#Misc

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 several years now, but is there any actual use of it outside of recreational conversions? Examples from Iraq and India have shown the conversion kit in active usage by some soldiers within the Iraqi Army, and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, a separatist group in India. I can’t find the photograph that showed an Iraqi soldier with the Roni, but instead found one of a soldier in an Iraqi uniform shooting it at a shooting range. In addition I’ve shown a number of Ronis that have appeared on the Iraqi small arms market, some outfitted to Glock 17s, and others to what appears to be a Walther P99 handgun.

Along with the IAR finalists consisting of Heckler & Koch’s 416, FN’s HAMR, Colt submitted an entry to the Marine Corps Infantry Automatic Rifle competition. Of course, this is ancient history, and H&K won the competition with M27 IAR. However, unlike all the other competitors, Colt’s IAR 6940 submission has actually made it to market, for public sale. Not the entire rifle, but just the upper receiver. The competition uppers used by the Marine Corps must have been returned to Colt, or these were a prototype run that were actually never fired in the competition. But either way, around 150-200 of them are for sale through a company called U.S. Armament Corps, based in Ephrata, PA. The price is $2000, and can be purchased online through the company themselves.

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 actually used by a military (not commercially produced). East Germany took a number of parts from the 7.62x39mm KKMPI 69, and produced a select fire .22 LR trainer, to be used within military marksmanship, and by youth groups within East Germany. Around 50,000 were produced, and at the end of the Cold War it appears all 50,000 were destined to be scrapped. Nevertheless, some made their way to Switzerland, and a very small portion were chopped up, and exported to the United States as parts kits, where there is very little demand or interest in them. Small Arms Review has an excellent and detailed write up of the rifle.

The Pakistani state arms company Pakistan Ordnance Factory has updated their clone of the Israeli Corner Shot weapon system, with their POF Eye system. We covered the POF Eye on TFB back in 2008, but since then the company has been continually updating the design. Most recent is the addition of an LCD screen mounted on the users back, that allows team members behind the user to see what the user is observed through the system. In addition the system now has an ocular device that straps to the user’s helmet, and a battery pack that straps to a vest. The battery pack is configured so a battery can be inserted by the user from above for a quick “reload” of batteries.

Competitive and dynamic long range rifle competition has becoming more active through the Precision Rifle Series, but currently 3 Gun Nation, one of the largest competitive 3 gun organizations will be breaking into the genre. The group has already hosted a successful Long Range competition in November, and will be offering a December competition on the 10th and 11th, with more to come in follow up years. The Long Range competition consists of 3 semi-automatic divisions, and 1 bolt action division, in addition to a pistol stage on all 4 divisions. There is no shotgun as is in traditional 3 gun matches.

Malhama Tactical is a Youtube and Twitter tactical training entity that is the creation of a certain Abu Rofiq, an Uzbek who claims to have served in the Russian Airborne Forces. Rofiq speaks Russian, and all his media is also in Russian, but that doesn’t necessarily explicitly mean he was enlisted in the Russian Army. Russian is a second language to many of the Central Asian Republics, however there was a measure passed by the Russian Government that allowed foreigners to enlist. His “company” bills itself as a tactical consulting company for various groups within Syria. Specifically he allies with Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formally Jabhat al-Nusra. Al-Nusra proclaimed alliances with al-Qaeda but that really appears to be a formality rather than a complete branch of the group in Syria, al-Nusra’s aims and motivations are much more Syrian focused, than al-Qaeda’s MENA and international intentions.

Among a wave of growing enthusiasm for the .300 BLK cartridge, the Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Force have officially approved the purchase and issue of 195 Sig Sauer .300 BLK MCX rifles, with integrated suppressors, and a helmet visor accommodating stock that has previously been seen on the 7.62x39mm variant of the MCX. This type of stock has been popular with many European special operations and police units, due to tactics that require the use of a helmet visor being donned while conducting operations involving smoke or any sort of gas.

Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF), the state owned small arms, light weapons, and ammunition manufacturer has entered into negotiations and a Letter of Understanding to locally produce the CZ 807 rifle, in 7.62x39mm for a Pakistani Army contract, understandably replacing POF’s currently produced under license G3s and Type 56s. This is resulting from a year long process the Pakistani Army has undergone to fielding a new infantry rifle. Original contenders were Zastava, FN Herstal, Beretta, and CZ, among others. From what we see so far, the CZ 807 has been apparently chosen, with the results from the recent International Defense Exhibition & Seminar Exposition 2016 (IDEAS Expo 2016) being held in Karachi.

Nightforce Optics has introduced a universal Scope Wrap for 2017. It is 19″ long, 4.5″ tall, and is adjustable up to 22″ around. The wrap is quite simple when it comes to other competitive wraps in that it can be either used with a velcro attachment system, or a plastic buckle in the same location. It also has a carrying handle affixed to the top of the wrap as well. The inside of the scope wrap is gently padded for protecting the scope and there is ample room on both the objective and ocular lens end to accommodate a wide variety of sizes and diameters depending on manufacturer and model. A number of scope covers have simply been two pieces of material sewn at the front and back, with simple buckle enclosures keeping it on the rifle. This wrap takes into account the contour of the scope much better, in addition to covering the magazine well whether empty or magazine inserted. It also makes a great scope case with the scope completely detached from the rifle. However, it doesn’t come with a suppressor or muzzle cover attached, something that many other  scope covers do come with.

While at the Nightforce 2016 Industry Shoot, there were two incredibly interesting topics that piqued my curiosity. The first one was a drill that involved shooting at a target in defilade from your position. And the second was about am innovator in firearms development who has been all but forgotten about since his departure from it.

Precision Rifle Series has recently announced the 2017 Gas Gun Series. In the world of precision shooting, “gas gun” is used to differentiate from “bolt gun”. But to the rest of us, this simply means any semiautomatic rifle with a high power scope mounted. The Series will have 3 Divisions that shooters can compete under, a Tac Light, Tac Heavy, and an Open Division. The Tac Light is for 5.56x45mm NATO/.223 Rem rifles, Tac Heavy is for 7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Win rifles, and Open is for any rifle up to .30 Caliber, with a muzzle velocity of under 3,200 fps. The official rule book for the 2017 Gas Gun season can be found here. Handguns will be apart of the competition, although competitors really have to only be competent with them, and not ace the handgun matches, to make a difference in the overall scoring.

Something that I think many who carry for self-defense have in mind, is that there is a perceived lack of reality when it comes down to what actually happens in violent encounters. Myself included, I think alot of us sometimes have the idea that any violent self-defense encounter that we could be involved in, will play out like a chess game, with us of course having the upper-hand, due to our knowledge, choice of firearm, holster, etc… etc… However the reality of the matter is that most civilian self defense encounters are over in a matter of seconds. There are all sorts of drills out there trying to get this point across. One of my favorite is the 6 second drill, with 6 rounds at 6 feet, drawing and firing within 6 seconds. In addition, to paraphrase the vast majority of self defense instructors/philosophies, when the time to act defensively has been decided upon, it has to be as violently and as swiftly as possible, until the threat is no longer present (not dead). There is no half way mark when defending your life.

The Rahman Corps is a Syrian Rebel group operating in the Damascus region. It is independent of the Free Syrian Army, but is on friendly terms with the opposition group. Via the group’s Youtube channel, some videos have been released showing what appears to either a century old cannon or an improvised construction of one, fired by a lanyard, mounted on truck with a complex hydraulic assisted system. It is hard to tell at this time if it is muzzle loaded or breech loaded.

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 the remote firing device first came out in September of this year, and were spread on a number of Iranian and French news sources. The Iranian connection to many of the Shi’a militias in Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi is very strong, and is possibly why the photographs are showing up overwhelmingly in Iranian sources.

A small company by the name of IC13 has released a “Pistol Brace Protector” for the Shockwave Blade series of pistol brace stabilizers. Essentially it has a circular like interface that “plugs” into the circular rear space of the Shockwave Blade, while two slots “guide” it into place against the bottom portion, and then a sort of solid backing to provide a way to protect debris from entering the Shockwave Blade, and to let the pistol sit gently on the ground. The entire contraption is made from 6061 aluminum, and appears to be coated in different colors and finishes.