Welcome everyone to the 97th 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…]
World War II, as well known, marked the actual in-combat debut of semi-automatic rifles by the main nations involved, such as the United States (with the .30-06 M1 Garand), the Soviet Union (the 7.62x54Rmm SVT-40), and Germany (the 7.92x57mm G43/K43). The deep influence [Read More…]
In the Portuguese language, the noun “Xodó” is a popular expression to indicate one on whom we have a very special romantic crush or long-lasting love relationship. It’s no small wonder, then, that IMBEL – Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil has chosen it [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 concept of “modular” or “family line” weapons is far from new, being easily found worldwide, but, much more typically, in the Heckler & Koch house. Once you have a sound, functional firing mechanism/operating system combination, chances are that they may [Read More…]
Following two earlier exploratory attempts to create a .40 S&W submachine gun (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/07/12/early-40-sw-subgun-prototype-brazil/ and https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/09/20/another-early-40-sw-subgun-prototype-imbel/ ) the [Read More…]
As already mentioned in an earlier TFB article, Brazilian police agencies were quick to follow a trend to adopt the .40 S&W round, introduced in the early 1990s as a wonder solution for most LE pistol and submachine gun needs. The local IMBEL – Indústria de [Read More…]
Hi, there! One more time, here’s a small random selection of pictures and text on miscellaneous guns that have been located in this writer’s somewhat messy files. You may find them of some interest, though.
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…]
As a long-time (since the mid-1960s) licensed manufacturer of the well-known 7.62x51mm FN FAL rifle for the Brazilian Armed and Police Forces, plus also for export, IMBEL – Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil took the opportunity to use it as a basis for other [Read More…]
In 1997, while Brazilian Army Captain (later, Lieutenant-Colonel) Paulo Augusto Capetti Porto was working at IMBEL’s Fábrica de Itajubá as head of the R&D Office, several interesting ideas materialized into a series of prototypes generally designated as FIL-97 [Read More…]
Having recently reported (https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/04/13/imbels-new-7-62x51mm-ia2-carbine-rifle/) on the official certification test program of Brazil’s IMBEL 7.62x51mm IA2 semi-auto carbine currently under way at the CAEx – Centro de Avaliação [Read More…]
Prior to having its 5.56x45mm IA2 rifle developed, field-tested, approved and officially adopted (2011-2015 period, approximately) by the Exército Brasileiro (Brazilian Army), IMBEL – Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil took a long way to cover this evolutionary [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…]
Although not much into knives, as a whole, I’ve found myself always carrying one or another to the field while participating, as a guest journalist, in military maneuvers all around Brazil along decades. Even if never used for any throat-cutting, sentinel-dispatching [Read More…]