“Solving the Riddle of Steel” By Dan Shea “The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle,…
HORNADY’S NEW 6mm CARTRIDGE Hornady® is proud to introduce the new 6mm ARC (Advanced Rifle Cartridge). Recently tested, selected and fielded by a specialized group…
SMITH & WESSON M&P M.A.G.I.C.® Assisted Opening Liner Lock Folding Knife Smith & Wesson® Large M&P® M.A.G.I.C.® Assisted Opening Liner Lock Folding Knife is…
A Bolt-Action Variant for Every Use and Taste By Oleg Volk The Mossberg MVP line of rifles was introduced in 2012. As of 2020, this…
New Iranian Shoulder-Fired Multipurpose Weapon Exhibited By Yuri Lyamin On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, a large…
Ernest Langdon’s 3-Day Advanced Pistol Skills Class By Alton P. Chiu Since attending the analytically driven 2-Day Tactical Pistols Skills course (see Small Arms…
The 40mm Day/Night/Thermal Program By Jay Bell Sometimes what appears to be a good idea is not as good as it seems. That appears…
CS/LS06 “Chang Feng” Submachine Gun By N.R. Jenzen-Jones The Chang Feng submachine gun (SMG)—known in its latest iteration as the “CS/LS06”—is in service with…
Advance Weapons Technology Offers 1,000-Yard Class By John Bibby I have been very interested in long-range shooting for quite some time. Back when I…
Expodefensa: A Hub Linking North and South America By Julio A. Montes Expodefensa was held for the first time in 2009 at Corferias International…
The Czech assault rifle officially named “7.62mm Samopal vz. 58” (7.62mm model 58 submachine gun) has recently celebrated 60 years since its introduction in duty….
By Kristóf Nagy Introduction The Hungarian-developed and -produced 42M hand grenade and the later 42/48M variant became the primary weapon of its class for the…
Cold War Conflicts and ‘Brushfire Wars’ 1970s–1980s By Robert Bruce In the course of decades of researching various sources including military and museum archives,…
How Multiple Machine Gun Mounts Shaped Wars in Latin America By Julio A. Montes As they overflew the Swan Islands, the 15 C-130s descended to…
Companies Vie for Semi-Auto Pistol and Sniper Rifle Contracts By Jean Huon Via a message dated January 6, 2020, the French Ministry of Defence…
BY DAVID PAZDERA The Model 52 (also known as Vz. 52) self-loading rifle, calibre 7.62x45mm, is perceived by contemporary collectors and shooters as a successful…
By Linda M. Gilbertson Sometimes it is best to train in shooting alone. It allows you to focus on what needs to be practiced and…
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) had depended upon its F88 5.56mm rifle—a Thales Australian-built variant of the Austeyr or Steyr AUG A1—since 1988. Australian “diggers”…
The MCR When ARES Defense Systems first came up with the Shrike belt-fed AR-15 upper, the so-called Assault Weapons Ban was still in effect. Shrike…
Faithful readers of this column are well aware of the on-going efforts to modernize and streamline the current procedures for the export of small arms…
“Specialized weapons need specialized ammunition.” The term Next Generation can mean a lot of things. I recently wrote an article on U.S. Army Next Generation…
In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…
Italy’s Show of Shows Located in Milan, Italy, and held twice a year in May and November is the terrific Militalia show. The event is…
CLOSE COMBAT SYMPOSIUM The 2019 Close Combat Symposium (CCS) was held at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom (UK) over July 9 to11, 2019….
Computer-aided design, advanced metallurgy, polymer composites, material forming technology and propellant formulation enable today’s ammunition advances, and that subsequently drives weapon design, not the reverse….
Whilst employed less frequently than the other types of small arms and light weapons covered in this series, grenade launchers and anti-armour weapons have still…
According to previous video issued by Iran’s state broadcasting company (IRIB), Tehran has a top-attack version of its Toophan (“typhoon”) anti-tank guided missile. The Toophan…
In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…
27-30 April 2020, Columbus, GA Advancing Combat Lethality Recently the influential and well-known NDIA Small Arms Symposium combined with some sister NDIA groups to add…
LARGEST LANDPOWER EXPO AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM SHOWCASES NEW TECHNOLOGY There is no better place to see today’s defense technology on display than at the…
THE PORTUGUESE ARMY FINDS COMBAT COMFORT IN FN SCAR The Portuguese Army, after decades of struggling to get a new service rifle to replace its…
OSHKOSH DEFENSE JOINT LIGHT TACTICAL VEHICLE WITH REMOTE WEAPON STATION PROTECTOR Remote Weapon Station Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KONGSBERG) has sold nearly 20,000 M153…
Variables, Tolerances and Economics All too often, someone buys a firearm because someone else already has that precise make and model, and it shoots really,…
When laser rangefinders (LRFs) first appeared on the civilian domestic market a decade or so ago, they were large and somewhat expensive. And they were…
The collapse of the Soviet Union plunged the new Russian state into chaos, plagued by organized crime and terrorism. To face these challenges, the Ministry…
State-of-the-Art Weaponary Machine guns today are generally defined as firearms that shoot automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of…
How Cues from Athletic Helmets Can Help Reduce Traumatic Head Injuries For more than 3 decades March has been designated by the Brain Injury Association…
IWI makes superb fighting pistols—the Jericho 941 line with steel or polymer frames. Both types of guns are highly evolved developments of the old Czechoslovak…
The XM17 Modular Handgun System This article begins with a simple fact: SIG SAUER successfully won the military’s coveted XM17 Modular Handgun System (MHS) competition….
