This is not your usual riflescope, but the new Pulsar Thermion XG50 (3-24×42) which uses the 640×480, 12-micron sensor made by BAE Systems. This Thermal scope has a 2,400 yards detection range. The MSRP is in the 7,000 USD range. The Thermion XP50 is very similar in looks but uses a different sensor. The custom rifle also comes with a Kopfjäger K800 Carbon Fiber Reaper Grip Kit tripod, not shown here.

Back in 2018, the Indian Army began its latest effort to modernise its small arms. A tender for 5.56x45mm carbines was awarded to UAE-based Caracal. The tender called for 93,895 CAR 816 carbines but news of the contract has been scarce ever since. Now it seems that the company have made a commitment to fully manufacture the carbines in India from the beginning of the contract rather than an initial phased transition to local manufacture.

One week after the German Ministry of Defence confirmed that the company C.G. Haenel and their MK556 Assault Rifle had been chosen we finally have an official statement from the company.

Welcome to The TFB Debate Club Dodecahedron – where two humans fight to the death in honor of Earth’s magnificence. Actually, it more like two middle school kids arguing over who is the NFL’s best quarterback. With the lack of presidential debates looming over the smoldering remains of the election season, we thought it might be fun to put our own people center stage for a bit of friendly discourse. This week Luke and Doug square off on a common debate topic: should you pick the AR-15 for home defense?

Although you may not be too familiar with the Sellmark name itself, you are likely very familiar with some of the more customer-facing brands of which Sellmark is the parent company. Probably their best-known brand in the consumer market is Sightmark, a prolific manufacturer of inexpensive optics. If you are into the thermal/night vision game, you will likely be aware of Pulsar, whose optics have been helping people see and shoot in the dark since 2008. Kopfjager’s shooting rests and tripods are built for precision shooting, and Firefield’s optics and accessories are geared toward providing budget-friendly options for training, MilSim, and plinking. Now Texas-based Sellmark has partnered with Phoenix Weaponry and Hornady as well as their own internal brands to offer a charity auction for the benefit of the Texas Game Warden Association. See their press release below for details.

Lyman has announced that the second edition of their AR Reloading Handbook is now available. Compared to the first book, the 2nd edition Lyman AR Reloading Handbook has an expanded cartridge list that includes the latest AR cartridges such as .224 Valkyrie, .22 Nosler, .24 Nosler, and .350 Legend, as well as updated data on other cartridges, bullets and powders. Lyman advertises this new handbook as a comprehensive source of AR reloading information that provides the AR shooter with reloading data for nearly all AR based calibers.

Heckler & Koch released a statement earlier today addressing the Bundeswehr’s selection of the C.G. Haenel MK556 over HK’s HK416 and new HK433 rifles.

I really liked the Geissele ICON Rifle of last month – “ The Last Man Standing” – with the wooden details and I can only congratulate whoever won it. But as we have entered September, it is time for a new ICON Rifle from Geissele, and it’s called: “Freedom’s Remembrance”.

Following on from the surprising news of yesterday, that  C.G. Haenel MK556 rifle had won the German Army tender to replace the Heckler & Koch G36, confirmation has now been officially announced.

After almost six decades with Heckler & Koch, the German Bundeswehr appears to have selected a new supplier for its assault rifle. TFB has followed the process closely and while the decision had been delayed we knew that a decision from the was due this autumn. We also knew that regardless of the outcome of the German Army’s choice the result would be of great importance for decades to come.

Here’s what CMMG had to say:

FN America‘s current AR-15 lineup – dubbed the “FN-15 Series” – includes eighteen models, ranging from 5.56 and 300BLK pistols to a competition-purposed model to California-compliant versions and more. FN also provides variants of these fighting rifles to various military and law enforcement groups around the globe. Primary Arms already carries dozens of FN America products, from complete firearms to magazines and more. Now Primary Arms has announced that they are adding a collection of FN’s AR barrels to their product menu.

Blackwater has a limited edition of their Iron Horse Lower. As you may remember Blackwater Worldwide and Iron Horse Firearms announced a partnership earlier this year.

Have you ever handled or fired an original M16 or an AR-15 with the classic original tri-form handguards? They have a certain ergonomic quality to them that some might argue we have lost as we evolved through the A2 style handguards, through quad rails to the more recent lightweight M-LOK and KeyMod forends. Well, Luth-AR have announced their Widebody Palm Handguard that looks like it melds that modern modularity with some of the old school ergonomics of the original M16 handguard. The wider base of the new handguard also provides a stable shooting platform when resting the forend on surfaces.

