Essentially Yugoslavian 7.62x39mm M70B1 rifles, the Tabuk series of small arms were produced in Iraq, with the help of Yugoslavian engineers in the late 1970s, just in time for the Iran-Iraq conflict that endured for an agonizing decade afterward. There were different iterations of the Tabuk, the [Read More…]
Like many Vets these days, Steve Russell was very frustrated that he or any of the soldiers under his command couldn’t actually bring back captured rifles from their campaigns overseas, unlike previous generations of American infantrymen. So if you can’t bring back rifles, maybe the next [Read More…]
A recent photograph has been posted on the Kurdish forum Kurdistan Sky Scrapers depicting a Peshmerga fighter with a Beretta Defense Technology 5.56x45mm NATO ARX 160A2 with a 12 inch barrel instead of a standard 16 inch. The rifle sports factory sights, and has an [Read More…]
The war in Syria and Iraq has seen the development of a whole range of scratchbuilt and improvised weapons that are as ingenious as they are destructive. Recently, a kind of serially-produced rocket launcher has come to light as part of Da’ish (ISIS) propaganda, [Read More…]
The State Department and Department of Defense have announced a planned sale of almost $300 million of defense materials through the Republic of Iraq to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Peshmerga. The article specifically states that the deal is to [Read More…]
In a recent announcement, the U.S. Government has released a 7 million dollar award modification notice for Colt Defense’s over 35 million dollar contract to provide M4 and M4A1s in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. This modification notice specifically [Read More…]
Much of the recent discourse regarding the future of infantry combat has centered around the long engagement distances encountered during the Afghan campaign, and the rise of designated marksmen as key elements in the infantry squad. However, arguably more important [Read More…]
Defense Blog has published evidence that Iraqi security forces are using a counter drone gun to aid in the fight against the so-called Islamic State’s many hobby drones that are either acting as forward observers for the terrorist group or weaponized themselves [Read More…]
A number of AR15s that have been turning up in Iraq appear to be counterfeit products but are in the markets and treated as legitimate production versions of the rifle companies the producers are seeking to counterfeit. Some of them are very small differences, only [Read More…]
Recent social media activity has indicated at least one Chinese 7.62x39mm Type 74 for sale through the online gun markets of Baghdad. At a casual first glance the light machine gun appears to be an RPK. But upon closer inspection one will notice the oddly shaped carry [Read More…]
This image was captured by U.S. Army soldiers on post outside Mosul, Iraq and ran in Stripes. A seemingly very uninteresting image apart from the Drone Defender propped up against the concrete wall. Due to Daesh’s increasingly lethal use of drones not just for [Read More…]
I challenge you to watch the above video, and tell me the majority of the tactics, gear, people, and location couldn’t have been easily mistaken for a large training center in the United States, such as Gunsite, Blackwater. The Erbil Training Center (ETC) claims [Read More…]
Converting handguns into a carbine like form is nothing new, going back at least to the Civil War with various attempts at installing a stock and longer barrel on revolvers in use at the time. Command Arms Accessories has been brining to market their Roni kit for [Read More…]
Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi translates to “Popular Mobilization Forces” and is an Iraqi Government sponsored umbrella group composed of people’s militia, to augment Iraqi Military forces in the fight against the so called Islamic State. Photographs of [Read More…]
Noori Sabeh (نوري النقاش) is a professional engraver in Iraq who has made his presence on social media with some excellent engraving work considering the lack of access to materials and tools otherwise very prevalent in Europe and North America. The majority [Read More…]
If you looked at this photograph and thought to yourself, “This looks like a 40x46mm Low Velocity grenade launcher, but it is unlike any launcher currently used by any Military/LE force”, then you’d be halfway to a solid conclusion. However if you are [Read More…]
Photos from a backyard gunsmith in Iraq are showing a myriad of customization on Kalashnikovs, Lee Enfields (No.1 SMLEs and No.4s) and Mosin Nagants in some very interesting ways. Attempts to add picatinny rails, scopes, thumbhole stocks, forward grips, and bullpup [Read More…]
Iraq may not have the best manufacturing resources among countries that produce small arms, but that hasn’t kept one Iraqi designer from trying his best to bring locally made firearms for the fight against Daesh, now coming to a climax in the ongoing battle of [Read More…]
A recent news article has highlighted the efforts of a company in Oklahoma in replicating the Iraqi Tabuk service rifle, a Saddam Hussein era Iraqi Kalashnikov. The Tabuk is readily identifiable from the myriad of other Kalashnikov copies from the Yugoslavian pistol [Read More…]
The battle for Mosul in Iraq is going on right now, being fought by Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga, and some Turkish elements against entrenched Daesh right now. However, there is a significant amount of international coalition SF groups that are helping these local [Read More…]
The VHS-2 assault rifle is made in Croatia. The same people that make the HS and XDM pistols. No, not Springfield Armory but HS products. The VHS-2 in the photo above is the VHS-K2. It is a bullpup rifle chambered in 5.56. It has some features found in other firearms. [Read More…]
Footage from Iraq is showing the Korean company S&T Motiv’s (previously Daewoo Precision) K2C select fire carbine being used by both Iraqi special operations troops from the Golden Brigade against the Islamic State, and by the Islamic State themselves. The [Read More…]
The Kalashnikov platform continues to boggle the mind with the amount of practical use it has, from popping bottle caps open with a protruding metal device in front of the magazine well, to using the metal magazines as a frying pan for food over a fire. In this case, [Read More…]
The pictures are a couple of years old (prior 2009), but interesting nonetheless. Apparently it is a picture from a seized weapons cache in Iraq, later in the war due to the ACU helmet cover on the kevlar laying on the floor. The gas tube is completely removed so [Read More…]
Medium.com has a very interesting blog post about a Kurdish gunsmith … Even though the war effort has brought new and varied business to his gun shop, Bakhtiar says his craft is one that will never go away. “My business will not stop, even if the war with ISIS [Read More…]
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz makes and repairs firearms in Kurdistan. His customers include Kurdish Peshmerga Soldiers. Bakhtiar has been running the family business after his father, Sadradin, was imprisoned for 14 years by the Baathists for repairs of Peshmerga weapons. [Read More…]
This picture of a Peshmerga fighter sporting a slick hair do and an oddly configured AK-47 with AR-15 parts and other tacticool doodads was posted on Reddit recently. It also looks like it’s missing the pistol grip and has an AR carry handle attached to the top [Read More…]
American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood biography of late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, roused a lot of attention among Iraqi audiences, despite the subject matter of US-occupied Iraq. According to the New York Post, the film drew Iraqi cinema patrons in a big way: [Read More…]
Is the M16A4 worth the extra weight and length it brings? Howard of LooseRounds has weighed in with an article relating some of his experiences with the rifle. His conclusion is as follows: I have often told people that the M4 is a jack of all trade, but master of [Read More…]
Thanks to USMC03Vet for this photo of his patrol loadout … Picture of my OIF Fallujah patrol loadout with a very worn M16A4 and aluminum mags. Certainly not high speed low drag compared to what is available today, but thought showing well worn weapons of war [Read More…]
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