It’s just not right. Someone should do something to stop the bullying. The U.S. government fat-shaming ammunition has got to stop. The messages are loud…
Military optics have matured quite a great deal in the 100 years since the First World War. While military optics had been used for quite…
The Stribog SP9A1 9mm submachine gun and its carbine and pistol variants come from the same mind as the advanced Grand Power (GP) rotary breech…
Special Thanks to S&T Motiv and Model Major (Reserve) Hyungchul Moon During the last (almost) 30 years, ROK (Republic of Korea) Army’s squad automatic weapon…
ADEX 2019 was held at Seoul airport from 15 to 20 October. This airport is in fact a military air base of the ROKAF (Republic…
The U.S. Army is on the hunt for a new small arms weapon system to replace its current rifles and light/medium machine guns. Currently they…
The fifth International Military-Technical Forum <<ARMY-2019>> (aka Army-Forum) was held at the Patriot Park exposition centre over June 25–30, 2019. The venue is located some…
Perhaps one of the more elusive Dragunov clones in recent small arms history, the 7.62x54mmR Al-Kadesiah precision rifle is one of only two precision rifles…
IWI US has an excellent reputation for producing efficient “all business” weapon designs. “Hell and back” reliability is a hallmark IWI trait that it will…
In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…
INTRODUCTION Although Ethiopia has produced small-caliber ammunition for at least 60 years (and probably 90 or more), little information is publicly available regarding Ethiopian outputs,…
By Dan Shea June 21, 2019, in the Swiss Alps outside of Montreux: “Smoke on the Water” playing on the radio as we drove around…
In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…
At the turn of this century, American tactical shotguns were generally tube-fed pumps and semiautos. The few attempts at box or drum-fed scatterguns were squashed…
For a long time, there have been various rumors that IWI (Israeli Weapon Industries) is working on a new 5.56mm rifle. One of the main…
In the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union was engaged in a silent battle. Organized crime and terrorist cells had adopted body armor use alongside its growing…
Have you have ever wondered how effective your barrel cleaning routine is? If so, then the Borecam™ Digital Borescope with Monitor from Lyman® can help….
The 12.7mm (.50 caliber) M2 Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) are important weapons for the Norwegian Armed Forces and have been for a long time. The…
About a year ago, back in 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced results of the “Ratnik” trials in regard to new assault rifles….
Specifications Military designation 24mm tank gun 41 Manufacturer (Swiss) Waffenfabrik Bern Years in service 1941-1945 Overall length 102in Weight 164lb Caliber 24x138mm Feed 6-round magazine…
Nikon Sport Optics has manufactured quality optics for decades. Several years ago, Nikon released the BLACK X1000 series riflescopes. The second focal plane BLACK X1000…
In terms of firearm product development, we live in exciting times. Computers, compact circuitry and manufacturing techniques have opened a Pandora’s box of new items….
