#MAG

Lancer Systems has updated their L5 Advanced Warfighter Magazine with a new Gen 2 version. Like the prior version, it combines steel feed lips with a polymer body. The L5AWM Gen 2 offers updated feed lip geometry and refined design compared to the original.

The world is hungry for visual storytelling, and TFB’s Photo Of The Day does its best to keep the feed live. The Latvian National Defense Academy (NDA), also known as the Latvijas Nacionālā Aizsardzības akadēmija in Latvian, is an educational institution dedicated to providing military and security education and training in Latvia. It serves as the primary institution for the professional development and education of military officers, non-commissioned officers, and civilian personnel in the Latvian National Armed Forces.

.44mag is usually anything but meh. But Fiocchi manages to make it mediocre.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 to the High Threat Concealment booth.

Magazines are widely regarded as one of the most likely points of failure in a semi-automatic firearm. It is for this reason that using quality magazines is so important for both sport shooters and those carrying a firearm for self defense.

The Russian PKM: Arguably the best general purpose machine gun in the world, it combines a robust reliability with best-in-class light weight. Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons recently released two video overviews of the weapon, giving us a good enough excuse as any to spend some time with the Soviet showstopper:

After World War II, the UK sought to modernize its small arms, many of which were based on designs originating from before the First World War. For its medium machine gun, the British were still using the reliable but increasingly obsolete Vickers water cooled gun in .303 caliber. With the adoption of the 7.62 NATO by the UK, trials were held to select a new air-cooled general purpose machine gun, which resulted in the adoption of the excellent Belgian MAG. In these trials, however, was tested a belt-fed variant of the magazine-fed Bren gun, called the X11E4. This gun is the subject of an article over at The Armourer’s Bench, as well as an accompanying TAB video, embedded below:

Anyone carrying for over a decade has likely gone through quite a few magazine pouches.  If one has carried a multitool daily, one has probably experienced the carrier wearing out or falling apart over time.  I have had all kinds of pouches over the years: nylon, leather, polymer, kydex, closed-top, open.  I’ve even been mandated to have “basket weave” magazine pouches on my old Sam Browne for work.  Most of the magazine pouches I’ve had over the years were model specific, or at least differentiated between working with single or double-stack mags. I’ve even had some double stack magazines, like those for the FNP-45 or USP-45 for example, not fit in pouches that supposedly take all double stack magazines.

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!

This is a guest article from our reader Brandon covering the development of metallic magazines for the AK-47 and AKM rifles. Thanks, Brandon!

As has recently been explained, terminology is important – and not only because I say it is. Seeing the use of correct terminology as either a nuisance or something not worth the effort of learning has a way of breaking things down not only within the industry but outside it. For example, countless members of the mainstream media enjoy referring to the ArmaLite Rifle as an assault rifle. More fiction authors than I care to consider apparently think they don’t need to know which end of the gun the bullet exits to write about guns, and the results are fairly disastrous. But it isn’t just about those who report or write; this is about the fact that you do not refer to a hammer as a screwdriver, a dog as a cat, or a rattlesnake as a worm. Words matter. After all, if you describe a malfunction simply as a “jam” I won’t be able to help you without finding out what actually happened.

We’ve all gone through them – failures in our firearms. Whether it’s a failure to feed, failure to eject, or even a trigger failing to fully reset, problems happen. In order to combat those issues we do everything from swapping out components to using different brands and types of ammunition. Of course, some companies create products specifically designed to stave off failures. Gun Pro is one such company. They created the Sure Fire Anti Nose-Dive Magazine which is meant to prevent feed-related failures.

Odds are good you have an AR-15 – or two, or three – in your gun safe. One of the great things about the popularity of the AR-15 is the not only the number of options out there for purchasing the gun itself but the phenomenal number of after-market parts. You certainly have options when it comes to after-market additions to your AR and when it comes to stocks those options are practically endless. But can your stocks do what the new FAB Defense stock does?F

In October, I traveled out to see my co-writer Alex C. to collect data on the weights of different long guns and some of their components. Over that weekend, I weighed 58 rifles and submachine guns, and numerous magazines, bolts, bolt carriers, and other miscellaneous items. The purpose of this was not only to collate a general list of the weights of different weapons, but to be able to enhance the accuracy of a previous spreadsheet I’d produced showing the loaded “combat” weights of different rifles; that being available at this link.

In November last year I reported on a tip I received that the French Army was about to purchase over 10,000 FN Mag machine guns. This deal has now been made public. The French are purchasing 10,881 machine guns from FN for 100 million Euros! The contract most likely also includes spare parts and training. These will replace the aging AANF1 machine guns.