Brownells has introduced big bore AR-15 barrels chambered in .458 SOCOM and .450 Bushmaster. The barrels for both caliber options come with the bolts and three-chamber muzzle brakes. Apparently these are custom profile barrels made by Faxon Firearms specifically for Brownells. In a recently published new products announcement video, Brownells’ employee Paul Levy says: “these are specific profiles that we requested from Faxon“. You can find that video embedded below.

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The Bayamon, Puerto Rico Police Department has completed its first order of rifles from Battle Rifle Company of Houston, Texas. The BR4 Diablo standard short-barreled rifle with flip-up sights was selected to serve the department.

Thanks to Shawn and Brian of 2AGuysandGear. I almost missed this at Big 3 East but Shawn mentioned it and showed me a photo. So on the last day I caught up with Spike’s Tactical. They brought out a new caliber to show us. It is called the .416 Spike. It is basically a .308 version of .300 blk. I had actually pondered this a while back and at the time there wasn’t a larger version of a .300blk. Well now there is.

When I saw the list of manufacturers attending Big 3 East Media Event, I did not know who Stern Defense was. I haven’t heard of them. I did a quick Google search and what I saw piqued my interest. They make an AR Glock Mag Adapter. We have seen Torkmag and ATI have their own Glock mag adapter however I have not seen the Torkmag in production and ATI was announced at SHOT Show. I could have sworn Strike Industries had a 3D printed prototype just before SHOT Show but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. Stern Defense is the new kid on the block. They only started making their Glock Mag Adapters four months ago. And not only do they have an adapter for Glock mags, they have come out with a mag adapter for Beretta 92 magazines, Smith & Wesson M&P and now M&P45.

I saw a photo floating around social media just after SHOT Show last January of a magwell accessory that has interchangeable face plates. Somewhat akin to the Sharps Bros lower receiver concept of 3D sculpted mag well this mag well grip has skulls, helmets and other pieces of flair to help personalize your AR-15. Well I saw them at IWA and found out it was a collaboration between Zahal and Fab Defense. It is the MOJO Grip.

One thing I was not expecting to see at IWA was Mateba let alone the 6 Unica. The 6 Unica is one of my grail guns and I was pleasantly surprised to see it at IWA. These somewhat unicorn guns were made from 1997 – 2005. When one goes up for sale they typically start at $4,000 USD. But these are newly produced versions ready for import for €2,000.

JP Enterprises out of Hugo, Minnesota, posted a picture of a 9×19 mm barrel cut in half.

At the last SHOT Show, Pete wrote an article about Thermal Defense Solutions (TDS) and their 3D Printed suppressors. They are here at Big 3 East with a selection of their 3D printed inconel suppressors as well as their self regulating AR 3D printed gas system.

Oberland Arms from Germany are on the offensive with a lot of new product launches at their home market, at the IWA Exhibition.

Hidden out of sight at the IWA exhibition in Germany, but TFB got a first exclusive look of the new CQR AR10 stock. Below you can see the first “live” pictures.

During my trip to Germany last week, I took a special trip up to Hamburg, Germany to visit Zib Militaria. Zib is a surplus dealer in some rare gun parts. Heiko, the owner, has acquired some rare machine gun parts as well as stock piled a bunch of HK goodies. Among them are piles of HK 416 and 417 parts along with guns minus the barrels and bolts. This is due to the laws regarding firearm components in Germany. While I was there, I learned that Brownells has bought a majority these components and is planning to import them for sale in the US.

At IWA, I walked past EMTAN’s booth.See photo below. Nothing of much interest as their booth had AR-15 style rifles. That is until I spotted something on the wall that looked interesting. It is a 9mm AR that uses CZ Scorpion Evo mags.

Good day fellow firearms enthusiasts. Do you, or someone you love, suffer from an infestation of either dinosaurs, dragons or space aliens? Perhaps you own or lease property with unsightly structures in need of immediate demolition. Don’t bother with messy explosives or expensive air strikes: Outdoor Shooter Supply has started making 50 Krater ammunition as well as barrels and bolts for the AR10 platform. The 50 Krater round is a wildcat cartridge based on a 300 RUM case using 500 S&W or 50AE bullets.

The last time I professionally celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, my friends and I used a Super Soaker water cannon to “hyper-drink” Guinness by the pint. And even though that may have be 20+ years ago, I can’t in good conscience recommend such irresponsible activities to anyone outside of your worst enemies. However, I can recommend some gear that, with dedicated practice on your part, can help you to become a better shooter. Get lucky this weekend? Nope, you make your own luck my friend. Wait, that just sounds wrong.

The yearly exhibition IWA is very soon upon us, and the German firearms manufacturer Oberland Arms is releasing a new 9×19 mm semi-automatic rifle in AR15-style.

Many great things have happened over a cup of coffee, and this Noveske Infidel rifle is no exception.

Owning a Modern Sporting Rifle  behind enemy lines in California is quite a responsibility these days. As if training and rangetime in and of itself isn’t a big enough task for a rookie, I also have to plan my rifle conversion over to featureless. With that said, I am always on the lookout for the new products and am quite intrigued with my latest find: an AR grip from Ledesma Arms.

