This photograph was recently posted to the Facebook page of the Alabama National Guard. It features an Army Guardsman Sniper during a stalking course while in training. It appears that a combat cameraman (Staff Sgt. William Frye) was present during the stalking exercise held at Eglin AFB in Florida, possibly walking around and was able to snap the photograph just as the Back Snake slithered over the M110 SASS as it was in position. Captions for the photograph mention that Sniper PFC William Snyder as currently serving with the 1st Battalion of the 173rd Infantry Regiment (not to be confused with the 173rd Airborne Brigade). The image even made it into USA Today. 

A recent image posted on Egypt Defense Review has shown perhaps one of the more detailed images publicly available of Beretta GLX160 40x46mm Low-Velocity UBGL/Stand Alone configuration grenade launchers in use by Egyptian special operations forces (also in use are CZ 807s). The caption states that these operators are from the “103th Battalion” after a night raid. Due to the rising level of violence in the Sinai Peninsula, it is possible that their location is in Sinai as well. Of particular note here is that this appears to be the second order of GLX 160s from Beretta, being that the first went to Egyptian Naval special operations personnel.

Recent photographs have suggested that the Iranian Army (not the Revolutionary Guard Corps) might be introducing a Designated Marksman Rifle variant of the internally manufactured, H&K license produced Defense Industries Organization G3 currently in service with the Iranian Army. The rifle on display was at a demonstration put on by the Iranian 16th Armored Division based in Qazvin province during a visit by Land Forces Commander General Heydari. What appears to be a Weaver inspired rail is bolted to the top of the receiver with H&K patterned scope mounts. Although not actually mounted to the rifle at the display, a scope is mounted to the rifle in the poster photograph included on the table it is being displayed upon.

After field trials and subsequent purchasing of the “Trichy” Assault Rifle (TAR) by the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), it is being reported that other Indian Law Enforcement entities are taking an interest in the rifle as well. The 7.62x39mm TAR rifle was initially introduced almost a decade ago but appeared to have seen little success in the form that it first existed in. Essentially it appeared to be converting an FN FAL receiver into 7.62x39mm with internally produced magazines. The current variant is in fact a copy of the Bulgarian Arsenal 7.62x39mm AR-M1 (milled receiver) with some modifications to the buttstock in a fixed stock, folding stock, and telescoping M4 patterned stock variation. It appears that the latch to secure the right folding stock is left on the receiver even when the fixed and telescoping stocks have been installed. This improved variant was officially unveiled in March of 2017, more than a year ago. The name “Trichy” is short for Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli where a large number of defense articles are produced, to include the dreaded INSAS.

Savage’s A22 has been selling well for nearly a year and a half.  In addition to the aftermarket industry starting to produce components allowing you to customize your rifle, Savage has also released variants of the platform (like this limited edition variant).  This latest offering looks to enhance the durability of the platform.

Late last week, Kel-Tec Weapons issued a voluntary recall of specific Sub-2000 rifles manufactured during their 2017 production run.

Cobalt Kinetics has some interesting news for us. The new model Twenty-Seven offers a modern approach to a traditional semi-automatic rifle.

At IWA 2018, Benelli showed their new 2018 concept gun called Puma. They have also released some images of this gun on their social media pages. The Puma is a semi-automatic rifle chambered in .223 Remington. It is based on Benelli MR1 rifle. Now, this is not a pre-production prototype and the chances are good that it won’t be ever manufactured. It is precisely what it is called – a concept gun.

Although exceedingly rare in service with any element of the Afghan National Security Forces, there are a very small number of 5.56x45mm NATO bullpup rifles in service with either the Afghan ANA Commandos or the National Directorate of Intelligence, or more commonly known as the Afghan version of the “CIA”.

An Instagram account and an Iranian defense media site have brought to light some new photographs of the Iranian MASAF (اسلحه مصاف) M4 clone that we first reported on in 2016. Along with some detailed photos of the clone are some other small arms on display, all taken at a recent Iranian Naval exposition in Iran. For the most part, it appears that very little has changed on the MASAF. This isn’t surprising due to the rifle along with the Fatah appear to be forgotten projects in Iranian small arms development. Although not completely new, the handguards appear to have an improved version of Iranian M-LOK at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions, in addition to diagonal slots around the 2 and 1 o’clock positions on the handguard itself. Again, these aren’t new developments as they were seen on the MASAF over a year ago at a Tehran defense exhibition. These rifles appeared to have both 20 round and 30 round magazines inserted into rifles on display. This is probably owed to the Fatah influence which was seen with 20 round magazines that matched the digital camouflage scheme that the rifle itself was finished in.

You have to hand it to Ruger – over the past few years the Newport, New Hampshire headquartered firearms manufacturer has transformed their image from “bolt action and rimfire” to “backpack-ready and NFA” (raise your hand if you predicted that Ruger would be making silencers). Seemingly basic considerations like optics and accessory rails, threaded barrels and polymer furniture options are progressive enough to get a younger generation of shooters interested in buying a Ruger. But manufacturing the new Ruger PC Carbine to accept GLOCK magazines is just part of the reason that Ruger’s latest offering is a homerun.

