For years we at TFB have closely followed India’s struggles to select a new service rifle to replace the 5.56x45mm INSAS which has gained a questionable reputation over the years. Numerous home-grown rifles such as the Indian Ordnance Factories Board-designed [Read More…]
The Chukavin Sniper Rifle (SVCh) is a DMR that was designed to replace the venerable SVD in the Russian military. We have covered the life of this rifle from its development history to its adventures in Russian military trials. Today, we’ll tell you about another [Read More…]
Welcome to another edition of TFB’s Field Strip series, in which we’ll look at the simplistic field strip AK rifles and pistols adhere to. Mikhail Kalashnikov‘s AK47 has become one of the most recognizable and iconic rifles and fielded by many nations, [Read More…]
Today’s Photo Of The Day gives us a top view of an AK (Type 56) with the dust cover removed and with & without bolt/recoil spring assembly. If you’re a collector you should own some kind of “Back To Basic” firearm, like the AK pictured. My [Read More…]
Kalashnikov USA had a number of different offerings this year, everything from an all-American 7.62x39mm AKM rifle to competition entries from Decedent Arms who are putting their competition modifications to the AK-patterned platforms. Probably the most important point that readers are interested in [Read More…]
“PAPER BOOKS ARE DYING” – I keep hearing that over and over again. In a way it makes sense, but in the last few years, when I started doing more serious research about small arms (serious meaning just one level above articles like “The Deadliest [Read More…]
A White Russian is a cocktail made with vodka, some kind of coffee liqueur and cream served with lots of ice, preferably in an old fashioned type of glass. However, in TFB’s Photo Of The Day we don’t mix drinks, we try to show you the best firearm’s [Read More…]
100 years ago, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was born. He died in 2013 at the age of 94. This is the subject in today’s Photo. In memory of this event, there will be a statue raised in St Petersburg, Russia which you can see above. Translated from Russian: A [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Media, apparently inspired by IV8888, conducted a meltdown test of AK-12, the latest iteration of Kalashnikov rifle that was recently adopted by the Russian military. They fired this 5.45x39mm rifle in full-auto rapidly changing the magazines until the [Read More…]
POTD, short for Photo Of The Day, is TFB’s recurring articles where we go to great length trying to find the best pictures out there. Today we look at a combat swimmer of the PDSS detachment from the Arctic group of the Northern Fleet during an exercise in the Bering [Read More…]
In 1965 the Finnish Army adopted the 7.62x39mm Valmet RK62, and it has been produced in volumes over 350,000 by Valmet and Sako in Finland. As with many “modern” firearms, the RK62s have been in need of upgrades and modernization, and after years of planning [Read More…]
Just earlier this week Kalashnikov announced its own line of rifle cartridges. Well, actually the Tula factory will be packaging their ammunition into boxes with the Kalashnikov logo. It’s a marketing trick used by many other ammunition manufacturers as well, to [Read More…]
In our day and age, it is hard to imagine that some weapons still remain literally unknown to the general public. It seems that because of TFB, “Forgotten weapons” and other specialty gun blogs, no weapon is truly forgotten anymore. That is why I was really [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day – we travel to Al Taqaddum, Iraq, to look at Iraqi Security Forces who practice combat marksmanship with AK-47 assault rifles earlier this year. The range training is part of the development of the Iraqi soldiers’ individual skills and [Read More…]
Wooden stocks on AKs are nothing new, neither are side folding stocks. However, the combination of both is something that simply doesn’t exist (not counting the custom made ones). Well, didn’t exist: Kalashnikov Concern has released a limited edition [Read More…]
Today’s Photos brings us to Russia and Patriot Park outside Moscow. Last year, The Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the center to experience the latest developments of the Russian Concern Kalashnikov. The Patriot Park can best be described as a Disney [Read More…]
With a name like Kalashnikov USA, what kind of guns do you expect? Yes, the Soviet kind… I had the good fortune of going to check out their factory in Florida. Kalashnikov USA, while they used to be an importer, now is a manufacturer. They currently, 2019, produce their KS-12 Shotgun, [Read More…]
Today’s guest post is written by Andrey Ulanov. Andrey is a firearms enthusiast, historian, researcher and writer. He is the author of numerous interesting small arms articles in various websites. Here is an example of an article written by Andrey. Let’s [Read More…]
For many years we at TFB have been following the progress of Venezuela’s efforts to build a factory and produce AK-pattern rifles. In recent years 2019 has been the projected start date for production. Well, it’s now 2019 and according to Russian media [Read More…]
Last year we reported that Saudi Arabia had entered into an agreement with Russian small arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern’s parent company, signing a memorandum between Saudi Arabian Military Industries and Russian Rosoboronexport State Corporation. With the [Read More…]
It’s a well-known fact that the AR is categorically superior to the AK and the Kalashnikov is suitable only for dirty commies and the poors. There are a lot of reasons for this fact, but today we are going to focus on reliability and the ballistic differences between common FMJ for AKs and [Read More…]
I don’t think Hornady manufactures the Zombie Max any longer, but I have some stock of various calibers. They look really good on pictures, like Today’s Photo Of The Day. Those with very good knowledge of firearms will notice that the magazines are for two [Read More…]
AK-12 and AK-15 rifles were adopted by the Russian military at the beginning of the current year. These rifles inherited the best features of the AKM/AK-74 and added a number of small design changes that bring the good old AK to the 21st century. Although most of these [Read More…]
Recently, on September 19, Russians celebrated a very unusual annual holiday – “The Gunsmith day”. As usual, I tried to use this opportunity to shoot some interesting weapons and get some footage. The project was named “Kalashnikov [Read More…]
In the last 20 years, the market of weapons accessories expanded dramatically: grips, stocks, red dot sights and lasers, slings, handguards, and countless other products filled gun shops and online stores, giving gun owners an opportunity to spend much more money [Read More…]
Larry Vicker‘s guide of the Kalashnikov (Volume 1) is now ready to be delivered to your coffee table. This book will stand out on any table or shelf, in its Red Alert-red, full of AKs and AKMs. According to himself it’s the best book yet, and with 360 pages [Read More…]
We’ve been comparing the guns of the Fallout series of post-apocalyptic video games to their real-world counterparts and today we’re going to examine the handmade rifle. The Fallout universe is brutal and the Nuka-World DLC for Fallout 4 is even more ruthless. At the risk of spoiling the story [Read More…]
A gripe a lot of AK owners have is not being able to easily suppress their boomsticks. With unique left-hand thread pitches, most of us in the US are short on resources to change out muzzle devices. It makes sense that many AK platforms have muzzles like this since they [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern has announced that production of their 9x19mm PL-15 pistol has been given the green light. The Russian Military sees the pistol as promising, however, they have not yet expressed public interest. The Russian Military currently uses the Makarov and [Read More…]
Currently boosting a force of over 30,000 fighters, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) has always been a force of reckoning on the Burmese border with China. And although arms production among the Wa (northern Shan State) isn’t a new or hot topic (this [Read More…]