#Military

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of the different types of guns, ammo, history, and shooting sports that this niche corner of the industry entails. A couple of years back I had the extremely rare opportunity to shoot one of my “grail guns” the American-180 .22LR submachine gun. This is a firearm I’ve been fascinated with for a long time, and it’s also one that’s always generated a lot of discussion in the firearm world for its extremely narrow focus on marketing directly to police agencies. Wouldn’t this relatively inexpensive, lightweight, small-caliber, machine gun, make the perfect weapon for the American soldier? Today we’re going to go through a bit of that discussion and take a look at both sides of the argument to see why perhaps the American-180 and other rimfire submachine guns like it just might not ever make practical sense on the battlefield.

Well, this is awkward. Even as the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s “Gun Storage Check Week” program runs June 1-7, promoting safe firearm storage, we see the U.S. Army has lost a pile of pistols, and it wants them back, badly. How badly, you ask? Fort Moore wants the pistols back so badly that they’re offering a $5,000 reward for info that cracks the case, as they believe the pistols were stolen.

If you’re looking for a history of military weaponry book with a twist, check out what’s coming soon from Canfora Publishing in Sweden. In coming days, they will release Aircraft Weapons Of World War I, a collection of photos of the wild and weird weaponry of aviators in the Great War.

A lot of us who are into night vision devices or want to have the same equipment that the US government has access to will spend a lot of time and money trying to acquire these things through legal means. Not so for 3 individuals who were recently charged with the theft of nearly $2,200,000 worth of military equipment from Fort Hood including IR Laser illuminators, AN-PRC-117 radios, and thermal optics. Two US Army veterans plus one civilian businessman have since been charged with conspiracy to commit theft of government property.

On the 17th of November, 2021, the Twitter account Lee Ann Quann reported that the Vietnamese Army was in the midst of testing a brand new homemade UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle). The tweet included a video of what appears to be a cobbled-together unmanned treaded miniature drive section with an AK pattern rifle mounted to the top of the vehicle via an articulating gimble. According to the tweet, the PAVN intends to use the UGV as a “sentry” that would flush infiltrators from trenches to reduce battlefield casualties.

The Skinner Historic Arms & Militaria Auction held in late October brought unique and rare firearms, as well as very interested buyers. Almost all of the items featured here saw military usage, with one exception being a Colt Python, said to have been used in The Man with the Golden Gun Bond film. Most of the items we’ll cover today went well beyond their estimated worth.

Welcome to TFB Podcast Roundup 19: Last week we celebrated those who have served our country with Veterans Day (formerly known as Armistice Day in the United States). In honor of that federal holiday, I’ve brought you a bunch of podcasts featuring those who have served our country including Travis Haley, Eric from IV8888, Jacko Willink, and even one of our very own in-house veterans. In these episodes, their respective hosts talk about tactics, drama within the military and veteran community, and also talk a little bit about their experiences and offer advice to everyone from their experience within the military. Sit back, relax and enjoy the shows folks.

PROOF Research has just been awarded a new military contract for new “medium caliber” weapons systems which builds upon the company’s previously successful small caliber barrel technology which is currently in service with U.S. Military Forces. PROOF Research specializes in precision-made firearm barrels for both bolt-action and AR-type rifles and even produces complete rifle systems. In addition, the company also has an advanced materials & technologies division specializing in advanced composites.

Much digital ink has been spilled over the last several years regarding the US Army’s NGSW ( Next Generation Squad Weapons) Program. Most of the rifles/carbines and machine guns currently employed by America’s soldiers are not particularly modern, by any stretch. Today’s M4A1 has seen some notable updates and improvements, to be sure, but at its core it’s still based on the same M16 that first entered service in the Vietnam era, more than half a century ago. The 5.56×45mm NATO round it uses has come under fire from time to time, for being perhaps a bit too anemic for its purpose. This same cartridge is used by the belt-fed M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), which was designed in the ’70s and has been in service since 1984. Though some update attempts have been explored since then, none came to fruition.

The ability to shoot from behind cover is pretty cool. More importantly, it can keep you alive. With good ol’ fashioned Israeli engineering, the CornerShot made this a real possibility. Extending the reach of the famous CornerShot, Silver Shadow Israel has introduced the Corner Shot Scorpion.

This week it was announced that LMT Defense had gained a contract from the United States Army for $17,031,520 firm fixed price for a new production run of the M203/M203A2 40MM Grenade launcher. The order is estimated to be complete by September of 2025. The full press release from LMT Defense can be found below.

Belgium’s own Fabrique Nationale Herstal, known as FN Herstal or simply FN for short, has produced some phenomenal and highly successful guns over its 131 year history. From their contributions in the handgun market with pistols like the Hi-Power and Five-Seven, to rifles like the P90 and SCAR series – and many more – FN has made some memorable guns.

To most shooters, Aimpoint is best known for optics like their rifle-mounted red dots such as the PRO (Patrol Rifle Optic) or the Micro series, and their increasingly popular ACRO P-1 pistol sight. In March 2019, TFB reported that the US Department of Defense would be purchasing $24 million worth of Aimpoint FCS13RE sights for the 84mm “Carl Gustaf” recoilless rifle system. According to the Aimpoint product page, these Dynamic Universal Reflex Sights can also be used on additional heavy weapons like the Mk19 40mm grenade launcher. Now with a June 22, 2020 press release, Aimpoint has announced the award of an additional DoD contract for even more of their FCS13RE sights. The release reads:

Earlier this year the Canadian government confirmed it would be procuring a further 3,626 C6A1 FLEX General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) from Colt Canada. This large contract is worth CA$96.97 million and was awarded under the Canadian government’s Munitions Supply Program.

The Canadian Army have ordered just under 300 new semi-automatic precision rifles from Colt Canada. The initial order for the new 7.62x51mm C20 is worth a reported CA$8.5 million. We at TFB got our first look at Colt Canada’s new C20 rifle last summer at DSEI 2019, when Colt Canada were kind enough to talk us through the new rifle. Check out that earlier article about the rifle here.