THE LAST WORD IN SOF-PROVEN ASSAULT PACKS The Mystery Ranch 3DAP Could Be the Last Bag Warriors Need
What comes to mind when you see the word MIL-SPEC listed in a product’s specs? It seems semi-slick marketing executives throw the word around as…
Ground forces have been using drones, also known as small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), for years, both in-theater and out. Used for close-area, low-altitude reconnaissance,…
Mistakes happen. Although one may try to minimize the chance of an error, human nature, miscommunication and plain ignorance can result in shipping or receiving…
Christensen Arms has been awarded contract number 4400021290 by the State of South Carolina to produce a version of the Christensen Arms CA-15 G2 model…
Despite their diminutive size, pistols still are important military firearms, and they are even more important as law enforcement weapons. The venerable 9x18mm Makarov PM…
This article presents some S&T Motiv’s small arms at the trade fair for the Defense Industry, Defense Expo Korea, held September 12-14, 2018. S&T Motiv…
The U.S. Military acquires millions of rounds of ammunition every year for everything from training to combat. Despite some performance improvements, the vast majority continues…
Israel Defense and HLS Expo is the country’s largest biennial defense show that is held at the Tel Aviv Expo International Center. The show features…
By Major (Ret.) Walter Christian Håland Since World War II submachine guns or subcompact guns fell out of use in the U.S. Army in…
![Russia’s Threadcutter, the VSS Vintorez A Call to Defeat Body Armor [OR--Russia’s Threadcutter Answers the Kremlin’s Call to Defeat Body Armor]](https://sadefensejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2352_-VSS-photo-1.jpg)
Modern armed conflicts are of a fundamental different character than cataclysmic wars of the last century. Fortunately, full-scale military operations the size of Verdun or…
A Journey Through Russian Special Forces’ History and Future Grozny’s Russian University of Spetsnaz
Tucked away in the opening plains where the Caucasus Mountains finally meet the sprawling, almost infinite, flat landmass of Eurasia, the city of Gudermes…
The defense and sporting firearms communities are bombarded on a near daily basis with articles and advertisements promoting new “game changing” firearms and ammunition. Firearms…
It is no secret that Eugene Stoner’s AR platform is the bestselling rifle in the U.S. with numerous manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon in recent…
In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…
Turkey has a longstanding tradition of manufacturing licensed models, then producing evolved domestic variants. The Canik series of handguns started as budget clones of the…
Switzerland, long the neutral party of Europe with a deeply rooted gun culture, was recently confronted with a referendum to align its guns laws with…
Mistakes happen. Although one may try to minimize the chance of an error, human nature, miscommunication and plain ignorance can result in shipping or receiving…
During World War II, the basic weapons of the U.S. infantryman were the rifle, light machine gun and fragmentation grenades. Hand and rifle grenades were…
Eighth Year Sees Increase in Visitors The 8th edition of Enforce Tac was again billed as the “International Trade Fair for Command, Control and Operational…
The 1860s marked a period of Renaissance in firearms development. Muzzle loading rifles and revolvers transitioned to cartridge-firing, breech loading weapons allowing the user to…
Visitors to SOFEX and to the KASOTC Warrior Competition in Jordan now have a new place to visit along with the world famous Wadi Rum,…
On March 3, 2019, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unexpected statement while visiting the city of Amethi during his election campaign. According to his…
Many have become increasingly interested with the ability to “see” at night albeit via traditional image intensifying night vision or thermal technology for various reasons…
[IWA Outdoor Classics / Enforce Tac 2019] By Dickson Ly This year’s IWA show carried on in the turbulent time of industry slowdown and increasing…
In the past decade and a half there has been a huge leap in the advancement of precision long-range shooting gear. The following covers…
Thomas B. Nelson The name Thomas B. Nelson is synonymous with the small arms community of the last 60 years. Since Tom’s first book, The…
Arrow Tech prodas.com The James Ambrose Award is presented periodically to recognize, in the opinion of the Small Arms Division Executive Board, an Industrial Firm…
In the mid-1980s, the Soviet Ministry of Defense noted an increased need for body-armor-defeating weaponry paired with a diminished sound signature. Its answer, in 1987,…
There has been a resounding boom in popularity of suppressors in recent years. They have become less the stuff of secret agents and more the…
The International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) is a biannual tri-service defence exhibition showcasing the latest products and technologies for Army, Navy and Air Force….