Recently we reported about the Brownells  lightweight AR-15 bolt carrier groups. Shortly after releasing that product, Brownells has also announced that they are now making titanium AR-15 and AR-10 bolt carrier groups. As you know, titanium is very lightweight. As a matter of fact, their standard profile titanium AR-15 BCG is even lighter than the skeletonized steel one.

Thanks to my friend Ben, he alerted me to this rare piece of retro gaming collecting. My friend collects rare video game items and in the world of Super Nintendo (SNES) the Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (M.A.C.S) is one of the top 5.

It has been reported that Pioneer Arms Corp are working on an AR-15. The Polish defence publication, Milmag, recently reported that Poland’s Pioneer Arms Corp have unveiled prototypes of what will be their next product line.

The Enforce TAC 2018 and IWA Outdoor Classics show 2018 is coming to Nurnberg as usual.

Unfortunately, an inevitable result of any large-scale military counter-insurgency operation are unintended, innocent civilian casualties otherwise known as collateral damage. The questions stated to military planners are not “If” but instead “When”. How any modern Infantry forces works through this sort of preparation can sometimes determine the difference between winning and losing against a determined insurgency of any time.

Springfield Armory has been on a tear the last year with new iterations of the SAINT series of AR-15 firearms. First, Springfield Armory introduced the original SAINT model in October of 2016. They then followed up with an M-LOK free-float handguard version to many people’s delight. We at TFB then followed up with a thorough review of the SAINT M-LOK by our rifle savy and intelligent writer Thomas Gomez. The next in line for Springfield Armory was a Flat Dark Earth (FDE) variant of the original Keymod model. After that was a Cali-compliant version of the SAINT M-LOK that featured a Survivor System Stock. Then, I had the personal pleasure of seeing the unveiling of the SAINT AR-15 Pistol last November. The final firearm to come into the fold was a more premium rendition with the SAINT Edge.

A recently released Marine Corps Times article covers a discussion with a MARSOC spokesman who confirmed in no uncertain terms that the command was not interested in an M27 IAR procurement program. The reasons stated involved the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) of MARSOC, working in confined quarters and requiring not only a shorter barrel for these types of operations but also a weapon in which adding a suppressor to won’t make it even longer. Also mentioned was a statement about the lack of compatibility with the SOCOM upper receiver group to be mounted on an M27’s lower receiver. On top of both of these concerns is that MARSOC appears to be quite content with having a belt-fed light machine gun integral to the small teams in which they operate from. Previously this has been the M249 SAW, but currently, MARSOC is fielding the FN Herstal 7.62x51mm NATO Mk.48.

The Surefire MAG5-60 and MAG5-100 magazines were initially released in 2010 and received much interest from all over the shooting community. However, insofar as actually being used by operating forces, it appears that their adoption has been somewhat limited. There is footage of what appears to be infantrymen from the 2nd Infantry Division in Afghanistan using them as a private purchase. In addition to an official adoption by Indonesian KOPSAKA Special Forces in 2013 which the force is still using today.

We previously covered the Marine Corps M27 in last weeks episode and will be really getting into the weeds here in terms of some of the issues and benefits the weapon system afforded to Infantry Marines. Topics such as the choice of magazines for the automatic rifle, why it was so accurate and reliable, even dummy-cording the Squad Day Optic (SDO) to the rifle so it doesn’t fall off while in the field. The current version of the M27 took care of some of these problems but left others intact.

A recently published news video from Arizona-based 3TV/Arizona Family Channel concerning domestic violence in the U.S. Army included a photograph of a U.S. Soldier from the 7th Special Forces Group based out of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The soldier is posing with what appears to be an M4A1 SOPMOD Block II and also appears to be on deployment in Afghanistan due to the terrain, green valley, and patchwork of compounds in the background.

The Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Defense Budget Proposal has been submitted to Congress and will take some time before we find out if it is approved or denied. But within it there is a specific budget document titled “Counter-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Train and Equip Fund (CTEF)”. This proposal covers the Pentagon’s plans to purchase equipment and arms that will be provided to forces that the United States (i.e- SOCOM) supports in Syria and Iraqi government security forces. At the low end of the supply chain are items such as magazine pouches and canteens, while at the high end are HUMVEEs and bulldozers. We are going to narrow down our focus to the small arms segment for TFB’s interests. A key element to keep in mind here is that this proposal hasn’t been approved yet and thus we are simply looking at what the Pentagon wants, instead of what they are going to get in terms of funding for all this equipment. The final result could be less, or it could even be more depending on the politics that go into the decision making process.

Will a lowly backpack full of books beat an “assault rifle” loaded with military-grade ammo? In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves tests an SBR H&K MP5, an AK-47, and an AR-15 against a lightly loaded bookbag to find out if books are more effective than body armor against guns. James uses a variety of different ammunition including military-grade M882 9mm ball ammo, M193 .223 ammo, M855 steel penetrator core ammo, and steel AK47 ammunition from Wolf.