If you’ve purchased weaponlights, lasers, body armor, night vision or other “specialty equipment” related to the firearms industry, the term ITAR Restricted may have made an appearance on your documentation or on product websites. The International Traffic In Arms Regulations or ITAR and the categories outlined in the United States Munitions List or USML is a way to prevent certain technologies from ending up in enemy hands and used against U.S. or Allied Forces. Zero arguments there.

Orbital ATK and Heckler & Koch have reached a settlement in their lawsuit which saw ATK sue the German firearms giant for $27 million. The case was filed in early 2017, with ATK demanding compensation for the failure of Heckler & Koch to deliver 20 XM25 prototypes. The two companies had worked together on the US Army’s XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement (CDTE) System. ATK had developed the weapon’s ammunition, optics, and fire control system, while Heckler & Koch designed the weapon. The Army subsequently cancelled the contract with Orbital ATK in April 2017.

When your company is in a trouble and struggles to survive, you have to come up with unique solutions and make non-standard decisions if you want to save it from bankruptcy. And gun companies are no exception. History knows many examples of gun companies having to make non-gun products to survive the storm and stay afloat. Today’s article is based on a video published by the Rock Island Auction Company and tells about drills made by Ruger.

Not to be outdone by the 4,000+ mile river in South America, umm, I mean the largest eCommerce site in the world, our friends at Brownells have kicked off a Prime Time sale and charity challenge that ends on 7/20/2018. Although the details are spelled out below, the program is pretty simple: shop for discounted guns and gear and part of the proceeds heads to the selected charity of the day.

TFB reached out to Federal for an additional comment on the issued letter:

In this article, we’ll take a brief look at the history of creation and intellectual property rights transition of the Russian “Baikal” brand name which I am sure many of you are familiar with. This article is based on one published by  Kalashnikov Media.

Acusport is nearing the end of its journey to its final resting place with United Sporting Companies and Ellett Brothers. United Sporting Companies now owns Ellett Brothers, Jerry’s Sport Center and Acusport which are all distributors of firearms and related goods. After facing many tumultuous, roller-coaster years like all of us in the firearm industry coupled with a fast return to normalcy, Acusport eventually filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

The announcement and subsequent release of the GLOCK 19X pistol was an emotional time for the company, fans and critics alike. For years the Austrian powerhouse’s MHS pistol submission was shrouded in secrecy, salivating curious onlookers with possible models like the law enforcement-only 17M and 19M guns. Whereas GLOCK fans understood the reason for the G17 grip and G19 slide configuration as being the model that had been submitted for the XM17/XM18 Army new sidearm trials, critics took the release of the 19X as an opportunity to suggest that the reverse configuration – G19 grip with a G17 slide is really what shooters wanted. However, we are just over 180 days since the 19X’s release and GLOCK is announcing that it has shattered its own sales forecasts with over 100K pistols sold to U.S. consumers.

According to the German Magazine Welt, Heckler & Koch are fighting for survival as their credit rating keeps falling. You can find the original source here, in German.

What a difference a year makes. Last June we announced that Gemtech was breaking ground on a new world headquarters. Last night we learned that in six to nine months Gemtech will no longer exist in Idaho. At a company meeting yesterday, the remaining Gemtech employees were told that the facility would close and that all business would be moved to Smith & Wesson’s headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Since Jim Fuller founded Rifle Dynamics more than a decade ago, the company has risen to an extremely high standard of craftsmanship within the AK industry in the United States. Jim talks about the story of the company, starting with his very first introduction to the weapon system as an electrician on a job site to making mistakes with Chinese import guns, and ending with what Rifle Dynamics will be coming out within the next year of production when it comes to the Kalashnikov derivatives that it has become famous for manufacturing.

Strike Industries – a company that constantly develops great firearm accessories and isn’t afraid of experimenting with new concepts and ideas. This is really one of the few companies that regularly and frequently release new products to the market. If you follow them on social media, then you probably know that they also publish the status reports or teasers of their ongoing projects. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at five Strike Industries projects that are currently in development and will be released soon.

Although these photographs were published by at least mid-2014, the presence of an HK69A1 in the hands of any insurgent group is interesting enough to those of us at TFB. The pictures were taken by a Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic while embedded with the then victorious rebel group Séléka, more formally known as Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR. The images are viewable here, on a Ukrainian media website, which published a compilation of them in 2014. A caption attributed to the photographs on a separate website specifically mentions the location of where they were taken-

Somehow we totally missed this little bit of news… I have been not only running TACOs on my duty gear for a couple of years (and my competition belt for longer than that), but I have had previous experience with Comp-Tac Holsters (specifically the Minotaur MTAC). HSGI picked up Comp-Tac in part to add holsters to their otherwise versatile line.

Recently TFB was able to sit down with Rob from Cabot Arms and conduct an in-depth interview about the odd meteorite 1911 pair that they created, but also more about the founding the company itself. Nick C. was also present during this interview and was instrumental in asking questions. Some of the photos shown here are not of the pair of meteorite 1911s, but instead of the Time Traveler 1911, which used material from the same metorite that Cabot bought for the meteorite 1911.

In Part One of this series George Huang discussed the initial founding of the company and why the Battle Arms Development team excels at problem-solving. In this section, he talks to TFB about why the company wears lab coats at SHOT Show, duel meanings behind the company crest, and the latest products and developments.