By Lynndon Schooler For a brief 200-year period, the Pecheneg Khanate sprawled from Southern Trans-Carpathia across the Dnieper to Southern reaches of the Volga, occupying…
By Christopher M. Rance The red rim of the sun pushes itself over the distant horizon, as a brown haze of dust kicks up from…
Passing the Torch The ASM Materials Education Foundation By Dan Shea I’m writing this in the first person for a reason; I want to speak…
ABOVE: A representative from Kodiklatad Polytechnic demonstrates the Indonesian version of the “Corner Shot” device, here equipped with a Glock 19 handgun. This is the…
ABOVE: On the range with the Vityaz-SN and a Zenitco suppressor. A High Performance SMG Despite Growing Pains In 1993, the Russian Ministry of Internal…
International Legal Affairs – Export Reform By Jason M. Wong Draft regulations have been published regarding the transfer of USML categories I, II and III…
For a long time, Serbia was a part of the Ottoman Empire; it became self-governed in 1830 but obtained independence only in 1878. Several wars…
By Frank Iannamico The FightLite/Ares Defense Mission Configurable Rifle (MCR®) is an updated and improved version of the Ares Shrike belt-fed upper receiver assembly…
Specifications Caliber 5.56 NATO/7.62x39mm Barrel length 5.5in Overall length 18.75in Weight (empty) 5lbs, 11oz Muzzle brake Maximum Defense HATEBRAKE muzzle booster Trigger ALG Combat…
Vortex Flash Eliminator Report Says Flash Hider Passes All the Tests By Tom Murphy A flash suppressor, also known as a flash eliminator, is a…
By Lynndon Schooler With the Bolshevik victory in 1922 bringing the cold and bloody Russian Civil War to a close, the multitude of Soviet…
As the military and other government agencies look towards unmanned surveillance and gun-toting platforms, Blackwing Holdings, LLC, offers unique state-of-the-art high technology products aimed directly…
ABOVE: Ethiopian AKM, right-side view. An Ethiopian Surprise In the age of Google, Facebook, Reddit and all the AK-47-centered internet forums, you would not really…
This article provides a brief summary of night vision devices (NVDs) known to be in Taliban possession. It draws primarily from open sources and addresses…
A Frankengun in Every Way By Jonathan Ferguson This bizarre craft-produced weapon was acquired by the then-Ministry of Defence Pattern Room in 1996 from another…
By David Pazdera Between September 10 and 12, 2018, Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod held the third Meeting of Professional Journalists. The event, which welcomed about…
Pathway to the Kalashnikov’s Future Development By Lynndon Schooler Vladimir Zlobin, the former director of the AK-12 project, can be characterized as an ambitious weapons…
North America’s Largest Landpower Exposition and Professional Development Forum By Paul Evancoe The annual AUSA meeting and exposition was held October 8-10, 2018, at the…
International Military-Technical Forum ARMY-2018 By Richard D. Jones The fourth International Military-Technical Forum was held at the Patriot Expo Congress and Exhibition Center (Patriot Expo)…
The Fight Against Vehicle-Borne Explosive Devices By Ian McCollum The Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) employ various craft-produced anti-materiel rifles (AMRs), and ARES has obtained…
“Modern Day Warfighter: Ready, Lethal, Adaptable” Story By Robert Bruce, Military Affairs Editor “We’re going to go shopping; we’re going to put gear in the…
Postcard of an artist’s rendering of an Austrian soldier firing the Schwartzlose M07/12 water-cooled machine gun during a famous battle in Serbia on August 16,…
Indian officer’s interwar helmet badge for the machine gun section of the Jodphur Lancers. South African 1st Machine Gun Squadron Transvaal bronze cap and collar…
World War II Japanese machine gun proficiency badge. White metal material (35mm) with crossed Type 96 light machine guns to center. Hook and hinged latch…
Canadian 4th Machine Gun Company cap and collar badge. The cap badge is made of Browning copper with a maple leaf background. This badge is…
Canadian Boyle’s Yukon Motor Machine Gun Detachment cap and collar badges. The cap badge features crossed Vickers under the King’s crown and a prospecting pan…
French made overseas cap made for U.S. forces in a style called a ‘Belgium Hat.’ It is unlined and a simple rectangle construction. Sewn to…
Polish superior machine gun marksmanship sleeve badge. Brass image of five rounds on a machine gun belt. Sewn on sleeve, this was used in the…
Canadian machine gun officer’s gold gilt cap badge. Very early World War I version with crossed Maxim machine guns (rather than the later crossed Vickers…
U.S. World War II transit poster ‘They also serve, who buy WAR BONDS 7th War Loan‘ by Phil Lyford, 1945. Oblong full color poster showing…
Japanese commemorative veteran’s time in service sake cup with kanji denoting service in the Navy’s 40th Marine Regiment with a nicely detailed image of a…
Polish Central Gunnery School in Torun badge. Silvered multi-construction badge features the crowned eagle to top with a horizontal machine gun belt to the center…
Original pen and ink wash drawing entitled ‘Pirouette’ of a World War II British Home Guard soldier manning a Lewis gun on an improvised anti-aircraft…
World War I Canadian 3rd Machine Gun Company, 1st Canadian Division large white metal cap badge featuring a Vickers MkI water-cooled machine gun to the…
The B&T Advanced Police Carbine 9 (APC9) is a rather nice blend of existing, proven design and some truly unique engineering. It is a clever and well thought out balance between time proven features, high tech production materials and manufacturing procedures to keep costs to a minimum. It is a statement to the excellence of Swiss engineering and innovation. The APC, not unlike the Glock pistol, was designed from the very beginning to be produced…
Early boxes of Open Tip Match were marked ‘NOT FOR COMBAT USE’ as noted in the original box (top row, both sides) and bottom left….
