Less Lethal

This little wheelgun externally looks like a regular snubby however its design is quite unusual. Its ammunition consists of two components – 10mm rubber balls and 5.6x16 rimfire blank cartridges. In order to load the gun, one must swing the cylinder open, load the blanks from the rear of the cylinder like in cartridge revolvers then load the rubber balls from the front of the cylinder like in percussion revolvers.

James Reeves is with the guys from Genesis to talk about their new less lethal shotgun, the Genesis Arms GEN-12 LL. It’s a less lethal shotgun designed with law enforcement use in mind. It features a semi-auto, Mil-Spec AR trigger with AR controls and ergonomics, a 10.5” smoothbore barrel, and a high-visibility orange color for differentiation. The shotgun is designed to fire bean bag less lethal munitions and includes a 5-round magazine and soft case. It’s made with a 6061 aluminum upper, lower, and handguard, and has a delayed blowback mechanism.

James is at the Umarex booth to talk about this wild new less-lethal air-powered AR-type carbine that accepts a wide range of ammunition payloads including OC/pepper powder, less-lethal solid projectiles, and even UV markers. The most interesting part, however, would be its ability to self-regulate its operating pressure and projectile velocity based on the distance to the target, which it detects with a laser range-finding module.

James Reeves is at the EKOL booth during SHOT Show 2024 to talk about Turkish blank firing guns, how much they cost, and why someone would possibly want to buy them.

In response to a growing demand for less-lethal weapons technology, Civilian Warfighter is offering a novel approach – visual disruption. The company’s latest product, the Cerberus, is a non-lethal visual disruptor designed to emit maximum possible light that is still within legal limits; it is intended to stun and disorient a potential attacker without causing any permanent damage to their eyesight.

Riot guns and the law enforcement behind them face complicated situations. Sometimes the less-lethal launchers used at mostly peaceful protests can be far more dangerous than intended if discharged at someone’s head. To avoid such unpleasantries, FN has introduced the  Smart ProtectoR-303T, which is programmed to avoid headshots.

High Speed Gear is well known within the soft goods industry for producing some very high-quality tactical gear like slings, magazine pouches, admin pouches, and IFAK kits. Today they’ve announced the introduction of the new Uniform Line of products that cater to those who carry a firearm and tactical gear as part of their daily duties (law enforcement, private security, etc). In a world dominated by basketweave gear, the new Uniform Line looks to combine modern materials and design and has a sleeker appearance.

Hello and welcome back to another Edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and its many guns, ammunition choices, and shooting sports. Last week we took a look at the CMMG Bravo 22LR conversion kit for AR-15 rifles. A lot of you had mixed feelings about the setup as many of you would just prefer to have a dedicated .22LR upper for your AR-15 which comes with its inherent benefits of being more accurate and using a dedicated receiver for its operation. However, on the other side of things, many of you also had great things to say about the CMMG Bravo. As far as my opinion on it, I quite like it and I think if you can afford one, they are quite handy to have in your inventory even if it’s just to have fun plinking with your favorite AR-15 rifle. This week we’re taking a look back in time to check out an oddity within the rimfire world – .22 rimfire tear gas cartridges. Whenever there are guns, there are almost always less-lethal options out there. So today we’ll take a look at them and give you all a brief overview of what they were, how they were used, and what their effectiveness was purported to be like!

Photo Of The Day: We’re finding ourselves in the middle of the action as the Feldjägers of the German Bundeswehr arrest a “Tango” as he’s trying to get away in his vehicle. At least the Tango was wearing his seatbelt.

In this TFBTV Show Time SHOT Show 2022 wrap-up episode, James Reeves interviews John Correia of Active Self Protection about non-lethal options, why they are great, stun guns versus tasers versus pepper spray, and the three best non-lethal weapons shown at SHOT Show 2022. With his experience on Active Self Protection, John has a lot to say about the subject, and today, he’s sharing it with you.

Byrna Technologies produces civilian less-lethal products that fire .68 caliber projectiles. The flagship of the lineup is the SD model, which is laid out like a handgun. Each magazine contains an 8 gram CO2 cartridge and five projectiles. Byrna claims a 60-foot effective range for the SD.

“Ask Doc” is a new series we are contemplating where we will answer questions from you, the readers. Topics will be answered by staff writers with significant experience in the field and tactical medicine. Submit your questions to tom.r@thefirearmblog.com (and try and keep them on topic).

Umarex Airguns presents the first officially licensed Glock 17 Gen5 T4E paintball marker under the tagline “Paint. Compete. Perform.” It uses an 8-round magazine that holds .43 caliber paint or powderballs. The magazine also includes a 12-gram CO2 cartridge that can be changed without tools. Dimensions and operation of the Umarex marker are made to be very similar to the real thing, to help with routine handling and intuitive operation.

FN Herstal continues to develop their series of less lethal launchers with a compact and modular version of the FN 303 Tactical. The launcher uses a light, durable polymer chassis with a variety of buttstocks and pistol grips that are easily and quickly interchangeable. The FN 303 Tactical uses a more compact compressed air tank which is refillable. It comes with semi-auto fire which is said to produce no noise, flash or recoil. The magazine holds 15 rounds. The Tactical model does not exceed 508mm (20″) in length when folded, and you can still launch projectiles if needed in a confined space for instance.

