By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com On January 22, 2010, during the last day of SHOT Show 2010, coincidentally, the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC), Joint Munitions and Lethality (JM&L) Contracting Center issued a Sources Sought Notice/Solicitation for “market survey” for a drop-in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS)/Non-Developmental Item (NDI) “modification kit” (i.e. performance upgrade kit) for “improvements to the M4 …

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 …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com November 23, 2009 A company called VBR-Belgium (Van Bruaene Rik – Belgium) has developed a rather interesting and potentially important pistol-format compact PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) system. While it may look like a futuristic movie prop, the VBR-B Compact PDW is arguably the most intelligently-developed PDW weapon/ammo concept to date. So, what’s …

By Mike Pannone June 15, 2009 In the early months of 2006 while I was helping to write and refine the curriculum of the Asymmetric Warfare Group’s Combat Applications Training Course (CATC) I took it upon myself to research performance enhancements and reliability upgrades as an integral part of educating the soldier on how to maximize his M4/M4A1 carbine. The …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 20, 2009 According to Army Times magazine, The 75th Ranger Regiment is scheduled to battle test the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) very soon. The Rangers will reportedly be taking 600 FN SCAR rifle/carbine/subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) weapons packages into battle, but DefenseReview doesn’t know how many of these are the …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com Photo(s) Credit: Doug Richardson, Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) May 8, 2009 If you’d like a more traditional platform for the 5.45x39mm Russian cartridge, than the Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P15R semi-auto AR-15 tactical carbine, the April 2009 issue of Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) (Gun Buyer’s Annual …

Why M4's have reliability issues…and why it's our fault! By Michael Pannone December 24, 2008 I fired 15,000 rounds through a semi-automatic M4/M4A1-type direct-gas-impingement (DGI) carbine in 31 weeks without a single malfunction attributable to anything except bad ammunition or bad magazines, with a grand total of 9 malfunctions. The least number of rounds fired between cleanings was 960 rounds, …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 4, 2008 So far, DefenseReview has covered the Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon), Colt APC (Advanced Piston Carbine) and Colt AHC (Advanced Hybrid Carbine), but those aren’t the only newly-developed weapons in Colt Defense’s bag of tricks. If you’re interested in an upgraded/modernized version of the standard, direct-gas-impingement (DGI) Colt M4A1 Carbine, …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 13, 2008 The Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon) isn’t the only potential "HK416 Killer" (a.k.a. "416 Killer, for short) in Colt’s new product arsenal, or the only new Colt Defense weapon offering shown at the 2008 AUSA Meeting & Exposition. Colt Defense is also now offering the Colt Advanced Piston Carbine (APC) …