“…that’s going to require us to replace an awful lot of gear that’s been used very hard over the last ten years or so. We know what we need and we‘re going to work with you to get it.” – Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Mills, the three-star general who heads the Corps’ concepts and capability command, was offering a glimmer of hope to a large audience of high level defense industry representatives attending the exclusive, invitation-only Report to Industry briefing at the 2011 Modern Day Marine (MDM) Expo….
The XIX MSPO (which is the Polish abbreviation for “International Defence Industry Exhibition”) was held in Kielce, September 5-8, 2011. For the past decade the show has grown bigger with every year, however the recent Euro crisis downgraded the growth this year. Nevertheless, there were still 400 exhibitors from 20 countries participating in the show, with scores of foreign official visitors (including for the first….
For the last 15 or so years, the AR-10 has seen a rebirth from the dust on the floor of the former Ordnance Corps. With the lack of vision and judgment which would eventually be their demise and have their doors shut forever by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara “Tomorrows Rifle Today” wound up being “Today’s Rifle Yesterday!” It would be Gene Stoner who would resurrect the AR-10 from the dead with the assistance of C. Reed Knight, Jr. With the introduction of the SR-25 sniper rifle the industry would experience a shift in what a sniper rifle really was….
Machine guns today are generally defined as firearms that shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. This modern definition has come about due to the development of such a weapon as pioneered by Hiram Maxim and John Browning and is subsequently used for all weapons that employ this mechanical means in firearms today…
Arms & Security Kyiv is the Ukraine’s yearly military, police, and hunting show. It is a smaller show than the big internationals, but it is well attended. The first day was a lot of Ukraine military with a smattering of Russian military as well. The next two days were comprised of military and police attendees in civilian clothing, and civilian hunting enthusiasts. There were quite a few knowledgeable people about small arms, with their orientation towards the old Communist Bloc weaponry. However, the Western influence can be seen in many designs, with European weapons…
The Czech arms industry made a great impact in 20th century weaponry history with a large range of remarkable products. Probably the most original of them all was a “special submachine gun” named the Skorpion, a successful effort for covering the gap between service pistols and traditional submachine guns chambered in pistol cartridges. The Skorpion, in its initial, less powerful caliber, i.e. 7.65mm Browning (.32 Auto), has not met modern security unit’s requirements for some years, much less that of the armed forces; nevertheless….
The focus of our visit to MARSOC‘s Schoolhouse was Special Operations Training Branch, currently housed in an orderly formation of a dozen or so modular classrooms while construction is underway nearby on a more traditional campus. There, Lieutenant Colonel Clark Watson, SOTB’s Director, walked us through the high points of the Initial Training Course, a comprehensive SPECOPS basic training program that is the next step following Assessment and Selection for those seeking to become CSOs….
Frequent readers of this column will note many comments and criticisms of the current U.S. brokering regulations- stating they are flawed; overly broad, difficult to…
The NDIA Small Arms Symposium is an all inclusive show regarding small arms, ammunition, and related subjects for military use. It is in three parts: the primary is the lecture series, then there is the trade show/exhibition, and finally, the live fire demonstrations….
The Defense Small Arms Advisory Council (DSAAC) was formed as a non-profit organization in 2004 to represent the interests of the defense-related small arms industry…
The 10th International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) was sponsored by the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defence on 10-13 May, 2011. The show was held at the Tuyap Fair, Convention and Congress Center in Büyükçekmece-İstanbul, Turkey, and had record turnouts. The majority in attendance was Turkish military and procurement, and the foreigners were typically influential buyers and end users from over 104 countries. There were 633 exhibiting companies from over 45 different countries. This, the 10th IDEF, shows remarkable growth from the already well attended earlier shows….
Early in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq it was clear by the entire sniping community there was a need for a new updated sniper rifle. Modern semiautomatic rifles show little to no accuracy degradation from the traditional bolt action rifles used throughout the last century. The use of a semiautomatic sniper system not only would provide the snipers with their existing capabilities but so much more. Snipers could engage five targets in at least half the time it would take a sniper with a bolt action rifle. Also, the snipers ability to engage multi-targets is vastly increased….
Noted Ammunition Specialist and author Anthony Williams testing the FN Herstal manufactured F2000 bullpup rifle in 5.56x45mm. Tony is an Editor for Janes as well…
The fifth bi-annual PARTNER Serbia show was held over the course of four sunny days in Belgrade, Serbia in late June 2011. The show has grown considerably since the first show, as well as from the previous one in 2009 (reported on in SADJ Volume 3, Number 1), having now moved into the largest of the exhibition halls in Belgrade Fair. Expectations are that the 2013 show will have grown significantly from 2011, both in vendors and attendees. YugoImport is the co-promoter of the show and the various factories they represent take up a significant portion of the floor space….
