I bought a PVS31A at the beginning of the year. While I have not recorded hours of use, I have spent a decent amount of time behind them both in courses and practice. I have also taken them on numerous night hikes to simply get better accustomed to movement under [Read More…]
In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 and check out the Velocity Systems booth. The Scarab DLX is a new offering for Velocity Systems that offers laser cut molle with triangles to give the greatest strength and easiest attachment of mission essential equipment. The shoulder pads [Read More…]
In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 to the High Threat Concealment booth. High Threat Concealment offers some great options for concealing mission essential equipment for contractors, military, and government agencies operating in nonpermissive environments. This year HTC brings [Read More…]
Miles starts by examining the Cadex M2 Cradle Mount, designed for the Browning M2. On inspection of the mount we see the zero gravity capability and the ease of use provided for manipulating the Browning M2. On top of the Browning we notice the Cadex Kolos mount integrating a recoil mitigation [Read More…]
The US Army’s latest improvement to the soldier’s gear has finished its final round of field testing. The testing was conducted in mid-October by soldiers with the 71st Ordnance Group and the 10th Chemical Hazardous Response Company, at Fort Carson, [Read More…]
Quarter Circle 10 has introduced a new weight adjustable buffer assembly for the AR-pattern blowback operated pistol caliber carbines. The buffer comes with four aluminum, four steel, and four tungsten weights, as well as four rubber spacers. Having that choice of [Read More…]
With the soldier’s load growing beyond the bounds of reason, and the Army set to replace the M4 Carbine in some units with the new Interim Combat Service Rifle, questions have arisen about how the soldier’s burden has changed over time. In the comments [Read More…]
In the comments section of my recent article Are We Gearing Up to Lose the Next War? Overmatch, Part 2: Bullets & Backbreakers, two of TFB’s readers shared documents that help us describe the problem of the modern soldier and Marine’s load. The first, [Read More…]
We are at a crossroads in small arms development. Demands for improved weapon effectiveness have reached their apex. At the same time, the soldier’s burden has grown into a crisis so pressing even the Army Chief of Staff has acknowledged it in testimony to [Read More…]
OK, who would win in a race: A soldier, a firefighter, or a knight? What, you’ve never asked yourself that? Well, for those of you who did, you finally have your answer thanks to a video released by Daniel Jaquet of the Centre d’Études Supérieures de la [Read More…]
In three previous articles, we briefly discussed some of the tradeoffs involved in the bullpup concept, and some of the challenges they face in the field of military procurement specifically. Today, we’re going to continue this deep-dive into the bullpup concept [Read More…]
The US Military is looking into lighter weight armor for the infantry. Both the Army and the Marine Corps are looking into reducing the weight of the personal protective equipment (PPE, read “helmet and body armor”) carried by the infantrymen of both [Read More…]
Taccom, known for their competition oriented offerings including shotgun shell caddies, ultra-light weight buffer systems, and a plethora of magazine extension kits, has turned their attention to the red-hot pistol caliber carbine market with their latest buffer system, [Read More…]
In the last installment, we talked about the trade-offs involved in increasing or decreasing the projectile’s diameter (and, thereby in convention systems, the bore’s diameter as well). One of the major pieces of the equation that we left out was how [Read More…]
How can one balance the trade-offs inherent in ammunition design to create a true one-caliber infantry weapon system that is both effective and lightweight? This is a question I’ve been exploring for close to a decade, and writing about for over four years. The [Read More…]
The metallic cartridge case was invented in the 1840s, and – starting in the 1860s – its military application brought with it a host of of advantages for the soldier: Now, ammunition was self-contained, weatherproof, and durable. Yet, despite it being a [Read More…]
The race to the bottom has been running in earnest for the last few years. Various manufacturers have been vying to produce the lightest weight parts for Modern Sporting Rifles as the market has moved from heavy picatinny rail systems and barrels to the modular [Read More…]
One thing that seems apparent from the ARDEC presentation on the CTSAS program is the excessive capability and weight of the 6.5mm CT ammunition, as well as its use of lead-cored projectiles as opposed to more modern (and less dense) EPR-type projectiles. Further, the [Read More…]
Recently, I wrote an editorial regarding the LSAT/CTSAS team’s NDIA presentation on their 6.5mm cased telescoped carbine and machine gun concepts. There was a lot to say about the history of Army programs and the pitfalls facing that team, but today I want to get [Read More…]
One of the most criminally ignored elements of military small arms ammunition in the casual discourse is weight. Despite being one of the most important elements from a logistical and human factors perspective, the subject of weight rarely comes up in discussions about [Read More…]
The most consistent request I received in the comments of my Weight Omnibus posts (if you didn’t catch them, here are Part I, Part II, and Part III) was to continue to expand the content of this series, both in the guns measured and the analysis of them. Further [Read More…]
In Part I and Part II of the TFB Weight Omnibus, we published the weights of 58 rifles and submachine guns, and their magazines. Now, we’re going to take a look at that data, and do a little analysis to them to see what we can learn. First, my methodology when [Read More…]
(This is Part 2 of the TFB Rifle Weight Omnibus. You can read Part 1 here.) 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 [Read More…]
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 [Read More…]
Earlier here at TFB, we mentioned in an article regarding some new developments in metallurgy that titanium has not traditionally been used as a material for firearms manufacture due to the difficulty and expense of working it. This is true, but it’s also true [Read More…]
According to Business Insider, most Americans, who would typically be in the serving age, are not likely eligible for military service. The Army estimates that less than 27% would qualify according to standard enlistment criteria. The U.S. Army’s major enlistment [Read More…]
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