Thanks to disqus member d_grey for sharing these photos.

The idea of .366 TKM cartridge was accepted really well in the Russian shooting community. What makes it unique for them is that firearms chambered in this caliber have partially rifled barrels which qualify as a shotgun in Russia and don’t require 5 year wait period for the first-time gun owners to obtain a rifled firearm. That rifled portion (about 135mm or so) is considered a built-in rifled choke (a.k.a. Paradox choke). In other words, they can buy these sort of small caliber slug cartridges and guns right off the shelf and still have somewhat rifle grade accuracy and power at moderate ranges (100 to 300 meters). In the video below a camera travels down the .366 TKM barrel (starting from the muzzle). Note how riflings start to disappear at some point and the bore becomes completely smooth.

Comically named “Hardcore Tactics” is not looking for a way to get into your pants, but for a way for you to get into theirs. Their new product, dubbed “Mag Pants” (no doubt short for “Magazine Pants”) are a funny and quintessentially Japanese rip-off of the beloved original MagPul.. For those not familiar, the MagPul gave a very popular company its namesake.

Definitive Arms has released several images of their new adjustable gas block for AK rifles. It has 13 settings and the way you change them is pretty AK-style. The retention of the gas block positions is accomplished by a spring loaded plunger and corresponding cuts on the selector drum which is very reminiscent of muzzle device retention mechanism of AK rifles.

Mikhail Degtyaryov of Russian “Kalashnikov” gun magazine has visited Molot’s premises and published on his social media pages several images of a new Vepr rifle. The rifle will feature a quick change barrel system. It will be possible to switch between the 7.62x39mm, .366 TKM, and 6.5x39mm calibers.

A company called Chaos makes custom Micro Draco AK pistols. The most unusual feature of these AKs which immediately jumps out is the brace that houses an AK magazine!

We recently wrote about MBW STOCKS from Poland and their Ruger 10/22 stock kit with parts from the AK47.

What is old is new again seems to be coming around on a more frequent basis. With “retro” builds and their parts seeing a resurgence amongst builders, it would seem that the market is clamoring for something a bit more than the “next best thing.” If fact, this trend would seem to state that the market is looking for the “last best thing.”

With over 6 million Ruger 10/22 made it’s no surprise that there are several stock kits available.

An integrally suppressed variant of the AK called the Gopak was on display a recent demonstration at the Goncharivske trial grounds in the Chernihiv area of Ukraine. In two videos released via YouTube this week, the rifle is demonstrated firing and being inspected by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov. The rifle is visible in the video below, at 0:58 and 3:51:

Coke’s slogan is “Taste the Feeling”, but maybe in the Ukraine it should be “the Army’s Rust Remover!” instead. “We use Coca-Cola when the gun is rusty. Coca-Cola takes rust away” says Ukrainian Ground Forces machine gunner Oleg Yuzkovich about his trusty PKM machine gun, in an interview with 5 Kanal (Channel 5 Ukraine, embedded below.

Haris Tareen shared these pics from his trip to Pakistan.

In the rush to augment the infantry’s firepower with new advanced small arms technologies, we may be on the precipice of crippling their ability to fight wars. The push to equip the infantryman with more powerful rifles and machine guns risks reducing his mobility to critical levels, and “locking out” his capacity to carry powerful supporting arms. Although more potent basic infantry weapons are undeniably desirable, current attitudes towards their purpose – exemplified by the concept of “overmatch” – may compound problems that already have reached crisis levels.

After posting yesterday’s long and curved AR15 Magazine, I came across something similar for the AK47.

The release of the Galil ACE has been met with generally positive reviews. The weapon system, basically an updated Galil/AK is picking up a reputation for being attractive, reliable, and usable with new features welcome including AR-style magazine compatibility on the .308, a top-mounted picatinny rail, and generally more ergonomic interfaces.

Hey SLR Rifleworks does not need no stinking low-cost manufacturing methods, instead, they have opted for the most expensive option to create an AK stock – milling it from a large block of billet material. Commonly, AK stocks are either mass-produced wood or manufactured from bended sheet metal. Arguably quite ugly, the sheet metal stocks have served the Kalashnikov platform well until now.

Kainoa Little is a freelance photographer. She was in Mosul during the conflict and took these photos. Unfortunately she could not find anyone willing to purchase them so she is offering them up for free. She wants to help the people in the photos get exposure and attention for their sacrifice and hard work.

Another good idea, bad idea. Hical.ca has a magazine release for the SKS rifle. It is shaped like a trigger and positions the trigger to the side of the trigger guard.

