by David Crane The FN M240B 7.62mm GPMG is the current official 7.62mm machine gun for the U.S. Armed Forces, and is generally considered by many small arms experts to be a masterpiece in terms of small arms design. Masterpiece or not, the FN M240 GPMG, at 27 lbs EMPTY, is simply WAY too heavy for mobile infantry unit gunners …

by David Crane I’ve been using Surefire combat flashlights for the last several years for one reason: they’re the best. No question about it, they are heads and shoulders above the rest of the competition on a number of levels. First, Surefire’s are brighter than everything else out there. These flashlights are specifically designed to be used in tactical situations, …

by David Crane Eye Safety Systems, Inc. ( ESS) bills their ICE 2.4 ballistic eyeshield as "the most complete system available for high-impact eye defense in any light conditions", and they may just be right about that. "ICE" is an acronym for "Interchangeable Component Eyeshield", and the "2.4" refers to the thickness of the polycarbonate lens material, which is a …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com The U.S. Army is developing new thermobaric munitions for their BDM(Bunker Defeat Munition) and M203 grenade launchers, and ultimately for the XM29/OICW(Objective Individual Combat Weapon) as well. This is a long time coming. The Russian army has been using thermobaric light support weapons since its Soviet/Iron Curtain days. The Russian RPO-A Shmel is a perfect example. …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com A little over a year ago, I wrote a story on the Arms Tech Recon Rifle. Well, in early November 2002, I got to shoot Arm’s Tech’s Compak-16 select-fire subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle), which is basically a shortened version of the Recon Rifle. I actually had a lot of fun shooting ths gun. Ideally, I would have …

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 While we were at SWAT Round-Up 2002, we were fortunate to get to put a few rounds through the HK G36C sub-carbine. Out of all the guns we got to shoot at round-up, this one would be my personal choice. It was nice and compact, and had very light recoil, even on full-auto. We only wish we …

Every well-funded Special Operations team on earth, whether it be military or law enforcement, currently utilizes some form of tactical communications headset. Communication between team members and between the team and their command structure is one of the most important aspects of any tactical op. One of the most highly respected companies currently fulfilling this need is New Eagle, of …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com A little while back, we reported on Paul Liebenberg opening up his own custom shop, Pistol Dynamics, now located in Indialantic, FL. Well, the July/August 2002 issue of "American Handgunner" contains a rather lengthy article by Cameron Hopkins about both Paul and his new "Limited Signature" Model 1911 he created in retro Armand Swenson/Richard Heinie style …

I was talking with one of my brothers about some different calibers and velocities. Something we often talk about. This led to the IPSC’s Power Factor, which is simply Bullet Weight in Grains, Times Velocity, Divided by 1,000. This is an easy formula that one can use when comparing loads… but doesn’t take into effect Caliber. W x V / …