A direct derivation from the TAR-21 Tavor bullpup rifle, adopted in 2003 by the Israel Defence Forces, we are going to introduce to SADJ readers the version designed for the Sayeret (Special Forces) units, a shorter and more modular rifle that, in case of need, can be converted into a SMG. The TAR-21 project in Ramat Hasharon was started in 1995 when the Israeli company name was still IMI (Israel Military Industries)….
Collectors and historians are familiar with the Russian “Tractor Cap” or “Snow Cap” Maxim machine gun. It was a modification of the PM1910 (Pulemyot Maxima na stanke Sokolova or “Maxim’s machine gun Model 1910 on Sokolov’s mount”) that did away with the small water filler hole in the water jacket and instead a much larger hole was cut into the top of the water jacket that allowed snow, ice or larger volumes of water to be introduced quickly into the water jacket. The hole was covered by a tractor radiator cap that was hinged on one side and secured by a clasp on the other side…
It defies logic that United States Special Operations Command did not include the Marine Corps until a little over five years ago. All the more so because the Corps is arguably the most nimble, aggressive and experienced component of the U.S. Armed Forces in the dirty and demanding business of fighting “small wars” in remote corners of the world….
There has been a cultural shift from the 20-inch barrel length in the AR-15/M16 weapon systems chambered for the 5.56×45 NATO cartridge to progressively shorter barrels for the purpose of producing an increasingly more compact assault/entry weapon without resorting to a bull-pup design. Simple usage of these short-barreled weapons has shown the necessity for both sound and flash suppression, the intensity of which (in exceptionally short barrel lengths) approached the intensity of a flash-bang diversion device….
The end of the first decade of the new millennium saw Czechs and Slovaks as the Last of Mohicans in the Unified Europe: the only country with its own creative rifle possibility to use 7.62mm caliber for the main battle long arm. The Sa-58 (Samopal vzor 58) rifle, the mainstay of the Czechoslovakian People’s Army (Ceskoslovenska lidova armada, the CSLA) has been in use since the early 1960s, when Czechoslovakia became the only Warsaw Pact country not to introduce a clone of Kalashnikov’s AK/AKM series….
With every passing year, technology and innovation make the world smaller, allowing for international business to move ever quicker. In the arms trade, offsets and…
We recently tested the new FN Fire Control System (FCS) at the Zuntendaal proving ground in Belgium. The FCS can be fitted on a Picatinny…
Lancer Systems LP, an engineering and manufacturing group specializing in plastic composite and fiber optic technologies, introduces the Lancer Systems Lightweight Carbon-Fiber Handguard (LCH) for…
Thompson Machine’s Poseidon series of sound suppressors represent something truly new on the sound suppressor market. While most 9mm and .45 ACP pistol suppressors are…
The Vigilum is the first handgun offering of AdeQ Firearms Company. It is a full sized, 1911 style pistol with the following features: rail system,…
Magnalight.com has announced the release of an innovative manhole mounted light fixture to its explosion proof lighting inventory. The Magnalight MMLP-1MLED Temporary Manhole Mount Light…
Primary Arms has just introduced a new compact 3x power scope. The new scope features a field of view that measures 35 feet at 100…
For a covert officer, being at the top of their game means blending in until it matters most. 5.11 Tactical knows that “under cover” is…
Glock Announces Voluntary Replacement of Recoil Spring Assemblies in Gen4 Pistols Glock announced that it is voluntarily exchanging the recoil spring assembly (RSA) on its…
The City of Split, Croatia, was an excellent choice for a show in the region. The April weather is wonderful, the sights are breathtaking, the people are hospitable and the accommodations and expenses are very reasonable. Split is located on the Dalmatian Coast of the Adriatic Sea, and the Croatian heritage is influenced heavily by millennia of interaction with Italy, just across the Sea. Split is also centrally located to many of the regional military groups, making it readily accessible and providing a good flow of attendees….
Chinese submachine gun technology has come a long way in the past 50 years. From the days of chop-shop PPSh-41 variants through the copies of Thompson submachine guns and M3 Greaseguns, a very efficient and high-technology infrastructure has evolved. Westerners may not be quick to understand the devotion the Chinese have to developing the manufacturing base in their defense industry….
Bumar is now a household name in Poland and one in circulation for over 55 years. But it was only in the last 10 years that it became a high-roller in Poland’s defense industry as a core company around which a concern of Bumar Group was built. It all started in 1953 when Bumar Construction Machinery Industrial Union was organized in Warsaw as a state holding company governing construction machinery, manufacturing and trade. Of course, as was a matter of custom….
