This is a rather rare AK74 magazine that is a quad stack. Similar in concept to the SureFire 60rd quad stack magazines. I am told it holds 60 rounds of 5.45x39mm.

We all know how strange gun laws can be. In Russia there’s a 5 year wait of owning a shotgun before you can obtain a rifle. Yes, that includes .22LR.

An art foundation has put an ammo test on display in the Presidio of San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the display is the result of an AK47 bullet smashing into an M16 bullet. So probably 7.62x39mm vs 5.56x45mm. I am curious about the origins of this ammo test. Were the rifles fired simultaneously or was one shot after the other? From the looks of the clear gelatin it looks like the bullets collided in the middle. If one rifle was fired then the other, then the first bullet would have travelled further into the ballistics gelatin before the other bullet collided into it. I wonder how many times they tried this before getting it right?

As part of Kalashnikov Concern’s new product rollout for the Russian government’s ARMY 2016 military technology conference, the company has announced a new designated marksman’s rifle, named the SVK. Earlier this year, an article in PopMech.ru showed off a Kalashnikov Concern design called “SK-16”, but an anonymous source told TFB that development of that rifle has ceased, due to problems with the design, and the new SVK will be taking its place. The SVK uses similar receiver architecture to the Kalashnikov Concern MA, also announced this week, with a steel upper receiver spine supporting a Picatinny-type rail and providing a guide rod for the operating group, as well as rigidity for the whole firearm. The rest of the receiver is made of polymer (aluminum on the prototypes), and contains the fire control group and the magazine housing.

The Russian small arms firm Kalashnikov Concern has announced several new weapons during the International Military-Technical Forum “ARMY 2016” held by the Russian government in Moscow, the first of which is a new take on a promising 20th Century experimental design. The new Kalashnikov MA (Малогабаритный автомат, loosely translated to “Micro Assault Rifle”) is based on a 1970s-era design by Yevgeny Dragunov, which was also called “MA”. The original MA competed against designs from the Soviet Union’s best small arms engineers and showed substantial promise, but was passed over in favor of the AKS-74U, which shared much of its design with the already-in-service AK-74. Now, the MA is getting a makeover, and another shot – Kalashnikov Concern has adapted the basic design for 21st Century requirements and manufacturing techniques, resulting in a very modern-looking weapon.

This coverage of Army 2016 will be covering some of the precision rifles that are being introduced, apart from the SVK, which Nathaniel F. is writing about. If you aren’t tracking, Kalashnikov Concern is introducing a number of precision rifles at the expo, the first time many of these designs have been unveiled in public. The company released this press release about the VSV-338 precision rifle-

The AK-12 is dead. Long live the AK-12! That’s the song Kalashnikov Concern is singing this week at the recent ARMY 2016 expo in Moscow, Russia. The radical AK-12 prototypes that have dominated Kalashnikov’s press over the past two years are gone, replaced by a more conservative rifle – also called “AK-12” – based on the Concern’s previous AK-400 prototypes. The new rifle addresses the Russian Army’s concerns regarding the AK-12’s cost and issues in fully automatic fire, an anonymous source told TFB, and is expected to be much cheaper to build than the previous model. It incorporates many of the same improvements developed for the previous AK-12 model, but improves the strength and resilience of some of the components.

While there is a plethora of companies offering to do modifications to the base firearm, manufacture accessories, or do various custom machining work, few focus on the magazine of a given firearms. Outside of the option to develop and produce a new magazine, few spend the time to modify existing designs.

Just in time for the fall hunting season a new laser rangefinder is being added to the HALO lineup. Knowing how far away game really is has far more to do with a successful hunt than bragging rights of the “he was *this* far away…” variety. Being aware of distance means a greater ability to calculate drift and drop, meaning you as the hunter are able to make a clean kill. When it comes to choosing a rangefinder, you need one that’s both accurate and capable of calculating more than just a single distance over a flat surface. The new Halo XL450 promises all that and more.

