The classic USGI web sling has been fielded on rifles since World War 2. It has seen action on the M-1 Garand, M-14, and M-16 rifles, and it provides both a method to carry a rifle and a loop sling for precision marksmanship use. Let’s take a closer look at this [Read More…]
Topless – that’s what Grace Optics calls the design of their M1 red dot sight because as you can see in the pictures, it lacks a top strap of the housing over the window. The advantage of this design is that it provides a less obstructed field of view which [Read More…]
If you’re one of those people who think the Thompson submachine gun never should have gone away, then Kahr Arms (Auto Ordnance) has the gun for you. Displayed at their booth at the 2018 SHOT Show is a Thompson different than any of the other semiauto Thompson [Read More…]
Working under contract from the Army’s Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM), AimLock, a subsidiary of Rocky Mountain Scientific Laboratory, developed an actively stabilized weapons chassis for AR-15 rifles. AimLock has been in the news before [Read More…]
If you want a Mini-14 buy one. If you want a carbine for a specific purpose, however, and provided have access to virtually any other modern carbine design, pick just about anything else. I say this not to disparage Ruger or the people who own Minis, but because [Read More…]
The following is an article that was originally written in Russian by TFB contributor Maxim Popenker, and Andrey Ulanov, and translated to English by Peter Samsonov. With their permission, I have replicated the text here, and edited it, for the enrichment of you, our [Read More…]
Back in the days of the fighting bolt action rifle, clever small arms designers came up with a number of minor but ingenious features to make the soldier’s life a little less hard when trying to cycle their rifle’s action by hand as they faced down the [Read More…]
Quick: What’s the definition of “assault rifle”? I’ll give you a moment to think about it. Now, a good definition for “assault rifle” in my opinion comes from Anthony G. Williams, a British author, ammunition collector, and military [Read More…]
It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these Modern PDW Calibers installments, but we’re back, and today we’re looking at a very new round on the market, one that is currently making some pretty big waves in the pistol world. I am talking of [Read More…]
The Walther PPS M1 was introduced in 2005, well before the Glock 43 or the Smith & Wesson Shield. For many years The PPS was one of the go to single stack 9mm pistols for concealed carriers with the Kahr PM series being the other option for those looking at polymer framed guns. In recent [Read More…]
If a Garand pings in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, did it make a sound? The answer is “yes”, because German super-hearing allows them to detect high-pitched noises from up to a kilometer away! The funny thing about myths is that sometimes [Read More…]
In the fourth part of the series of articles I am writing on the Lightweight Rifle program of the 1940s and ’50s, we looked at some of the experimental rifles that were being tested and evaluated during and just after World War II as potential replacements for or [Read More…]
We’ve all heard it at gun shows or with friends: The M1 Garand was the first rifle that brought true semiautomatic firepower to the battlefield, but it came with a fatal flaw – the ping, which would alert German soldiers that the hapless GI was out of ammo, [Read More…]
During World War II, various companies and weapons designers vied for the coveted contract that ultimately became the M1 Carbine in .30 Carbine. One of those companies was Auto Ordnance, which did submit a “light” rifle design, but as a “just in [Read More…]
The M1 Carbine is a lightweight, handy weapon that is well-liked by many. One of its weakest points for many people, however, is its cartridge: The .30 Carbine caliber is regarded by some as being too weak to be a true intermediate caliber round fully capable of [Read More…]
While the Garand was hailed by Patton as the “best” battle implement ever to hit the field, there arguably were better implements proposed to replace it. While the Johnson & Peterson designs typically gets the most attention, the Winchester company also [Read More…]
Inland Manufacturing, known for their reintroduction of the M1 carbine and various faithful reproductions, as announced a new version of the rifle, the Jungle Carbine. The new carbine is extremely similar to the standard M1 carbine, but adds a conical flash hider and [Read More…]
As it often happens, the exploits of a team of talented individuals is often attributed to that of one person. In a good example, many think of Eugene Stoner as the inventor of the AR-15, which is largely true (though some would argue that Jim Sullivan and the team had [Read More…]
What’s the coolest firearm you’ve ever shot? A fine, antique shotgun? An old war horse oozing with history? A rapid-firing machine gun? Whatever you’re thinking of, it’s not as cool as an M2 Flamethrower: In what is probably definitely the [Read More…]
Inland Manufacturing, known for their new reproduction manufacturing of historical rifles, has announced the release of their M1 “Scout” carbine. The new Scout adds modern features to the M1 carbine that allow the use of modern accessories and bring the [Read More…]
What happens when you shoot commercial ammunition through an M1 rifle? No, what really happens? Take a look at InRange TV’s video on the subject, embedded below. Ian and Karl go one step further than the average “let’s find out” video, and [Read More…]
The US trials that led to the adoption of the first standard issue military selfloading rifle are together one of my favorite parts of small arms history. Recently, Forgotten Weapons’ van Dyked and ponytailed founder and host Ian McCollum got a chance to handle [Read More…]
Well, sort-of-not-really, although it makes for a pretty great title. The Bendix-Hyde Carbine was in fact one of the nine prototypes initially submitted to the Light Rifle program (not to be confused with the Lightweight Rifle program that is the subject of my [Read More…]
The M1 is an old design, one of the very first successful selfloaders (certainly the first very successful one). That means that owning and shooting an M1 is an experience where almost anything can happen. Like, for example, the gun spontaneously disassembling itself [Read More…]
The M1 Carbine is a weapon that, although popular with shooters and soldiers alike, has been unfairly dismissed in the broader context of the development of the modern assault rifle. Although initially fielded without select-fire capability, the lightweight and handy M1 [Read More…]
In October, I traveled out to see my co-writer Alex C. to collect data on the weights of different long guns and some of their components. Over that weekend, I weighed 58 rifles and submachine guns, and numerous magazines, bolts, bolt carriers, and other miscellaneous [Read More…]
We all know the Galil ACE is a descendant of the famous AK series of rifles, but how well does it handle mud? Well, in the interim between the news breaking that IWI was recalling all of its newly released Galil ACE pistols due to the presence of a full auto sear pin [Read More…]
The M1 Garand is certainly a great design, but it’s often forgotten that it is fundamentally a piece of late 1920s technology, and it has some serious flaws. Its Achilles’ heel, though, is probably its susceptibility to mud, dirt, sand, and other foreign [Read More…]
In the previous previous installment, we looked at how to assemble our eligibility package for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. In this installment, we will look at how to actually order a rifle from the Program. Ordering is not a particularly difficult process, so [Read More…]
Ever since the news broke that the CMP would be able to sell M1911 handguns to the shooting public, thanks to a provision in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, I have received a lot of emails and comments asking me “how do I qualify for the CMP?” [Read More…]
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