SADJ has brought a number of articles on the RPG-7 and its technology and history to our readers. We’ve covered light armorer work, as well as operational idiosyncrasies, and we’ve dispelled myths perpetuated by a generation of writers and Internet gurus who insist on saying “RPG” means “Rocket Propelled Grenade” no matter how many times it’s explained that this is a recoilless launcher system…
LAAD Brazil has grown in leaps and bounds over the last decade and today it is a formidable contender as a top Latin American military trade show. We find it second only in size to the FIDAE show in Chile but that’s not a fair comparison, as FIDAE has a massive airshow attached. Attendees and the 600+ exhibitors alike were pleased with the large turnout (24,000 people and delegations from 53 countries) that….
U.S. Navy security forces personnel fire a Dazzler on the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while under way in the…
The new Gemtech Quicksand sound suppressor, now available for purchase, is used on 7.62 NATO rifles and utilizes a patented quick mount system. It can be fastened securely in only two seconds and at only 17.5 ounces in weight it is the lightest quick-detach .308 suppressor available….
The Japanese had a unique system of naming and numbering their weapons using two basic methods. One method referred to the Type number, which represented the last two digits of the Japanese Jimmu Year. For the Type 92 machine gun, this represented the year 2592 (or 1932 on the Gregorian calendar). This is noted in three Japanese kanji characters arranged in a vertical column on top of the gun’s receiver…
The International Defense Technology Exhibition and Prevention of Natural Disasters, SITDEF PERÚ had its beginnings in 2007. It was conceived as a commercial and cultural gathering promoted and organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Peruvian Armed Forces. The fair takes places every two years, and SADJ had the opportunity to attend the third edition at the General Army Headquarters in Lima. The exhibition gathers national and international companies displaying state-of-the-art technology in the defense area, representing Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Ecuador…
Combat experience in Afghanistan has prompted some rapid changes in the small arms carried by ISAF foot soldiers; and most especially by the U.S. Army, USMC and the British Army and Royal Marines. The purpose of this article is to outline these changes, determine the lessons learned, and look ahead to examine the extent to which the growing variety of rifles including DMRs (Designated Marksman Rifles), carbines, IARs (Infantry Automatic Rifles) and LMGs (light machine guns) might be replaced in the future by a smaller number of weapons without losing any capability.
The reintroduction of the AR-10/SR-25 in the early 1990s re-revolutionized the use of semiautomatic rifles as sniper/tactical rifles. The direct gas system combined with the eight-lug rotating bolt and a free floating barrel made this system sub-MOA with little difficulty or maintenance. Although the AR-10 was discarded nearly 50 years ago by a biased and self serving….
The Marine looked sharp. He was dressed in the new MARPAT green camouflage pattern, cut to the US M1967 jungle style and matched to a cover of the same material; he wore the Special Forces harness and carried the M4A4 Carbine. The same standard was observed in the hands of elements of the DM4 from Comandos de Morazán and other troops. This was definitely a leap forward from the rag-tag look observed only a few months before….
Urban warfare, snipers and insurgents are hiding in buildings and they will try to do devastating attacks on soldiers and the insurgents are protected by the building they are firing from. When the soldiers are approaching the buildings, it is a good chance that some of them will be killed. What they need is a weapon that can level the playing field – the shoulder mounted assault weapon. As western armies are seeking lighter equipment for their dismounted infantry….
Those involved in the international arms trade are (or should be) intimately familiar with the International Trade in Arms Regulations, frequently known by its acronym,…
Command Arms Accessories/EMA Tactical is proud to announce their M4S1 M16/AR-15 Carbine Handguard System which sets the standard for a stable and rigid design by…
SIG Sauer, Inc., manufacturer of commercial, law enforcement and military firearms, introduces the latest version of the P250 Modular Pistol System, the P250 Subcompact with…
EHP (Electronic Hearing Protection) announces the addition of the new EHD- MC1 to their line of sound amplification/hearing protection products. The EHD- MC1 is the…
The new Bushnell Elite 1600 ARC Laser Rangefinder offers outstanding pinpoint precision, ruggedness and optical quality in a compact, easy-to-use device. The Elite 1600 ARC…
LaserMax has now announced the release of a Guide Rod Laser to fit the Gen4 Glock models 26 and 27 subcompact pistols. With the addition…
The new Cannon Scout Series is a full-featured safe that offers trademark Cannon quality, security and good looks. With solid fire protection, rugged construction and…
ISSC-Austria, exclusive importer and distributor of the M22 range pistol, proudly announces the introduction of the ISSC Modern Sporting Rifle in Desert Tan; the MK22…
JetBeam, a Chinese company, has introduced two new tactical lights: the BC 40 and the BC 20. Both lights feature Cree LEDs and adjustable front…
Former Bushmaster plant back in production Earlier this year, the Freedom Group, current owner of Bushmaster Firearms, moved operations from Maine to streamline operations. It…
(Left) LRB6000CI 7×50 laser range finder by Newcon-Optik will give excellent identification up to 6 km. (Right) The NVS33 clip-on night vision mounts either forward…
The Colt CM901 weapon system proved to be a popular destination for many attendees. AUSA 2010 proved to be a great success, with attendance by…
Designing “Future Soldiers” space-age suits of armor with TV and other creature comforts has been a popular fad since 1950s, but only in the last decade have such projects significantly moved from concept into the mainstream. Latest advances in microelectronics, mechanics and ergonomics, coupled with shifting the emphasize from the tanks and missiles back towards individual soldier as a result of the end of the Cold War and in accordance with the ‘asymmetric warfare’ doctrine, brought about Future Soldier projects popping up everywhere….