One of the goals of attending IWA, for me, was to find products or vendors that were not at SHOT Show last January. While Heckler and Koch were at SHOT Show, they had some guns at IWA that were not brought to Vegas. Check out their .308 DMR dubbed the G28Z.

According to a recently published interview with the current director of Česká Zbrojovka in a Czech media platform, the small arms company is currently in the process of launching a small arms plant in Egypt. The director Lubomír Kovařík mentioned in the interview that the plant would be manufacturing both handguns and rifles. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to TFB readers as we reported on the possibility of this opportunity in December of 2017 with the use of 7.62x36mm CZ 807s in use by Egyptian Special Operations forces. Although not specifically mentioned, it is almost certain that the CZ 807 will be manufactured as the rifle Mr.Kovařík is talking about. That being the case, it appears that Beretta might have lost Egypt as a future defense customer for large-scale purchases. Previously Beretta 7.62x39mm ARX160s were in use throughout various units within the Egyptian Army. But with an entire manufacturing plant being built in the country, this has to mean a much larger use of the CZ 807 by Egyptian forces, most likely beyond the Special Operations component. The Egyptian infantry is still mostly armed with locally manufactured “Maidi” AKMs of either a folding stock (more like a folding strut) or fixed stock variety.

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.

Madritsch Waffentechnik (Madritsch Weapon Technology) from Austria isn’t exactly a company that TFB writes about on a regular basis, but we have covered their 40 mm Grenade Launcher (MWT-40) before.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves gets to run the brand new Hi-Point 1095 10mm Carbine into the ground! Everyone’s been waiting for this carbine, so how is it?

Finally the B&T APC family is complete. There has been a lot of rumors about the APC308 and it was expected to be released at SHOT Show, but was nowhere to be found there.

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.

In a recent propaganda video released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Report Number 190 to be precise), a 7.62x51mm NATO MK 17 SCAR was spotted over the course of the propaganda video. Of course, there is nothing new about this development, we’ve covered the SCAR in use by the Taliban previously on TFB. But what is new is that we are starting to connect the dots on this particular MK 17, clearing up some of the misinformation and hope to even provide a possible explanation for its origins in Afghanistan.

At this year’s Singapore Air Show, S&T Kinetics showed off their latest bullpup rifle, the 5.56x45mm NATO BR18. The BR18 is the latest version of what began as the BMCR, or Bullpup Multirole Combat Rifle which initially debuted at the 2014 Singapore Air Show. The biggest difference with this iteration of the design is that it is finally ready for production, following trials held in 2017. Currently it appears the company is going to try for a Singaporean adoption, most likely by the Armed Forces. However, a company representative also mentioned that there could be potential for an international sale.

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.

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.

Often completely overshadowed by the larger SHOT Show, the Antique Gun Show is strategically held during the weekend after SHOT Show (although this year it was held the weekend before). Although possibly not the best antique show in the United States, it certainly ranks highly up there with the quality of firearms brought into it. The majority of everything sold within this show is from the 1800s and early 1900s, with even a few older firearms as well. And unlike SHOT Show which is strictly regulated to media and industry folks, the Antique Arms Show is open to the general public for a small admission fee at the door. Apparently, for the first time since attending SHOT, TFB was able to pay a visit and bring to light a number of the more interesting pieces on display. Although not comprehensive of everything that was on display, this post will highlight some of the odder and more fascinating tables and vendors.

The Israeli Dror Light Machine Gun was born during a time of necessity. What would later become the state of Israel was fighting off numerous enemies all around it and needed every weapon system possible. Through this endeavor, a sympathetic employer who formerly worked at Johnson Automatics helped supporters in the United States form a working copy of the M1944 Johnson LMG, fabricated in Canada, and then covertly shipped over to Israel where production was completed.

With the recent official news that the new AK-12 and AK-15 rifles have been adopted by the Russian Ministry of Defense it’s with interest we with Kalashnikov’s help can take a deeper look into how the rifles were developed and engineered.

Aklys Defense makes an integrally suppressed AK rifle called AKSV “Velociraptor”. The suppressor not only encloses the barrel but also the gas system. Combined with the use of a short stroke piston system, it prevents any gas flow back to the shooter. The company also states that this suppressor mitigates the recoil.

A key part of the capability brought to the table by the US Army’s new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle is its chambering for the 7.62mm round. Specifically, this chambering allows the SDMR to fire the (also brand new) XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round, designed to give the squad the capability to defeat advanced ceramic armors at combat ranges. There may be juuuuust one little problem, though: Cost. The US Army’s Ammunition Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2019 was released this month; in it was procurement information on the XM1158 ADVAP, and a bit of a shocking sticker price to boot:

The US Army wants to give its soldiers more punch and reach: In the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Estimate Justification Book for the United States Army, the service outlined its strategy for procuring M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) rifles from Heckler & Koch to outfit its squads with a 7.62mm precision semiautomatic rifle, called the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR). The primary justification for this move was confirmed in recent Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearings to be the ability to launch the Army’s new XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round, which is based on the projectile design introduced with the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR), but with a core made of tungsten alloy, rather than steel.