In January, just before the 2017 SHOT Show, I got the opportunity to travel to Cody Wyoming to visit the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, to see some of their rare firearms and bring photos of them to our readers. Today we’re taking a [Read More…]
The American company Aeroscraft, founded by an immigrant from Ukraine, and the State owned company Ukroboronservis will co-operate to produce M4 carbines to NATO standard. The production will take place in Ukraine, and is a start to NATO-ify the Ukranian Army. The M4 [Read More…]
World War II, as the name implies, was a tremendous conflict with gigantic leaps forward in both technologies and the tactics that went along with them. As a result of the conflict, infantry-troops carried, shoulder-fired semi-automatic firearms became the norm, first [Read More…]
The U.S. Army hosted the annual Best Squad Competition in Grafenwoehr, Germany with teams going head-to-head in 30 different challenges. This years competition, which emphasizes joint readiness and on bringing NATO partners together, focused on sniper team [Read More…]
Background: You may remember NATO’s “Powered Rail Team”, consisting of 10 nations with the common goal of bringing forward a STANAG (NATO standardization document) for a Powered Accessory Rail for small firearms? Think a Picatinny rail, but with power [Read More…]
Modern? Sure, but let’s take a step back… Way back. It’s 1890 and smokeless powder has just been invented. There’s this guy named Rubin going around and spreading the gospel of the small caliber, high velocity .30″ bore round. You’re [Read More…]
On Saturday we looked at one British “contender” which could have in some alternate reality become the NATO standard round, and today we’re going to look at another: The 4.85x49mm. After the United States adopted the .223 Remington round as the [Read More…]
Today on an extra special episode of Historical Intermediate Calibers, we’ll be taking a look at one of the most controversial experimental military rounds, one that many believe should have become the standard for the Western World at the beginning of the Cold [Read More…]
“Nathaniel’s starting another series? Oh brother…” Bear with me. I think that there is a lot of rhetoric thrown around with regards to modern defensive/military calibers that exists apart from the necessary additional data and context of the [Read More…]
We have been covering the US Army’s latest M855A1 and M80A1 “Enhanced Performance Rounds” (EPRs) here at TFB for the past few years. We’ve seen how in independent tests both M855A1 and M80A1 fragment early, thanks to their yaw-independent [Read More…]
One week ago, we reported that Remington had distributed letters to owners of the troubled first generation R51 pistols that their replacements from the new second-generation were ready to be shipped. Since then, YouTuber and R51 buyer RyeOnHam has received his second [Read More…]
S&T Motiv, the successor to Korean defense company Daewoo Precision Industries, was showing off a new variant of their K2 rifle that equips the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, alongside the M16A1 which remains in use with second-line units. The new rifle is called [Read More…]
The US Army’s Modular Handgun System is slated to move forward, downselecting in August of this year from a reported 12 submitted proposals to only three, in preparation for the final competition. The program solicitation was released in September with a deadline [Read More…]
The venerable SVD “Dragunov” (after its designer, Yevgeny Dragunov) was one of the first successful squad designated marksman’s rifles ever developed, and it spawned numerous copycats and competitors. In the more than half-century after it was [Read More…]
A trend towards ever more powerful and longer-ranged ammunition was cut short by the realities of the First World War: Technologies not previously invented or accounted for, such as the man-reaping machine gun and the portable infantry mortar, made the existing infantry [Read More…]
Håkan Spuhr, owner of Spuhr shared this on Facebook and Instagram and it’s worth considering: “Top is NATO drawing of Stanag 4694, the back compatible replacement for Picatinny Mil-std 1913. Lower is one “so called picatinny” and there is a lot [Read More…]
As temperatures plunge below 30 degrees celsius, men and women from 11 different nations converge in Norway to learn how to fight in freezing conditions. Norway’s winter warriors show them how it’s done. Here is a little video clip of some of the [Read More…]
Fabryka Broni of Poland is eyeing more than just the 5.56mm market with its new MSBS rifle; the arms maker just announced a new, larger variant of the rifle chambered for the more powerful 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, called MSBS-7.62. Both assault and designated marksman [Read More…]
The Czech government has made its first purchase of the new CZ 806 Bren 2 improved 5.56mm infantry rifles. The new weapons will complement the older 805 Bren model, while replacing it in production for the Army of The Czech Republic. Jane’s reports: The Army of [Read More…]
Gun blogger superstar Eric of the Iraqveteran8888 YouTube channel is happy to once again get behind a rifle going cyclic until failure. This time, Eric’s victim is a Vepr 7.62×39 AK rifle made by Molot and modified by Copper Custom. Those who watch these [Read More…]
Heckler & Koch has had an unusual relationship with the striker-fired handgun. The world’s first polymer-framed striker-fired production pistol, the VP70, was an H&K, and what many consider to be the company’s finest handgun ever, the P7, was also [Read More…]
Broń i Amunicja posted to their Facebook page pictures of two of the early H&K prototypes that led to the G36, originally called “HK50”. The posts, and photos, are embedded below: The G36 is currently embroiled in controversy, as the von der Leyen-led [Read More…]
Poland is seeking to adopt a new sniper rifle as part of its modernization program. The new rifle, the tender for which was released earlier this week, will fire .338 Lapua Magnum and, with a conversion kit, 7.6x51mm NATO. Jane’s reports: Poland has begun a tender [Read More…]
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…]
Daniel Defense has released its highly anticipated 7.62mm rifle, the DD5V1. It features a 4-bolt mount for the front handguard that is integral to the upper receiver forging, and a cold-hammer-forged barrel. Black Creek, GA- Daniel Defense—engineer and manufacturer of [Read More…]
At this point, I’ve written relatively few articles about small arms design in general, due to my time going to a certain other writing project. However, small arms design and theory has always captivated me, since the beginning of my interest in firearms. Ian [Read More…]
The Imbel IA2, a 5.56mm caliber distant relative of the FAL which has been in development since 2008, has officially been standardized by the Brazilian Army. From IHS Jane’s: The Brazilian Army approved the IA2 5.56×45 mm assault rifle, developed by [Read More…]
The woes continue for famed gunmaker Heckler & Koch. Apparently, the Bundeswehr’s procurement of the new HK121 7.62x51mm machine gun, designated MG5, has been delayed significantly, though the reasons why are vague. DW.com reports: According to the [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…]
Heckler & Koch’s recently released P30SK is the subcompact version of their hammer-fired mid-sized P30 9mm handgun. The P30SK shares its basic design features with the P30, but has a shorter 3.27″ barrel and shorter grip with a 10-round double stack [Read More…]
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