DSA Inc., makers of the excellent SA58 Tactical Series FAL .308/7.62x51mm battle rifles, carbines, and subcarbines, has just come out with their DS-AR "Professional Grade" AR-15/M16 Style 5.56 (5.56x45mm) Carbines and Rifles. These include the DS-AR CV1 Carbine (16” 1:9 twist D4 barrel with press-on mock flashider), DS-AR S1 Rifle (.223 Match chamber, 1:8 twist stainless steel bull barrel), and …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com I’ll just come right out and say it: if the the NewMatics PM16 Government Model PCP (Pre-Charged Pneumatic) Rifle/Carbine performs as advertised–and based on DefRev’s conversations so far with its designer/developer, Mark Schavone, we have every reason to believe that it does–it is a major advance in combat simulation tools, and can drastically improve the marksmanship …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Anybody who’s been keeping abreast of small arms and ammo develpments in the USSOCOM arena should already be aware fo the 6.8x43mm SPC a.k.a. "6.8mm Remington SPC (Special Purpose Cartridge)" cartridge concept. The 6.8x43mm Special Purpose Cartridge (SPC) was conceived and designed with the help of members of the U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group as …

by David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com November 6, 2003 Last updated on 10/11/11. The 1911 pistol that Kimber is currently supplying to U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) MARSOC/Special Operations Command Detachment 1 operators, according to reports, differs from the Kimber Custom TLE/RL II in several key respects (The following information is, as yet, unconfirmed/unverified): 1) It utilizes Kimber's Series …

by David Crane defrev at gmail dot com There’s a new .50 BMG sniper/anti-materiel rifle in town, and it’s called the Cobb FA50(T). The "FA" stands for "Fast Action". The "T" stands for "tactical". The following is an email letter DefRev received from Cobb Manufacturing, Inc. President, Skip Patel, on the Cobb FA50(T) Fast Action .50 BMG rifle: "Dear David, …

by David Crane For all you Kalashnikov collectors out there, Ohio Ornance Works is offering a unique AK alternative. It’s called the VZ 2000. The VZ 2000 is a custom semi-auto version of the Czech VZ.58, and is made to look identical to the genuine military full-auto version. The Ohio Ordnance VZ 2000 looks like… a very interesting rifle. Just …

Back in September, I wrote a quick blurb on the Chinese QBZ-95(Type 95) infantry rifle, chambered for the proprietary 5.8x42mm cartridge. Now, while it’s true that I’m not a particularly big fan of the Chinese army, it must be noted that the Chinese are not stupid, and they decided on this caliber after conducting a rather extensive amount of ballistic …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Just about everyone and their mother is making AR-15’s/M16’s these days, at least it seems like it, anyway. After all, it is one of the two most popular infantry rifle platforms on the planet, and no other rifle in the world can compete with the AR-15’s/M16’s upgradable nature, in terms of accessories and add-ons. One company …

The QBZ-95 bullpup infantry rifle from China, a.ka. Type 95 rifle, fires the proprietary 5.8x42mm round. Many small arms experts consider the ideal infantry/light machine gun caliber to be between 6mm and 6.5mm in diameter, and between 39mm and 45mm in length, making the new Chinese caliber very close to the ideal dual-purpose infantry round. Click here for pics and …

The Russians have been doing some very interesting things for the last number of years with assault rifles while our own infantry soldiers are still saddled with a rifle that’s now over 40 years old(yes, the M16). The Russians’ focus seems to be in the area of higher hit probability, promulgated by some rather ingenious recoil-reduction mechanisms. DefRev has already …