In January of 2001, the US Army introduced a new slogan to replace the classic “Be All You Can Be” which young men had recruited under for over two decades. The branch’s new slogan was “An Army of One”, signalling a brand new take on a force that wanted desperately to reinvent itself. Those behind the slogan sought to re-humanize the Army, atomize it, bring it down to its individual components, i.e., the people who filled its ranks. It would be, they hoped, the slogan of a new Army that through the strength of its individuals helped make the world a better place. Over the next 5 years, however, it became the slogan under which men and women all over the world would sign up to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of what became known as the Global War on Terror.

Miles shared this photo of a Kurd Peshmerga posing with his under folding AK. The AK has been decorated with what looks like crocheted koozie covers. I assume someone from his family made them. They resemble the Kurdistan flag.

Capitalism at its best!

The state-owned Ordnance Factory Board’s most recent rifle submission has failed the Indian Army’s initial rifle qualification trials, in the words of the Hindustan Times it “miserably failed”. This most recent trial comes right on the heels of the failed “Excaliber” INSAS enhancement, and the MCIWS that hasn’t been able to achieve a successful adoption. From the Hindustan Times-

Red Oktober is a competition very unique in the regard that it caters specifically to the Kalashnikov platform. Debuted in 2016 at a range in southern Utah, it attracted a significant number of collectors, shooters, and builders throughout the country, even coming so far as Alaska or jumping through the hurdles of traveling from California with restricted rifles. In my opinion, the entire scene was something to really behold just due to the dedicated folk that are drawn to the platform. Unlike the AR15, it is much harder to become proficient or even get into one of the Kalashnikov derivatives due to the lesser availability of quality components, the lack of common knowledge and popularity, but most importantly the much more intricate procedures of completing an AK build. Those willing to go down this forbidding path and are serious about it have an adherence to the AK unlike most any you will probably encounter in the AR world.

Last December we reported on the Uzbek originated group Malhama Tactical, offering the equivalent of private military services to numerous belligerents within the Syrian conflict. Rather than fade away from the scene, the group has actually appeared to have grown, with its own dedicated Twitter, Telegram, and several Youtube pages that go by hannibal Great and  Malhama-Tactical FanGuy. In our previous post about the group, the videos that we posted were all taken down from Youtube but they are still on the internet in various locations. I’ve taken the liberty of downloading them from their original source and uploading them to Youtube, because it probably is only a matter of time before the group deletes their channel or it gets taken down. My hope is that readers realize that TFB isn’t intent on “spreading” their propaganda videos, but is instead doing our utmost to learn and analyze the weapons, tactics, techniques, and procedures that the group is utilizing.

Magpul announced on Facebook today that the long-awaited Magpul PMAG magazine for the 5.45 versions of the Kalashnikov are now shipping. Announced about one year ago, the Mapul PMAG 30 AK74 MOE, as it is officially named, will join the extensive and ever-expanding line of Magpul magazines and other products.

Occam Power Solutions, as the name implies, is a typical small company. Offering battery management systems, they have been expanding into the defense market with two products – one fitting their MO (a remote ballistic fuse detonator) and the other product being nearly the complete opposite, in fact lacking any power at all: the Rear Sight Tower for the AK-47

The Kalashnikov Museum keeps releasing new  videos showing some of the rarest experimental Soviet firearms. These videos provide a good visual reference of the basic mechanical features of these unusual rifles. They also allow writing an article based on them making it more understandable and interesting. This time they are telling about another pair of rifles called AS and ASM. Both are designed in Izhmash by Gennadiy Nikonov, who is more known as the designer of the AN-94 assault rifle. In fact, AS and ASM rifles are predecessors of the AN-94 and its delayed recoil impulse mechanism. Let’s watch the video (in Russian) first and then take a closer look at each of the rifles․

According to Russian news agency TASS, the Kalashnikov Concern officials have informed them that the AK-12 has successfully passed all the government tests and trials and it is planned to be adopted by the Russian armed forces. The key phrase is “planned to”, which means it is not quite official yet. The Kalashnikov Concern also released a video showing some design details of their newest firearms like the AK-12, AK-15, RPK-16 etc.

Russia hosted the first ever Rifle World Championship, practical rifle shooting according to the IPSC rules.

When we reported about the new sanction that prohibits US companies from importing new Molot VEPR rifles and shotguns we said that we requested comment from FIME Group about the new Molot sanction. Currently, the management and lawyers with FIME are looking over all associated documentation to see what the impact of the change will actually be. It may be a few more days before we get a full statement from the only importer of Molot products to the US.