Well, it looks like our boys just got some body armor that’ll actually do ’em some good, thank God. The new vests will stop .308 rounds, with the help of ceramic composite plates. They’re also about 10 pounds lighter than before. Click here to read more about it.  

by David Crane david@defensereview.com The highlight for me at FN’s booth was getting to handle the P90 PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) and FiveseveN Pistol. Please notice that I did not say “submachinegun”, when speaking of the P90. That’s because the FN P90 PDW fires a proprietary 5.7x28mm projectile that is really closer to a small rifle round, than a pistol …

Tom Kivlehan used to be the chief armorer for the Marine Corp’s MEU SOC unit. In fact, Tom was in charge of building the Marine Corps’ famous MEU SOC 1911 .45’s, as well as all their sniper rifles. Since leaving the Corps several years ago, Tom has started his own company in Stafford Virginia, called Guntek, and now uses his …

Heckler & Koch has just introduced their new G36C mini-assault rifle, which incorporates an 8 ½ inch barrel and is even more compact than their G36K model. Mini-assault rifles are currently the biggest trend in tactical and special operations weaponry, as they provide much better performance(i.e. penetration) against both hard targets and body armor than submachine guns. The new gun …

This is one very interesting company. International Cartridge Corporation has teamed up with Sinterfire to create and produce specialized training and tactical ammunition for SWAT and special operations use. Both types of ammunition utilize powdered metal technology in creating non-jacketed lead-free rounds that can do literally just about anything the customer needs it to do, depending on what needs to …

Professional Ordnance has just come out with an L.E. only version of their Carbon-15 rifle called the C15M L.E. Rifle. The gun is available in a select- fire version, can be had with either a 16 inch barrel or 9 1/2 inch barrel for CQB applications, and weighs under 4 pounds. The gun is constructed of carbon fiber, and utilizes …

The May/June issue of Police Marksman has an article by Rich Grassi on the MLEFI&AA firearms training manual. The 2 year project contains 200 courses of fire for all types of police service weapons and has 400+ pages. The courses were submitted from various police firearms instructors from across the country. L.E. agencies from 50 states including 30+ state or …

Russia’s Gepard PDW looks to be a real comer in the PDW arena. The gun apparently allows the operator to fire different types of 9mm rounds with different lengths without changing the magazine or barrel. It also utilizes some kind of "anti-recoil system". One of the rounds it can fire is the 9x30mm Grom round, which has special armor piercing …

by David Crane david (at) defensereview (dot) com Photo Credit: FSSG June 5, 2001 Every once in a while, something comes along that is so interesting, it is simply hard to believe that it’s actually possible–that it really exists. The FSSG Fire-Selector System is just one of those things. In a nutshell, this is the single coolest aftermarket product we’ve …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com November 17th, 2002 Every once in awhile, as the editor of Defense Review, I have the rare and somewhat distinct pleasure of handling and firing a firearm that is not only brand spanking new, but actually manages to knock my socks off. Please keep in mind that I did not expect Heckler …