A design out of Serbia, from a company named NB International New Arms Technologies, is incorporating a number of features from around the market onto the Kalashnikov platform, in what they call the “Assault Rifle, B 15”. The rifle takes inspiration from the folding stock of the G36, what looks to be a CAA AK grip, possibly the selector switch from a Czech Vz 58, and Diamond Head BUIS sights mounted on a full length picatinny rail. In fact I think the only feature that seems to be original on the rifle is the design of the receiver, which is very clean sided compared to your traditional Kalashnikov rivet and dimple sides. However I might even be wrong with this as it may just be some sort of tight fitting sheath on top of it.

In the category of “if it’s new to me, it must be new to somebody else”, I stumbled across the Pioneer line of “sporterized” VEPR rifles from Molot. I have to be honest, I’ve always liked the look of the VEPR rifles, and even more so now that I have seen the Pioneer models. They have that “AK for a more civilized time” feel. The two current models are chambered in .223 and 7.62×39.

To some hunting season is right around the corner and for others it’s year-round; whenever and wherever you hunt, this new bag might interest you. This is more than just a bag for toting stuff around, though. It’s the ScentPURGE BigMOUTH Bag, and if it delivers as promised it would be a welcome addition to my own must-have hunting gear.

Outside of TFB, I’m a part of a firearms advocacy group at my university. Because of that connection, I was invited to participate in an event was sharing stories about the connection with firearms that people have in the United States. The event itself was very political, however my story was anything but political. If you want to, you can watch it in its entirety here. The story that I told, I clipped it from the main video and uploaded it on my own Youtube channel, which is shown here.

About a month ago Midwest Industries leaked out this photo of their new Gen2 AK Handguard. I had to get one. The ability to mount a Trijicon MRO and co-witness irons is what sold me.

The Sheremetyevo International Airport is Moscow’s and Russia’s largest airport, with about 31 million passengers yearly. Here the famous Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov just opened a brand and accessories shop.

Jim Fuller of Rifle Dynamics posted this up on a facebook group called EDC – Every Day Carbine.

Here is a cool video of some Russian Special Forces practicing shooting from a seated position in an unstable platform. This simulator gives the shooters a similar sensation to riding in a moving vehicle where they will have to shoot out of. Once they get the basics of firearm manipulation they move onto actually shooting from a moving vehicle and work on lagging their targets. The twin PKPs dumping rounds looks like fun.

After World War II, the nations of the world retired to lick their wounds and rebuild, but their arms engineers also began thinking about the next war. The war have brought forth a storm of new technologies and inventions, and one of the most significant in the field of small arms was the finally mature assault rifle in the form of the Nazi-developed “Sturmgewehr”, and its intermediate 7.92x33mm Kurzpatrone cartridge. One nation that took notice of this new weapon and its ammunition was the newly reconstituted Czechoslovakia. That nations engineers quickly took to copying and improving the 7.92 Kurz caliber, producing by the early 1950s a short-lived but unique round called the 7.62x45mm Kr.52, or more popularly the 7.62×45 Czech. The 7.62×45’s projectile was a near copy of the Kurzpatrone’s stubby, steel-cored one, but its case was much longer, while being slightly thinner, and having a greater internal volume. This gave the Czech round an additional 250 ft/s muzzle velocity versus the German 7.92×33 when fired from the barrel of the rifle that was designed alongside it, the strange but wonderful vz. 52.

In what may seem like a sin in the eyes of true firearm aficionados, I don’t currently own an AK-patterned rifle. But I am on the lookout for something short and 5.45-based (thanks a lot, Nathaniel F.). The one thing I struggle with when it comes to classic-but-useful guns is how to mount needed accessories without ruining traditional appearances and styling. And while I have altered wood hand guards and forends in the past, it’s not always the best choice – sometimes a full modern replacement is the best answer when utility meets style. That’s where companies like Midwest Industries is able to fill the void.

Close your eyes and allow me to take you back to a time when ammunition was cheap and plentiful. Crates of Comm Bloc surplus ammo could be had for the price of a night at the movies. Where ammo shelves were stocked to the brim, and retailers were handing out ‘buy one, get one’ coupons. Remember those days? No, neither do I .

