by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview has been interested in the Nikonov AN-94 "Abakan" assault rifle for a pretty long time, now. I believe I first read about it in 1994 or 1995. Designed by Russian small arms designer Gennadiy Nikonov, the AN-94 is an interesting rifle, as it enjoys one of the same (major) advantages as the Ultimax 100 Mk3 …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com If you’ve already read my recent article, "AFJ Shoot-Out at Blackwater, the Milkor MGL Mk-1S, and the HK XM8 Rifle/Carbine", be sure to also check out the AFJ Shoot-Out at Blackwater 2004 videos page. There’s some really great stuff on there. DefenseReview has, in the past (over time), already written articles on most of the weapons …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Safety Harbor Firearms is currently manufacturing and marketing a side-mounted magazine-fed bolt-action .50 BMG rifle, called the Ultra Mag 50, that DefenseReview would like to learn more about. Developed by Dennis Cheney and Dave Finnie, the Ultra Mag 50 .50 Cal. rifle utilizes an AR-15-based lower receiver and lightweight upper. The Ultra Mag 50 .50BMG rifle …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Armed Forces Journal (AFJ) recently held their annual Shoot-Out at Blackwater USA. The AFJ Shoot-Out at Blackwater has become a real big deal annual event among small arms experts and military defense/tactical industry people. At this year’s Shoot-Out (2004), Armed Forces Journal editor John Roos and his merry band of shooters/evaluators put a plethora of tactical …

by David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com July 22, 2004 Yesterday, I hand a very informative phone conversation with Mark Larue of Larue Tactical. Larue Tactical, long famous for their industry standard Larue Sniper Targets, is now manufacturing tactical mounts and their own FF Rail System (Larue Tactical Handguards) for the AR-15/M16 and M4/M4A1 Carbine. The Larue Tactical Mounting …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview has known about the development of this pistol for some time now, but we were politely asked by a Kimber Mil/LE representative not to report anything about it until August 1st. Well, Hilton Yam and some other gentlemen at TacticalForums.com have just posted information about the new Kimber Custom "Warrior" 1911 pistol, which is the …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com The industrial design firm, Crye Associates, designed and developed a unique universal-type camouflage pattern for the U.S. Army’s Scorpion program back in 2001-2002. Scorpion was the experimentation/concept-development project for (and precursor to) the Objective Force Warrior (OFW) program, which has now become the Future Force Warrior (FFW) program. This picture shows the original Scorpion camo pattern, …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Awhile back, DefRev published an article on the Beretta Cx4 Storm semi-auto carbine titled "Beretta Cx4 Storm Carbine. Sleek, Futuristic, and Modular.", right around the time that the Cx4 was first introduced. We’ve been hearing some pretty good things about this futuristic, ergonomic carbine from Cx4 owners, so far. It would seem that Beretta has a …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com I started noticing advertisements about this school cropping up in several firearms publications, around a month ago. Valhalla Training Center, LLC is currently billing its curriculum as "the most progressive reality-based training on the planet." Big words. To use an even bigger word to describe that kind of language (for instance, if I were pedantic, which …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com We hope you enjoyed our previous article on Pinnacle Armor body armor, specifically on Pinnacle Armor’s NIJ level III and NIJ level IV flexible hard armor "Dragon Skin" vests, titled "High-Tech Flexible Body Armor Defeats Rifle Threats." In addition to their anti-rifle body armor, Pinnacle Armor is now making a large flexible body armor upgrade insert …