A soldier from the 1st Battalion the Scots Guards looking through the scope of his Sharpshooter rifle. Members of B Company, the 1st Battalion The…
The SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) show was once again held this year in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. …
All SureFire suppressors attach over the muzzle of an AR-15/M16 (shown here on an M4) via a muzzle brake/flash hider that replaces the factory bird…
Captain Herbert W. McBride of the 21st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, wrote in his excellent book A Rifleman Went to War the following concerning the use of the Colt Automatic Gun Model 1895. “We Canadians of the Second Division were originally equipped with Colt guns… I imagine I can hear some sniffles and horse-laughs. You think that the Colt is a poor weapon, eh? Well, just let me tell you something for your information and instruction… Never have I seen any machine gun….
By the time you read this, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System with its uncannily accurate airburst ammo will undoubtedly have drawn its first blood in Afghanistan. This sci-fi looking individual armament, initially the “grenade gun” upper half of the ill-fated Objective Individual Combat Weapon, has been in combat operational test mode for several months now with selected elements of US Special Operations Command….
19 February, 2011. A small group of firearms community writers from the United States had been invited to the Caracal facility in the United Arab Emirates. (David Fortier, Bryce Towsley, Tim Ford, and Mike Seeklander joined this author). We gathered at our hotels in the morning, and were taken to the facility where we were greeted by Saeed Ali Al Shamsi from Caracal and given the grand tour of the manufacturing facility….
The International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) of 2011 is a biannual show that has reached its 10th anniversary with this event. It is a mature show with well developed habits and procedures for the exhibitors and attendees. Having established itself as a benchmark show much like Eurosatory, Milipol, DSA or AUSA, IDEX attracts a rich diversity of attendees from around the world. The show itself is centered in Abu Dhabi, the capitol city of the United Arab Emirates….
Firing the Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR) set up on .338 Lapua, with the Leupold Mark 4, 6.5-20x50mm Extended Range/Tactical (ER/T) optic. Leupold, the oldest…
The SPR Mod 1 being put through its paces by Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Steve Worden. The ArmaLite rifle is equipped with the Trijicon…
About one week prior to our visit to Lima, the die hard guerrillas of Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) had ambushed an Army patrol, killing all 14 soldiers. The region known as VRAE (for Rivers Apurimac and Ene Valley) has become a hub of military activity with soldiers and police officers chasing the Sendero Luminoso guerrilla group, which has resurrected in a narco-guerrilla form. The extremist Maoist Shining Path guerrilla group was decimated in the 1980s, but a core of some 300 insurgents escaped to the Vizcatán region….
Recent questions have arisen in the international arms community over retransfer assurances and end use restrictions on U.S. made products. While some of the U.S….
ST Kinetics’ Remote Weapon Station (RWS) is a remotely operated two-axis stabilised weapon station. Equipped with advanced sightings and video tracking, the versatile system provides…
BLACKHAWK! Dynamic Entry now offers the Mini Deployment Kit. This compact and portable entry kit was created based on the unique demands patrol and tactical…
Raptor Safe-T Wipes have been specially formulated to immediately detect explosives and provide a simple colorimetric indicator for the user. The wipes work on a…
LaserMax has now announced the debut of Genesis, a compact, durable green laser with a rechargeable battery. The highly visible, pulsating green laser from LaserMax…
McMillan has now expanded its tactical line with the introduction of the McMillan M3A rifle. The M1 platform has seen renewed interest as a close-range…
Battle Arms Development Ambidextrous Safety Selector (B.A.D.A.S.S.) is a new selector for the AR-15/M16 series of rifles. The new selector is not only ambidextrous but…
Barrett, a company internationally known for providing high-end firearms, optics, and training, introduces to the commercial market the next generation of the U.S. Army’s M107…
Weighing in at less than 4,200 kg, the revolutionary M777 is the world’s first artillery weapon to make widespread use of titanium and aluminum alloys,…
