Izhmash has unveiled a prototype sniper rifle called the VS-121. This bullpup rifle uses an action based on the Dragunov sniper rifle action. With its heavy profile 24.4″ barrel it weights just under 10 lbs. It will be chambered for 7.62x54mm, 7.62x51mm and a [Read More…]
Molot has made some changes to their Vepr-12 IPSC Special Edition shotgun. The Magpul stock has been replaced with a FAB Defense GLR-16 stock and the oversized muzzle brake has been replaced with a smaller muzzle brake/flash hider. The Vepr-12 IPSC [Read More…]
Beretta just announced that they have opened a new Beretta Flagship Store in Moscow. I don’t know what gun shops in Europe and Russia generally look like, but I could get used to shopping in a gun store that had marble floors and chandeliers! The store is [Read More…]
English Russia has posted photos of Russian Marines training with firearms near Vladivostok … While on the subject of Russian, here is an interesting video about Russia’s high caliber rifles … [ Many thanks to Rolf and Sven (Defence and Freedom) for [Read More…]
Syrian rebels have gotten their hands on the large Russian OSV-96 12.7x108mm anti-material rifle and have wasted no time in parading the gun in front of cameras. The OSV-96 is notable for its hinged barrel. The barrel can fold back 180 degrees reducing its length to [Read More…]
Putin has publicly given his support to the proposed merger of Izhmash and Izhmekh (known as Baikal outside Russia) into a new company called Kalashnikov. Defense News reports … Putin gave his initial support to an idea of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin for [Read More…]
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919. He turned 93 a few days ago.
A Russian inventor emailed me photos of his patent-pending bullet design. These bullets are loaded in 12.7×108mm cases. The inventor did not explain to me how this design is beneficial but according to a study done by the US Military in the 1950s (PDF Link), the center [Read More…]
Members of Russia’s special forces groups competed against each other practical shooting competition. It is interesting to see how Russia’s elite choose to customize their AK-74 rifles. Photos by Oswald … [ Many thanks Val for the tip. ]
There are some nifty sniper rifles being developed in Russia. Vitaly V. Kuzmin took some beautiful photos of rifles at the Armorer’s Day Snipers’ Contests in Russia. Many more photos from the event at Vitaly’s blog. [ Many thanks to Boris for the tip. [Read More…]
Izhmash have created a video showing their upcoming AK-74M airsoft gun that is said to be made with many of the same parts as their “real steel” AK-74s. The AK-74M will weigh 8 lbs, has a magazine capacity of 600 6mm BBs and has up to 3 joules of muzzle [Read More…]
The Izhevsk Shooting Club has produced a high quality seven part video series on the disassembly and reassembly of the AN-94 rifle. Unfortunately it is all in Russian, but most TFB readers will be able to follow what is being explained the first four parts of the [Read More…]
The Saiga 12 C EXP 01 is the latest military/law enforcement version of the Saiga shotgun from Izhmash. It features a short (14″?) barrel with muzzle brake, folding skeleton stock, receiver rail and AK-style forend with under rail. [ Many thanks to Lionel for the [Read More…]
Earlier this year I wrote about some Glock pistols said to be made in Russia that had the “Made in Austria” suspiciously dremeled off the frame. It looks like Glock is now officially making “Assembled in Russia” frames. Photos from GlockMeister [Read More…]
The latest version of the SR Submachine Gun from Russian design bureau TsNIITochMash is the SR 3 MP. The new MP model features a scope rail, two side accessory rail and, most notably, an optional underfolding stock instead of the side folder of the previous 3M model (or [Read More…]
Russian Defence Report published new photos of the Suppressed .50 cal VKS sniper rifle. [ Many thanks to Albi for emailing us the link. ]
The Small Arms Defense Journal have published a fascinating review of the mysterious Russian underwater guns. They were able to test fire these guns at a (above water) range. I was expecting these guns to have far less range than the powerful spear guns used by Tuna [Read More…]
[ Many thanks to Halfbear for emailing us the link. ]
The Russian Ministry of Defense is destroying stockpiles of weapons to create jobs for the Soviet-era gun manufacturers. Marco Vorobiev reports … The Russian Ministry of Defense intends to utilize (read destroy and melt down) 4 million older model guns by the year [Read More…]
Sven emailed us this beautiful photo of the AO-46 Personal Defense Weapon. The Personal Defense Weapon was designed by Peter Andreevich Tkachev, the same engineer who developed the balanced recoil system used in the AK-107. Its most striking feature is that the [Read More…]
wayfaerer320 posted photos of the St. Petersburg Open Championship. The police and counter-terrorism officers are carrying some really tricked out AK-style rifles with plenty of AR-15 accessories added. Magpul stocks are popular (with an AK stock adapter) as are EOTech [Read More…]
Izhmash public relations has already begun defending the bankrupt company. A photo essay at English Russia defends the company and portrays it as a thriving company and model employer. Apparently the average monthly wage at Izhmash is $530 USD. Some specialists (which I [Read More…]
Arms historian Max Popenker read my blog post about the Australian company that claims to have produced recoilless firearms and immediately came up with three patents for recoiless guns going back to 1908. Both involve pushing a lot of mass forward to counter the recoil [Read More…]
Russian firm Arsenal Firearms have official specifications of the Strike One pistol have been published. I first wrote about it last month after seeing it in a Russian-language video. The pistol’s main innovation is in-line recoil (the barrel recoils straight [Read More…]
I thought Mr. Kozhaev of Skat was manufacturing Glock in Russia. Two alert commenters noted that he is not manufacturing them so much as he is assembling them. The slides are imported from US manufacturers Lone Wolf Distributors and Advantage Arms. The frame look like [Read More…]
English Russia has a collection of photos taken at Orsis Armory plant where they make the Orsis T-5000 Rifle. They say that they plan on making Dragunov-style semi-automatics in the near future. [ Many thanks to mrsatyre for emailing us the link. ]
The Magpul phenomenon has reached Russia. Gennady M. Kozhaev, gunsmith and owner of a OOO Skat, has developed a range of modernized SVD rifles. The rifles are build using Izhmash Tigr receivers and Lothar Walther barrels. The rifle feature an AR-15 A2 pistol grip and a [Read More…]
A private Russian company called Arsenal Firearms has developed a new slick looking polymer pistol chambered in 9mm Luger/Parabellum. The pistol appears to be named “Strike One” although the YouTube video below says it is named Strizh, which I believe [Read More…]
From Boing Boing … The “Bang Bang Handle” is a door-handle made from a 9 mm Makarov semi-automatic pistol (“the personal weapon of the Soviet and post-Soviet armed forces and law enforcement”). It was designed by Nikita Kovalev, who [Read More…]
I took some time by Izhmash has stopped claiming there exists a foreign conspiracy to put them out of business and instead engage in the booming firearms industry in this country. At SHOT Show they apparently sold a number of Saiga-12 shotguns to some police forces. Ria [Read More…]
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