The Polish magazine Bron Amunicia TAC has recently made light of Fabryka Broni releasing both a 7.62x39mm version of the MSBS at the International Defense Industry Exhibition MSPO in Poland, and a STANAG compatible 5.56x45mm magazine (separate from the exhibition). [Read More…]
This is a the second part of a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of synthetic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. You can read the first part, on metallic magazines, at this link. Thanks, Brandon! Sometime around 1965-1968 Izhevsk [Read More…]
This is a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of metallic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. Thanks, Brandon! The venerable Kalashnikov rifle is easily one of the most important small arms in history. Love it or hate it, it’s one of 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…]
Perhaps the oldest rival of the 5.56mm round is its older brother in the intermediate cartridge world, the 7.62x39mm round developed by the Soviets in the late 1940s from their earlier 7.62×41 M43 cartridge. The 7.62x39mm, despite its age, has maintained a very [Read More…]
As AR rifles became more and more popular during the past three decades, adding rails and gear became something akin to a fashion trend. Although it seems to have eased up a bit, there was a time that shooters appeared to see a full length quad rail handguard as a [Read More…]
Hot on the success of the CMMG Mutant, Palmetto State Armory released their 7.62×39 AR hybrid, instead opting for compatibility with the AR-15 platform versus its own proprietary system. Originally shown at SHOT 2016 and shot at the Big 3 East in the spring, the [Read More…]
Below are four different rifles, in four calibers, from SIG Sauer – Swiss Arms, as presented at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016. Of course, they had more rifles in their stand but let’s focus on the ones below and the news in particular. The SG 553 is [Read More…]
For the prospective civilian AK buyer, there’s nothing quite as helpful as the experience of others. Most reviews (including most of the ones I have done) cover the experiences the reviewer has over tens or hundreds of rounds, as higher round-count reviews are [Read More…]
The big name YouTube channels, like Hickok45 and Forgotten Weapons have gotten large followings for a reason, but from time to time I come across smaller channels with just a few followers that really deserve more attention. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been [Read More…]
Earlier this week, we reported about the Pakistani Army seeking a new rifle to replace its aging license-produced Heckler & Koch G3 and Chinese Type 56 rifles, and now new details – and most excitingly, new images – have come to light. First, it seems [Read More…]
G2 Research, primarily known for their controversial Radically Invasive Projective or “R.I.P.” ammunition has released their latest loading, the Ripout. The ammunition is loaded with a 124 grain all copper round with a stated muzzle velocity of 2,270 feet [Read More…]
One of the lesser-known offspring of the M1 Carbine was designed by Gordon Ingram, ironically also the designer of the world-famous MAC-10 submachine gun. This was the SAM, sometimes also called the Ingram Police Rifle, a rifle designed in the mid-1970s with multiple [Read More…]
In 2014, Colt announced a new variant of its CM901 line of convertible 7.62×51/5.56×45 AR-pattern rifles, the CK901. Designed for orders coming from the Middle East and other areas where AKs are plentiful, the CK901 feeds from existing surplus AK magazines, [Read More…]
Hill & Mac Gunworks brought to the show their brand new rifle, the HMG Sturmgewehr, a reproduction of the famous German StG-44 assault rifle of World War II. The company bought prototypes of three different configurations of the new gun, the STG-N, a rifle, the [Read More…]
At media range day, I headed over to CMMG to see what all the noise was about. I had been shooting a few bays over, when some very loud automatic fire caught my attention. It was the 10″ barreled Mutant (MK47 K), their AK-47 magazine compatible rifle, with a [Read More…]
We all know the Galil ACE is a descendant of the famous AK series of rifles, but how well does it handle mud? Well, in the interim between the news breaking that IWI was recalling all of its newly released Galil ACE pistols due to the presence of a full auto sear pin [Read More…]
Gun blogger superstar Eric of the Iraqveteran8888 YouTube channel is happy to once again get behind a rifle going cyclic until failure. This time, Eric’s victim is a Vepr 7.62×39 AK rifle made by Molot and modified by Copper Custom. Those who watch these [Read More…]
The weekend after the Big 3 Media Event at Daytona Beach, FL, I was invited to visit Definitive Arms (DA) in Saint Petersburg, Florida. DA started as a custom builder of doing magazine well conversion for Kalashnikov pattern rifles. Their patented mag-well design [Read More…]
While it’s well known that the Germans were the first to field select-fire assault rifles in large numbers during World War II, the Soviets, thoroughly impressed by the idea of an intermediate-power infantry cartridge and intrigued by the idea of the assault [Read More…]
To the first-time AK builder, the task in front of him or her can seen daunting, or even impossible. Unlike AR-15s that easily go together virtually like a LEGO set, the Kalashnikov rifle requires a bit more effort – and more expensive tools – to put [Read More…]
Another new rifle from the Islamic Republic of Iran was being shown at the 15th IPAS Exhibition. It is a modern-looking weapon, distinct from the very modern looking Fateh announced in 2014. It was developed by the state-owned Iran Defense Industries Organization, [Read More…]
The FN-made 7.62×39 SCAR, long rumored to be a dead project, has resurfaced. FNH USA was showing off a variant of the Mk. 17 SCAR Heavy at the 2015 Association of the United States Army annual meeting this week. The rifle is apparently in the earlier stages of [Read More…]
After the decision to create a new family of infantry weapons for the then-new intermediate 7.62x41mm obr.1943 cartridge (the precursor to 7.62×39), Soviet designers were tasked with creating new kinds of weapons in this chambering, including machine guns, [Read More…]
The SCAR-H, once a secondary requirement for a 7.62×51 conversion for the 5.56mm SOCOM Assault Rifle program, has now been brought to the fore as one of the primary lightweight 7.62x51mm semiautomatic rifle platforms available on both the civilian and military [Read More…]
C Products Defense has released two new 7.62×39 magazines to the market. The new 28 and 20 round magazines are designed to fit in the standard STANAG magazine pouch without issue, unlike previous in-house and competitor designs that were so large they earned the [Read More…]
The Finnish Commander of the Army has announced that the Nordic country will not be purchasing 5.56mm replacements for their existing 7.62x39mm caliber Rk. 62 rifles, but instead will seek to upgrade the venerable Kalashnikov-based Valmet. Altair.com reports (machine [Read More…]
A few months ago, I posted to my personal blog a brief evaluation of the ARAK-21 rifle that I conducted at Faxon’s Las Vegas shooting event, and it seems that since then more reviewers are getting the chance to take the rifle out for a spin. The AK [Read More…]
Reader Retiv sent in a photo he found of a Russian soldier posing with his miscellaneous weapons and equipment. Judging by what is present, the soldier is most likely Russian special forces, or spetsnaz. Of the most note is the extremely rare and virtually never [Read More…]
Previously here at TFB we discussed a well-designed and well-manufactured Czech rifle that made a big difference in the early history of selfloading rifles, the ZH-29. Tim of the Military Arms Channel discusses another Czech rifle that was a particular example of good [Read More…]
Your Privacy Choices