Mekanix, a company based in Mølnbukt, Norway, have developed a handguard and a gas block that fits the Heckler & Koch`s MR223/HK416/MR556 rifles. They seem to have a lot of time at hand to develop new and clever solutions.

To commemorate special dates and events in Geissele or America’s history Geissele are going to host a free giveaway for a single Geissele ICON Rifle at the beginning of every month.

Christensen Arms has expanded their Modern Sporting Rifles line of firearms with the addition of CA9MM, the first pistol caliber gun in this product family. The CA9MM is a direct blowback firearm chambered in 9x19mm and yes, fed from Glock mags. It is available both as a pistol and PCC/rifle depending on the barrel length. Let’s take a look at the main features of new Christensen Arms CA9MM pistols and carbines.

Omni Robusta is a firearm accessories manufacturing company located in Virginia Beach, VA. Their main product is an AR-15/AR-10 buffer that has built-in neodymium magnets for felt recoil mitigation. They call these buffers MARRS which stands for Magnetic Adjustable Recoil Reduction System. Let’s see how these buffers work and what advantages they have.

TFB reader and Subscribe Star supporter Stubbs have been hard at work these past couple months throwing together another monstrosity of a rifle. Or is it Rifles this time? Stubbs has managed to cobble together a heap of AR-15 parts to create a truly unique Double Barreled Double Trouble AR-15 which he has dubbed the M16Z.

Brownells has released the second generation of their BRN-180 upper receiver assemblies and also added a .300 Blackout version of the shorter barreled BRN-180S upper. The BRN-180 family of products is based on the AR-18/AR-180 design and is made in cooperation with PWS and FM Products. Let’s see what new features BRN-180 Gen2 uppers have compared to the first generation ones.

In the past couple weeks SilencerCo has been teasing that they had a new product coming down the pipeline. Logic would make us assume that it is another silencer, but SilencerCo very recently also dropped a NEW Enhanced BCG (Bolt-Carrier Group) so you never truly know. They also had left us with some fun word-play to see if we could read between the lines:

Good morning quiet time lovers and welcome to another edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the Resonator R2 7.62mm rifle suppressor. Last week we got a review of a high-performance suppressor cover From Liberty’s Defense. This week I wanted to take an updated look at a question that is probably asked the most often: “What are the best 300BLK suppressors on the market today?” A simple question with a handful of good answers, depending on your requirements.

In the second part of the AR-9 on a Budget series, Hop talks about BCGs, buffer weights, barrels, and how to tune a reliable AR-9 for cheap.

Subject: Photo Of The Day

If you’re in the market for the perfect muzzle brake to top off your space gun AR build then look no further. Tyrant Designs have been making sleek looking AR and pistol accessories and components for years and the CyberBrake is the latest addition to their line of unique offerings.

It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane! It’s… it’s… the weekly deals post! And the crowd goes wild! It is once again that time of the week boys and girls, it’s time to pull out your wallets and sigh deeply because the price points we all knew and loved back in January are no more. But hey, there are still some decent deals out there, and I’m bringing them here for you.

IWI’s joint venture with India’s Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems could be set to produce the ARAD and CARMEL rifles alongside the Tavor X95 already announced. The ARAD was unveiled in September 2019 while details of the the CARMEL emerged in July 2018. The ARAD is a gas-operated rifle in a conventional AR-pattern configuration while the CARMEL is arguably more futuristic with a polymer chassis but using the same short-stroke gas piston and rotating multi-lug bolt.

As India continues its unprecedented effort to modernise its Army’s small arms, fresh news of one of the early procurement efforts has emerged. Could a deal with Caracal for nearly 100,000 carbines be close to fruition?

Ultradyne, known for their “C4” flip-up iron sights system and muzzle brakes have just introduced their new “C2” iron sights. The new C2 version is also designed to flip-up (or down for storage), and still utilizes Ultradyne’s unique dual aperture sighting system, with an option to use a standard style blade in the front sight for the traditionalists. The C2 iron sights differ from the older C4 version in that they don’t have the built-in, quick elevation adjustments for different ranges. You can read Ultradyne’s product description and specs below to see the features that the C2 offers:

As I saw the picture above,  I knew it would make a great Photo Of The Day.