By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 23 2010 On May 18, 2010, The Firearm Blog reported on yet another company developing yet another gas piston/op-rod AR (AR-15) rifle/carbine/SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) platform. The company is Holland Automatic Rifles (HAR). The piston/op-rod (operating rod) system is a tri-vent/progressive-vent, vectored-exhaust, recoil-attenuating/mitigating system that, according to “John” at HAR, requires …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com All photos contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are copyrighted. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. The photos were shot with a Canon PowerShot S90 10-megapixel digital camera (still camera with video capability). February 4, 2010 After last year’s SHOT Show (2009), DefenseReview published information on the Primary …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com December 31, 2009 Since we just published a heads-up piece on the CzechPoint/CZ vz. 58 7.62x39mm Russian caliber semi-auto tactical rifle/carbine for the civilian tactical shooting market, we might as well touch on the next-gen Czech Republic army’s assault rifle/carbine–and the military (select-fire/full-auto) vz. 58’s replacement–the CZ S805 assault rifle/carbine, which was …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com December 4, 2009 Updated on 12/15/09 Marine Times (a.k.a. Marine Corps Times) is reporting on the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) selecting the Heckler & Koch Infantry Automatic Rifle–or HK IAR, for short–to replace the FN M249 SAW/LMG (Squad Automatic Weapon/Light Machine Gun). The HK IAR is a 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO) gas …

October 26, 2009 DefenseReview contributor Chen Lee a.k.a. “SMGLee” recently got a chance to run a FERFRANS SOAR 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO) select-fire/full-auto gas piston/op-rod tactical AR carbine and SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) at the range. In the above video, you can see him perform 90-round full-auto mag dump using an MWG 90-Rounder snail drum magazine. Company Contact Info: Ferdie Sy …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com <p> September 23, 2009 <p> In the embedded video below, DefenseReview.com owner/editor-in-chief David Crane demonstrates the FERFRANS Specialties SOAR (Special Operations Assault Rifle) 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem. select-fire/full-Auto AR SBRs (Short Barreled Rifles)/subcarbines at the range. The two guns featured sport 10.5" and 11.5" barrels, respectively, operate via direct gas impingement (DGI), and utilize …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com August 26, 2009 Back on June 7, 2009, DefenseReview published a heads-up piece on the new Ruger SR-556 gas piston/op-rod AR-15 tactical carbine. In that piece I wrote this: “One of the things were going to investigate is whether or not the SR556 is completely debugged, or whether it has the normal/usual …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com Pictured Below: FERFRANS SOAR Gas Piston/Op-Rod SBR

by David Crane May 6, 2009 The April 2009 issue of Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) (Gun Buyer’s Annual #74) has an article on the Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P15R 5.45x39mm Russian (a.k.a. 5.45x39mm Soviet a.k.a. 5.45x39mm Kalashnikov) semi-auto tactical AR-15 carbine. It’s an interesting offering, since the 5.45mm Russian is an interesting little cartridge, and combining it …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. All photos were shot with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW 7.1-megapixel digital camera, which is advertised as "shock + waterproof". This article last updated on February 7, …