For anyone who coveted the US Air Force’s new M4 survival rifle, GAU-5A ASDW, Midwest Industries have answered your prayers and introduced a clone, the MI-GAU5A-P.

French firearms manufacturer  Verney-Carron is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the company’s creation. Established in 1820 in Saint-Etienne by spouses Claude Verney and Antoinette Carron, the company since operated uninterruptedly remaining a family-owned business managed by six generations of the Verney-Carron family. This fact makes it the oldest existing firearm manufacturer in France.

Earlier this month we reported that Europe’s IWA OutdoorClassics trade show had been rescheduled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. IWA was originally postponed until September 2020, but was subsequently cancelled and is now scheduled to be held in next March.

North Carolina-based Blackwater Worldwide have announced a partnership with Utah-based Iron Horse Firearms which will see Iron Horse come under the Blackwater banner as the company continues to diversify. Blackwater’s new firearms division joins the gear and ammo arms of the business.

Engineers at the US Army’s Army Research Lab (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground have filed a patent application for the Grenade Launched Unmanned Aerial System (GLUAS), a 40mm grenade launcher delivered drone, complete with camera. The GLUAS can be fired from an issue M320 or M203 launcher without modification.

SIG SAUER Electro-Optics have announced the launch of a new line of scopes using their Ballistic Data Xchange (BDX) technology. The new SIERRA6BDX riflescopes will be available in 2-12x40mm, 3-18x44mm and 5-30x56mm, with MSRP ranging from  $1,169.99 to $1,689.99.

The annual TriggrCon firearms event held in Washington state has been canceled. Triggrcon is a 3-day event in Bellevue, Washington that showcases the newest, most innovative companies and products in the tactical firearms industry. Unfortunately, it has now been announced on the TriggrCon website that TriggrCon 2020 has been canceled.

Anyone involved in competition shooting sports is probably fully aware that the year 2020 will be a year with very few competitions. Also, with a lot of shooting ranges closed the possibilities to do anything than dry training at home are few. One by one everything from small to larger matches have been canceled or postponed, and as many feared (or hoped) the time has now come for the IPSC Handgun World Shoot XIX in Pattaya, Thailand. The match has been postponed to November/December 2021.

Californian gun owners get your wallets out! Judge Benitez of California has just issued a temporary-injunction (also called a preliminary-injunction) on the California ammo restrictions requiring a background check for ammunition purchases. Previously Judge Benitez was responsible for the much-lauded “Freedom Week” where Californians could purchase standard capacity magazines instead of magazines limited to only 10 rounds.

The US Air Force Gunsmith Shop, part of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Armament Directorate, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas recently completed delivery of the new GAU-5A survival rifle for aircrews. TFBB first reported that the USAF had developed a new survival rifle for pilots and aircrews forced to eject over hostile territory back in June 2018. We got our first proper look at the new rifle in May 2019, when the new Aircrew Self Defense Weapons (ASDW) was seen in the hands of F-22 Raptor pilots at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.