Following military trials, especially historical ones, is a wonderful way to learn what not to do for weapons design. While some trails produce a few good offerings like the Garand/Pederson trials, most tend to quickly weed out the inferior designs (like the MHS’s [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…]
Obviously, these images from Technostudio Engineering are just CAD renderings of what someday might come to life as a real pistol. Even still, they are quite beautiful and evoke thoughts of Bond villains or intergalactic battles between good (obviously humans) and evil [Read More…]
Pictured are several homemade firearms discovered by police in the cellar of a 70 year old man in Italy who was arrested following an altercation with a neighbor. Impressive are several large entirely handmade revolvers which appear to be chambered for .410 shotgun [Read More…]
An Italian company called TSK makes a competition O&U shotgun stock, which is adjustable in any imaginable way. With the number of adjustability options it offers, it should be possible to tune it for virtually any shooter. Let’s take a look at its [Read More…]
In 2014 I saw the first Breda AR-15s at the IWA exhibition. Probably most famous for their semi-automatic hunting shotguns, it was a bit of a surprise to find AR-15s in Breda’s stand. Named the “B4 line” they are considered as as relatively [Read More…]
These days, it’s easy to forget that once upon a time at the dawn of the smokeless powder era there was a huge variety of bolt-action repeating rifles being developed to re-arm the military powers of the world. While the Mauser 98 and its progeny eventually took [Read More…]
While today the Italian company Franchi is not a heavy-hitting military small arms manufacturer, in the mid-1950s the company did produce some very interesting rifles, carbines, and submachine guns for the military market. The most recognizable of these is the LF-57 [Read More…]
This is part 3 of the “Country Rifles” by Rainier Arms and Blown Deadline as shown at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016. Let’s start the third part with some “Mamma Mia” from Italy. Fortis REV II Free Float Rail. Like the french rifle (not [Read More…]
This is part 2 of the “Country Rifles” by Rainier Arms and Blown Deadline as shown at the IWA exhibition in Germany 2016. Part 1 can be found here. Bonjour! Some Freedom Fries with your SBR? Aimpoint Micro T-2 2 MOA on top. French flag. Together with [Read More…]
At the IWA exhibition in Germany, the Italian-based company Tanfoglio presented their new AR-15. I had the opportunity to sit down with the owner Massimo Tanfoglio, as well with the product manager for their new AR-15 line of sporting rifles. The Tanfoglio AR-15 series [Read More…]
At the Italian HIT Show 2016 Glock showed the Glock 43 in 9×21 mm. HIT Show = Hunting – Individual Protection – Target Sports. The 9×21 mm caliber also known as the 9×21 mm IMI or 9 mm IMI. In Italy the 9×19 mm Parabellum ammunition is [Read More…]
This week, C&Rsenal takes a look at the Italian Bodeo revolver, an interesting transitional type that served all the way through the 1960s. Today, the revolver is a gun that has been virtually perfected for well over a century. While it may seem like this was always [Read More…]
Here’s a very neat little takedown gun seized by police in Italy which is entirely handmade, fits in a backpack and is chambered for either .22lr or .22 hornet. Intended varmint may or may not have included local magistrates.
Previously, we looked at the Breda Model 39, an Italian rifle that competed against what would become the Beretta BM-59 in a bid to be the Italian military rifle of the 1950s and ’60s. TFB friend Trevor Weston sends along more photos of three Italian rifles [Read More…]
Trevor Weston sends us more information on obscure Italian prototypes, this time two general purpose machine guns design by Breda. Trevor’s contact Vic Tuff writes: The Breda machine guns are very interesting and the LMG version has a definite ‘Bren’ [Read More…]
ARpilot sent us this photo of a Thompson submachine gun Model 1919 replica being used by reenactors celebrating the anniversary of the liberation of Italy. He wrote … Today, April 25, 2015, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of my country from the [Read More…]
LifeSizePotato is the YouTube channel of a collector of rare, antique, unusual, and high quality handguns, which hosts video reviews of the weapons he collects. This week, he stepped outside of his box a little bit to review the Strike One handgun, a modern polymer [Read More…]
The Italian Media are upset that Armalite used a photo of Michelangelo’s David in an advertisement for their AR-50A1 .50 BMG rifle. The UK Guardian newspaper, with all the hyperbole they could muster, likened this a worse affront that when the statue was [Read More…]
Italian firm BCM Europe Arms was exhibiting their Extreme rifle at the Italian gun expo EXA 2012 which finished earlier this week. The Extreme Rifle is a competition rifle and is chambered in .338 Lapua Mag. (27.5″ barrel), .408 Chey-Tac (27.5″ barrel) and [Read More…]
The pistol-sized rifle craze is hitting Europe. Beretta has revealed that they are developing a .22 LR pistol based on the Beretta ARX-160 rifle. I do not think the receiver or internals will be compatible with the full size 5.56mm ARX-160. A 7.62x39mm lower for the [Read More…]
The CompBullet is an interesting bullet made by an Italian company. The bullets, made from a solid copper alloy, have vents machined into them. According to the company, these vents reduce friction by allowing gas to lubricate the bullet as it passes through the barrel [Read More…]
The Beretta is now producing ARX160 carbines in a Tan / Flat Dark Earth color. The light-brown colored rails and backup iron sights are a very nice touch. [ Many thanks to Starik for the photos. ]
I knew when I said that the Browning was the first post-patent Inertia operated shotgun, a reader would find one produced earlier 😉 A reader pointed out the SI 12 shotgun made by the Italian firm Marocchi since 2009. You readers are just to clever for me. [ Many [Read More…]
Gun archaeologists Max Popenker and Anthony Williams uncovered a previously unknown prototype machine gun that dates back to WWII. Max blogged the below photos, but is tight lipped about the details. The gun will be featured in their upcoming book Sub-Machine Gun. This [Read More…]
Paolo spotted the FABARM Martial Ultra Short 14″ SBS (short barreled shotgun) at the EXA 2011 gun expo in Italy. The pump-action shotgun fits five 3″ 12 gauge rounds into its magazine that is just slightly shorter than the 14″ barrel. The heat shield [Read More…]
It is officially Guns-In-Castles week at The Firearm Blog. YamaLink emailed in a photo he took last week of some very old pistols that are on display at the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia (the Palace of the Doge) in Venice, Italy. Beautiful pieces. [ Many thanks to YamaLink. [Read More…]
New in the US from Fausti … Sleek and fast pointing, the Caledon is offered in 12, 16, 20, 28 gauge and .410 bore. All receivers are scaled to the gauge except the .410 bore, which is on a scaled 28 gauge receiver. All guns feature a 14-1/2” length of pull, [Read More…]
The F.LLI Pietta’s MK-85 is a .22 LR pistol that is a scaled down semi-automatic clone of the British Sterling submachine gun. Its single stack magazine holds 15 rounds. The barrel is 7″ long. It weighs 3 lbs. Apparently the F.A.P. (Fabbrica d’Armi [Read More…]
The Italian Army has started adopting the next-gen Beretta ARX-160 assault rifle. Shooting Wire reports … The Italian Ministry of Defense has become the first military group to receive shipments of Beretta’s new ARX-160 automatic rifle. The first 1,600 units [Read More…]
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