#AssaultRifles

Over recent weeks Kalashnikov Media, of Kalashnikov Concern’s media department, have been treating us to videos looking at some very interesting and historically significant firearms including Mikhail Kalashnikov’s automatic pistol prototype and the  PP-71 SMG.

EMTAN KARMIEL Ltd announced the introduction of three new assault rifles that will be shown at the Defense & Security Thailand 2017 exposition in Bangkok. The new rifles are the MZ-47, the MZ-4P and the MZ-300.

The current US administration is looking to release many of the restrictions on weapons exports, according to a recent article at Reuters. Currently, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) limit the ability for US arms companies to sell weapons overseas. However, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to change the jurisdiction for most arms exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department, which would likely make such exports substantially easier. The State Department’s focus is primarily on security and stability, which means they generally err on the side of less exports rather than more, but the Commerce Department is primarily focused on facilitating international trade. This strongly suggests that arms exports as handled by the Commerce Department would be facilitated by the agency, rather than obstructed, as the trend has been under the State Department.

TFB writers typically receive a lot of e-mails. Often, readers are asking us opinions on various weapons, set-ups, or engaging in lively debate on a myriad of topics. Personally, I love it and just wish I could spend more time getting back to those who take their valuable time to seek our input.

It’s no good to discuss how firearms work without also giving the context surrounding the firearms themselves. With that said, let’s talk about the AR-15, its copycats, competitors, and relatives. Together these rifles share space under the loose umbrella of black rifles, a term which references the use of lighter and more durable black polymer gunstocks in place of traditional wood, something that became common from the 1960s onward in military firearms design. Today the term simply means any modern military rifle, or any rifle patterned after a modern military rifle, the two most common of these by far being the AR-15 and AK types. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on the AR-15, but much of what we’ll talk about will be applicable to any black rifle.