Recently we received an opportunity to sit down with one of the founders and current leader of Battle Arms Development, George Huang at the companies new location in Las Vegas. We discussed everything from the beginnings of the organization to how George applies his architectural engineering background to designing eye-catching and reliable AR15s.

In a strange case of internet misinformation, South Carolina ammunition manufacturer Black Butterfly Ammo has been pulled into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with fake reports of their products being used to wound civilian protesters in Gaza. On multiple social media outlets, users are outraged by the use of “exploding” butterfly bullets and often the postings include the unauthorized use of images from Black Butterfly’s website that show expanded bullets used to hunt large game like hogs.

ZRODelta (pronounced “Zee-ro Delta”), along with U.S. Optics, put on a media event to showcase some of their products. The event took place at the Champion Ranch, Brady Lodge nearly smack dab in the middle of Texas (the boast having the geographical center of Texas). It included a number of executives from ZRODelta as well as U.S. Optics, as well as media from several outlets.

Before we get into the Benchmade contest detailed below, we wanted to open up a dialog about the possibility of having more dedicated knife reviews at TFB. Along with watches, knives and guns always seem to run in the same circles. Whether it’s an Everyday Carry setup, survival gear or just another tool for your proverbial (or actual) tool box, quality guns and quality knives go hand in hand.

As you may have already heard, firearms and parts retailer Brownells was removed from YouTube and later reinstated without a detailed explaination as to which community guidelines had been violated that landed them in social media jail. Although the channel’s return is a victory for both Brownells and consumers alike, the trend towards demonetizing videos and removing channels that feature firearm related content appears to be gaining steam.

A confidential source has revealed to TFB the current contestants that have passed the most recent phase of the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle Competition (NGSAR). This phase is less of an actual competition between small arms prototypes but more of a theoretical feasibility of design concepts before any trials progression ensues. Results from this recent Prototype Opportunity Notice (PON) showed that out of ten industry contestants, only six were advanced to the next stage of the competition. These six companies are in order of most successful: Aircraft Armaments, Inc. Textron (AAI Textron), PCP Tactical (a division of PCP Ammunition), Sig Sauer, General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems (GT-OTS), and two entries from FN America (labeled as Lightweight and Adaptive).

I first heard the term “tacticool” somewhere around 2012. At that time, a friend of mine and I were training with US ex-special operations instructors in South-East Asia, and instructors loved to make fun of Hong-Kong airsofters, who showed up to a basic shooting class in full combat loadout.

According to a public filing in Nevada, Freedom Munitions and its parent company Howell Munitions, recently petitioned the court for bankruptcy protection. Information subitted to TFB from several anonymous sources pointed to two cases outlined at inforuptcy.com, showing filing dates of 6/8/2018 and 6/11/2018. Information is slim at the moment, but the court information states that both Freedom Munitions’ assets and liabilities lays somewhere between $10M and $50M.

What initially started out as an individual pledge by gun owners to be more responsible and aware of their handling of firearms has now transcended into a movement. Glock‘s #FollowTheFour firearms safety campaign is a responsible push for gun owners to acknowledge the four pillars of gun safety.

In a move that is both shocking and unsurprising at the same time, the video hosting powerhouse YouTube has terminated Brownells’ channel citing violations of their “community guidelines”. In the professional business of gunsmithing, tools, parts supply, accessories and more recently firearms sales, Brownells has been a pillar of the shooting community for nearly 100 years. While countless old-fashion catalog sales companies died off with the ecommerce revolution, Brownells adapted, embracing online sales and customers with an easy to navigate website and strong social media presence.

On June 1, the DEA issued a Brand Name Only solicitation for one hundred (100) Glock 26s. The DEA must have confidence in the new Gen 5 models, because that’s specifically what they are asking for. (Want more info on the Gen 5 Glock 26? See this  Video and Article.) The full solicitation is in block-quote below, or you can see the original source here. The drug enforcement agents want standard triggers, Ameriglo nightsights, extended slide stops and mag catches (that’s the “ANS,” “ESS,” and “EMC” in the solicitation) and 6 (“high capacity”?) mags per gun. I have a Gen 5 Glock 26 with the Ameriglos myself and I think this makes an excellent choice as a back-up or deep concealment gun for agents.

Pistol Stabilizing Brace fans have the option to add the device of their choice after purchase, but the Lynx is also SBR-ready for those willing to undergo the NFA application process. Additional models and options are of being evaluated for possible import by AOA and headed to Atlantic Arms in the future.

Franklin Armory has been making lots of waves so far in 2018. From the straight cut barreled Reformation debuted at the 2018 SHOT Show, their Binary Trigger for the CZ Scorpion Evo to their new TR-4 Binary Trigger with a full-auto option (for legal full-auto firearms).

Working with firearms channels on Youtube has constantly been a struggle to us at TFB with our Youtube subsidiary TFB TV, to the point where we have joked about it and been awestruck by such attempts by other channels to put their content on Pornhub. But when I first took a look at Bloke on the Range’s channel and was flabbergasted to see the words “Account Terminated”, I instantly sent the channel owner a private message over WhatsApp. Unfortunately, this was not a joke and it was also his first time seeing the channel down as well. This is perhaps one of the worst moments a Youtube content creator can go through.