While in the US and Europe, Glocks are often considered to be reasonably priced workhorses, in some other countries, having a Glock is a luxury and a sign of wealth and opulence. For example, in certain parts of Iraq, a Gen 5 Glock 19 retails for around $4000, but even that is not the most expensive offering in the world. Meet Glock-T, a Russian-made Glock derivative that currently retails for $5000.

FN have introduced an improved version of their FN 303 less lethal system, the FN 303 Mk2. This is a pellet launching system which fires fin-stabilized, .68-caliber projectiles. It has a magazine capacity of 15 projectiles and is effective out to 50 meters. It’s powered by compressed air and its semi-automatic action can rapidly fire a range of projectiles.

A recent bit of local Massachusetts news has revealed that the Cambridge, MA police department may be reducing its weapon inventory by up to 20% as well as making a few other changes to its equipment roster. According to news source Wicked Local, the push to reduce the weapons inventory of the Cambridge Police came about after the department released a full inventory of its stores that was open to the public. Aside from the move to reduce the guns of the department, there is some disagreement over the methodology by which the reduction will take place.

With a sharper focus on the use of force by law enforcement recently, less lethal options are more important than ever. This includes one of the oldest weapons used by man, the stick. At this end of its lengthy evolution, the stick has become the Armament Systems and Procedures (ASP) Agent Baton, and was just adopted by the FBI.

PepperBall has just introduced their new LifeLite Mobile Launcher, which can light up potential threats, and propel non-lethal PepperBalls around 250 feet per second.  The PepperBall projectiles are similar to paintballs that break upon hitting a target, but rather than paint, PepperBalls expel an irritant designed to temporarily incapacitate an assailant. The new LifeLite Mobile is the second generation of handheld, non-lethal protection that was designed with a slightly smaller profile and neutral appearance when carried openly. The full press release can be found below:

HERO Defense Systems is a Salt Lake City, UT based manufacturer specializing in non-lethal self-defense devices. Today they announced the re-release of their adaptable HERO 2020 device. The HERO 2020 is very similar in function to the Russian PB-4SP Osa traumatic pistol in that they are both aimed at having a less lethal option available to those who want it.

Israeli Weapon Industries, or IWI for short, is best known in the US for producing guns like the Tavor bullpup, the Masada and Jericho pistols, the elusive Carmel battle rifle, and their new US-manufactured AR, the Zion-15, among others. They are also a key supplier for the Israeli Defense Force, as well as a host of other military forces and law enforcement agencies all around the world. For example, TFB recently reported that IWI is selling more than 16,000 of their Negev NG-7 light machine guns to the Indian Army. Now they’re rolling out an entirely new initiative, with a July 21st press release detailing the announcement of multi-part comprehensive riot control solutions. The release reads as follows.

Just like the Department of Homeland Security (USA), the Swedish Police Force has now ordered the GL06 40 mm less-lethal grenade launchers made by B&T in Switzerland.

This year, Vietnam had its first large international defense exhibition, DSE Vietnam 2019. The expo was located in Hanoi downtown, next to all the museums and government buildings, just a two-minute walk Vietnam Ministry of Public Security.

Even among professionals, not much is known about modern Vietnamese small arms. You can seldom see Vietnamese manufacturers at defense exhibitions and every time they make an appearance, there is a lot to talk about.  This year, Vietnam had it’s first large international exhibition – DSE Vietnam in Hanoi. And while this particular exhibition did not showcase a lot of firearms, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

This is TFB – The Firearm Blog. We talk plenty about guns and gear that can be used to keep us alive in a defensive situation. But we should also have a discussion about the use of force and some equipment you may choose to defend against threats that don’t require a firearm. We’ve discussed mindset and situational awareness in the past, yet we are probably lacking in providing you with information on less-lethal weapons used to stop an attack that doesn’t rise to the level of deadly force. If you haven’t considered carrying a less-lethal device, we’ll talk about why you probably should and then provide you with some buying options.

When it comes to stun guns and similar less-lethal products, they all are very similar in their design that direct contact has to be made. Whether that is through wired projectiles that need to hit their mark or you openly walk up to an individual and touch them with two probes. In either scenario, there is significant room for problems. For one, you have to be close to the threat you wish to incapacitate which is something law enforcement does not particularly like (who can blame them, I would not want to be close either). All that changes with Wattozz.

B&T USA have revealed that they have been awarded a contract by the US Department of Homeland Security to provide 40mm less-lethal grenade launchers for the Customs and Border Protection Agency.

PepperBall has announced that they have won a substantial contract to equip the US Army with their non-lethal Variable Kinetic System launcher. The contract is worth $650,000 and the PepperBall VKS is destined to equip troops in Afghanistan.

I agree … the title of this article sounds like trolling or some sort of clickbaiting heresy. The expressions like Ukrainian Schmeisser and Smeisser Makarov alone sound like they are either a typo or an April Fools’ Day joke. However, believe it or not, this less-lethal Makarov replica is made by a Ukrainian company called Schmeisser!

Accurate-Mag, a division of Of BML Tool in Monroe, Connecticut announced at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) that their caseless telescoping Non-Lethal ammunition completed government testing. Tested on both pistol and rifle platforms, the ammunition can be adjusted to three different power levels depending on the target range. The Caseless Telescoping Non-Lethal System (CTNLS) held 92% accuracy from 10-50 yards with a red dot equipped pistol and 76% accuracy from 40-80 yards using a 1-6X optic equipped M4 carbine.