hunting seasons are beginning, and people are mongering over all foods infused with pumpkin spice. As many of us head out into the woods for the various hunting seasons, we at TFB wanted to propose a [Read More…]
You have probably heard and read about the quite successful attempts of 3D printing AR-15 lower receivers. I am sure after seeing these 3D printed receivers, many people have been wondering if receivers of other firearms can be printed, too. Particularly, many of you [Read More…]
We’ve been comparing the guns of the Fallout series of post-apocalyptic video games to their real-world counterparts and today we’re going to examine the handmade rifle. The Fallout universe is brutal and the Nuka-World DLC for Fallout 4 is even more ruthless. At the risk of spoiling the story [Read More…]
A gripe a lot of AK owners have is not being able to easily suppress their boomsticks. With unique left-hand thread pitches, most of us in the US are short on resources to change out muzzle devices. It makes sense that many AK platforms have muzzles like this since they [Read More…]
What does an average person know about the Pakistani weapons and the military-industrial complex? Nothing. Ordinary people are not interested in this kind of weird stuff. OK, so what does an average gun enthusiast know about Pakistani weapons? Probably not much either. [Read More…]
With the recent official news that the new AK-12 and AK-15 rifles have been adopted by the Russian Ministry of Defense it’s with interest we with Kalashnikov’s help can take a deeper look into how the rifles were developed and engineered. Nathaniel F [Read More…]
The sanctions on Russian companies have hit the American AK enthusiast hard – no longer can we import inexpensive Izhevsk Kalashnikovs to feed the beast. Yet, there is a silver lining: Domestic AK production is on the rise to meet the demand, and one company in [Read More…]
Kalashnikov USA, orphaned stateside importing partner of Kalashnikov Concern, brought their latest prototype and production guns to the 2018 SHOT Show, and there is good reason to be excited. Chief among them: The KR-9 9mm AK carbine. Here’s one of those [Read More…]
Rifle and parts builders JMac Customs and M13 Industries have joined forces to introduce a new line of AK firearms. Designated as the OSC-13 series (Optics, Suppressor and Competition ready), the new rifles are available in three models with a variety of options. [Read More…]
If you want a Mini-14 buy one. If you want a carbine for a specific purpose, however, and provided have access to virtually any other modern carbine design, pick just about anything else. I say this not to disparage Ruger or the people who own Minis, but because [Read More…]
The following is an article that was originally written in Russian by TFB contributor Maxim Popenker, and Andrey Ulanov, and translated to English by Peter Samsonov. With their permission, I have replicated the text here, and edited it, for the enrichment of you, our [Read More…]
It’s a blunder so bad it makes you look twice: On the new sculpture dedicated to Russia’s most famous small arms designer, there is an unintentional homage to a weapon of Russia’s hated adversaries during the Great Patriotic War. Behind the tasteful [Read More…]
Within the last couple of months, Rifle Dynamics has been releasing short Q&A videos where Jim Fuller, the founder of RD, was answering to customers’ questions and showing some AK manipulation drills. I’ll post these videos in chronological order. In the [Read More…]
Is it possible to convert someone into an AK fanatic, or do you have to be born one? Can the comfort zone of aircraft-grade aluminum and nitro-injected ergonomics be overcome by the simple elegance and robustness of the Kalashnikov? This question is one I’ve [Read More…]
North Korea recently celebrated its national holiday, the Day of the Sun, commemorating the birth of the founder of the communist hermit-nation, Kim Il-Sung. In true communist fashion, the holiday was marked by a large military parade where all the latest North Korean [Read More…]
Battlefield Vegas is nothing short of gun nirvana. While we were at SHOT James, Steve, and I felt it was a good idea to take our camera crew to Battlefield Vegas. After all, this is the only place in town that can really excite the discerning gun nerd after a week at the world’s largest gun [Read More…]
The AR-15-style combined safety/selector thumb lever has become a hallmark of modern assault rifle and carbine design, proving to be an ergonomic and simple design for fire control management. However, it wasn’t always that way. The AR-15’s selector lever [Read More…]
Yesterday, we took a close look at the AK’s operating group, to enumerate the details that make this pattern such a dependable design. Today, we’re going to be looking at some of the other elements of the AK that make it so reliable, but first I want to [Read More…]
Chris Bartocci of Small Arms Solutions LLC just released a video, where he reviews a pre-production prototype of a new Otis Technology drop-in AK rail. This rail slides on the AK rear sight base without any need to remove the rear sight. That makes it a true drop-in [Read More…]