We first reported on the Chiappa 9x19mm NATO Kalashnikov Pistol last year on TFB, promising a review. This review will consist of the Chiappa Pistol with both Glock and CZ magazine inserts. Because the firearm has just been imported into the United States, it [Read More…]
BNTI Arms is a Jacksonville, FL based company that is releasing a dedicated 7.62x39mm AR15 to the public called the AR/AK 7.62 BA Beast Optics Ready Rifle. The company has previously focused on .308 Win and 5.56x45mm NATO rifles in the past and this will be the first [Read More…]
Here follows a short story from a recent visit to the Central Armed Forces Museum. The place is also known as the Museum of the Soviet Army and is located in the northern part of Moscow, close to the Red Army Theater. Lets’ begin with the entrance, where we find a [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern has delivered the first batch of Saiga-12S 12 gauge shotguns to the Indonesian national anti-drug agency (BNN). The amount of purchased shotguns and the prices are not disclosed. Judging from the expression “first batch” the delivery [Read More…]
History certainly does repeat itself, at least where Army procurement is concerned. US Senator from Iowa Joni Ernst has, in an address to Vice Chief of Staff Daniel Allyn on Capitol Hill earlier last week, called for a new upgrade program for the US Army’s [Read More…]
Vitaly Kryuchin, the president of Practical Shooting Federation of Russia (the Russian branch of IPSC), has announced, that Kalashnikov Concern is planning to make an AK-based pump-action rifle for the competition shooters. The new rifle will be called KSZ-223 [Read More…]
On May 8th (Victory Day Eve) Russia will unveil a large monument in the likeness of Mikhail Kalashnikov as a testament to his influence on modern day weapon design and, as the sculptor stated, to commemorate “the struggle of good versus evil”. If my [Read More…]
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. -Murphy’s Law, wording attributed to Major John Paul Stapp Yesterday at TFB, we published an article that I wrote about some of the displays at the Kalashnikov USA booth, specifically criticizing the worryingly poor [Read More…]
Kalashnikov USA had two potentially very exciting rifles at SHOT 2017. Unfortunately, the guns that I got to handle were not so great. After this article was published, I met with Kalashnikov USA’s CEO to discuss the issues with these rifles. Please see the update [Read More…]
Rifle Dynamics hosted a party/show for the companies products after the events of SHOT were over, and thus don’t have a booth on the actual floor. The company is a top notch customized Kalashnikov builder that puts together SBRs to the newest offering of a [Read More…]
Iron Claw Tactical is a Wisconsin based custom firearms company that is coming out with several innovative upgrades for the Kalashnikov platform. Most importantly being their non-rocking magazine well. Kalashnikovs are notorious for the particular method of [Read More…]
The AR-15-style combined safety/selector thumb lever has become a hallmark of modern assault rifle and carbine design, proving to be an ergonomic and simple design for fire control management. However, it wasn’t always that way. The AR-15’s selector lever [Read More…]
Back in September, TFB reader Brandon took us through the history and variations of Russian Kalashnikov magazine patterns in a two part article that’s well worth reading if you haven’t already. Having said that, if you don’t have the patience for [Read More…]
This is the first prototype of the Kalashnikov-AR, KAR-16, in 7,62×39 mm from Finland. Forget the large corporations, this KAR-16 has been designed and built by an enthusiastic gunsmith. I presume the “-16” stands for 2016. Below: Left hand charging [Read More…]
The East German Kleinkaliber-Maschinenpistole Modell 69 .22 Long Rifle Kalashnikov Trainer is one of the more peculiar relics of the Cold War. It is one of the few .22 LR trainers completely modeled after a full size, working issue rifle (not a conversion kit), and [Read More…]
Red Oktober is an entirely Kalashnikov themed competition that took place at Southern Utah Practical Shooting Range in St. George, Utah. It was primarily by Rifle Dynamics, along with a number of other industry sponsors that all pitched in to really support the two day [Read More…]
Dead Air Armament is a Utah based company that makes a number of suppressors for a variety of platforms to include rifles, handguns, and shotguns. We’re written some posts about the company but haven’t been able to get this in-depth with one of their [Read More…]
Joe Firearms is a Utah based company that specializes in outfitting Kalashnikov rifles in addition to offering their own line of AJAK-47 and AJAK-74 rifles. Most significant is their flared magazine well that is welded to the receiver, their extended magazine releases, [Read More…]
Previously, we talked about the word “controllability”, and what it means in relation to the recoil and ergonomic characteristics of a firearm. If you haven’t already read that article, I recommend you click the link here and do so first, as this post [Read More…]
As is common here in the US for our military service rifle, the AR tends to get all the love when it comes to removable optics rails for the “old” style receivers. With easily replaced handguards, various carry handle mounts, and eventually the [Read More…]
Yesterday, we took a close look at the AK’s operating group, to enumerate the details that make this pattern such a dependable design. Today, we’re going to be looking at some of the other elements of the AK that make it so reliable, but first I want to [Read More…]
Today we know the Kalashnikov family of rifles as one of the most successful and reliable weapon families ever designed. Even as the rifle’s legend has begun to be peeled back, the weapon’s reputation for reliability is still largely unquestioned, and many [Read More…]
Last weekend, I took the major arguments of Kalashnikov conspiracy theorists head on, and one of those – which I hear rather frequently – is why he did not design any other weapons besides the AK-47. The reason is… He did. Kalashnikov was a skilled and [Read More…]
Continuing on from where we left off yesterday, in this article we’ll address the arguments that center around the Sturmgewehr’s designer – Hugo Schmeisser – and his career in Izhevsk. Let’s get on with it: 4. The AK-47 looks just [Read More…]
We are all familiar with the standard conspiracy theories: NASA faked the Moon landing on a Hollywood soundstage, President Kennedy was shot by another gunman who was working for the CIA/the mob, all world leaders are actually reptilian aliens from Alpha Centauri, [Read More…]
When the AK-Alfa rifle was announced at Kalashnikov USA’s booth at the 2016 SHOT Show early in the year, it created an enormous buzz. The rifle’s Kalashnikov heritage, sleek looks, and surprise appearance in association with Kalashnikov’s [Read More…]
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of famous AK family of rifles, was born on November 10, 1919. So in 2019 it will be 100 years since M. Kalashnikov was born. To celebrate the 100th birthday of the ingenious firearms designer, Russian president Vladimir Putin has [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…]
Fresh, and exclusive to TFB, pictures of the Kalashnikov Group’s Saiga MK 107 at the Army-2016 Expo combined with some history and background. In 2015, as a competitor in the European IPSC Rifle Championships (Hungary), I had the opportunity to test the Saiga MK [Read More…]
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