In the late 1950s, after the first public demonstrations of the AR-15 and its new small caliber, high velocity cartridge, the Soviet Union took notice of the radical developments in military .22 caliber rounds in the United States. By 1959, four years before the adoption of the AR-15 as the M16 by the US Army, Soviet ballisticians were already testing Soviet-made replica 55gr spitzer FMJ bullets fired at over 3,000 ft/s from modified necked down 7.62x39mm cases. This program for a new small caliber high velocity lasted into the late 1960s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1970s that the 5.45x39mm caliber was eventually issued alongside the AK-74 rifle, a modified but significantly more effective variant of the previous 7.62x39mm AKM assault rifle.

Since I am getting “mixed” reviews on my cheesy Buddy Cop graphic comedy series, how about a mid-week’s look at some dry accounting numbers? Ok, maybe they aren’t so dry since all of the stats involve guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has released the latest annual report on Firearms Commerce in the United States. The twenty-two page document is a raw compilation of statistics on the manufacture, transfer, import, export and licensed dealers in the U.S.

Manticore Arms, makers of quality AR-15 and AK-47 parts and accessories, have just released a modular forearm system for AK-patterned rifles. Like it’s AR Rail sibling, the aluminum hand guard is named the ‘Transformer’ and has two removable side plates that can be swapped out for M-LOK, Keymod or grip panels. The system allows the shooter to configure their AK forend as the mission or equipment dictates.

In this video Miles (who is currently on a 2 month hike in Wisconsin) discuss the history of the famous Kalashnikov AKS-74U. The “Krink” was developed and adopted by the Spetsnaz in the 1970s. It gained infamy in Afghanistan during the 1980s where it was disliked by the Russian Special Forces, but very popular with the Pashtun Mujahadeen, who gave it the name “Krinkov”.

Every competitive shooter wants a recoil-less rifle. With the Saiga MK-107, or “recoil-less AK” we’re getting closer to that dream.

Destructive Devices Industries (DDI), makers and importers of Kalashnikov parts, rifles and the DDI-12 AK Shotgun, have announced that they will be offering American-made AK rifles. Initially, the rifles will be available in three options: fixed stock, folding plastic stock and folding metal triangle stock variations. Each model will feature Fenocited 4150 Steel barrels made by Green Mountain.

If there’s one thing it might have been nice to not witness it’s the rise of the Tactical EVERYthing in the gun industry. Don’t misunderstand me: true tactics are not only useful but can be lifesavers. Suffice to say it is not the legitimate tactical side of guns but rather the sudden surge of tacticool that’s causing eye rolls so hard I can see inside my skull. Recently a video on social media caught my attention because it featured everything we associate with the Tacticool Guy (also known as the TacTard, TacJoe, or, according to outdoor writer Richard Mann, the TacRon – a term that combines “tactical” and “moron”). This video has it all: tactical range pants, tactical beards, tactical sunglasses, tactical looking-without-seeing – you name it. If it’s tacticool, odds are the latest video from the European Security Academy (ESA) Ukraine has it.

Update: The owner of MAG contacted me after the publication of this article to remind me that “there are thousands, not hundreds” of guns in the vault. Somewhere close to 4000 with 1000 of those being handguns and 2000 being machineguns. Clearly my urge to resist hyperbole was misguided.

Over the last weekend of July 2016 Hogue Inc. posted a statement on their Facebook page outlining their experience with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is one of the largest banking institutions in the country. The bank was founded in 1852 and is quite well known for its logo which depicts an old time West stagecoach. The stagecoach logo originally depicted one of the drivers armed with a coach gun, something historically accurate specifically to the bank. Wells Fargo is the reason the term “coach gun” was created; the company’s drivers carried the double-barreled shotguns for protection on runs spanning thousands of miles. Then there was the 1950s television series “Tales of Wells Fargo” based on the life of real-life Wells Fargo detective Fred J. Dodge. In the television show Dodge became character Jim Hardie who was played by actor Dale Robertson, and the t..v. bank detective spent his role armed. And, of course, there used to be checks issued by the bank depicting an armed cowboy galloping his horse towards – or perhaps away from – some unseen thing (speaking as a former Wells Fargo customer, I can say I do remember those checks).

In Navarro County, TX Sheriff’s deputies were serving an arrest warrant to 79-year-old Harvey Alex Strain for possession of child pornography. When they arrested him he had a loaded handgun on him. They searched his residence and found a cache of weapons. 45 firearms were discovered. Some of them possibly machine guns so the ATF were called in.