The November 2001 edition of SAR (Small Arms Review) has an interesting article, written by Charlie Cutshaw, about American built Ak’s being built by Arsenal USA. Apparently, production of these rifles is being overseen by Ivan Kolev, formerly of Arsenal Bulgaria, who "holds the equivalent of a master’s degree from Tula Institute in Russia and is one of the world’s …

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 …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com A terrific gentleman by the name of Giovanni Milano(think he’s Italian?), was at the DSA booth to meet and greet everyone, and explain DSA’s .308 battle rifles. Giovanni is both a production manager and senior technician for the company. DSA Inc. makes what many authorities regard as the best FAL .308 (7.62x51mm) rifles ever made. DSA …

If you’re a fan of the Armalite AR-180 rifle (semi-auto version of the AR-18 assault rifle), guess what? It’s BAAaak!!! Armalite has just reintroduced the rifle as the AR180B, and they’ve instituted a few updates. These include a new polymer lower receiver, AR-15 trigger group, AR-15 style safety and mag release, so the gun now takes standard AR-15 magazines. One …

The answer to the special operations community’s prayers may exist in the .300 Whisper cartridge by SSK Industries. Invented by J.D. Jones, the .300 Whisper utilizes a very heavy .30 caliber rifle round combined with a shortened case. According to Mr. Jones, "the 300 WHISPER was designed for the purpose of firing extremely heavy, accurate, ballistically efficient bullets at sub-sonic …

If your team needs to reach out and touch someone, you might wanna’ give The Hecate II .50 BMG and Ultima Ratio 7.62mm Nato a try. These are two very serious tactical interdiction tools. Both rifles are box magazine fed, and built with reliability and durability in mind. Click here to visit the manufacturer’s site and read more about them. …

Kevin McClung and Steve Morrison are now building high-end custom 1911’s and Hi-Powers for carry that they call "Hard Use" guns.

The new Fall issue of "Special Weapons for Military and Police" has an article on Russia’s Nikonov An-94 Abakan rifle, written by Charlie Cutshaw. The AN-94 may replace the AK-74 as Russia’s primary service rifle. Along with the AEK-971 and AK-107/108, it’s one of the leading contenders in that race. CLICK HERE to go to the AN-94 page on Valery …

Krebs Custom Guns, known for making custom 1911 pistols, is currently making a very high quality–and very interesting–semi-auto version of the new 4th Generation Kalashnikov rifles and carbines. Krebs’ AK-103 rifle and carbine are actually exact replicas of the full auto versions made in Russia. The guns are built on 4th generation AK-74 "Century Series" semi-automatic receivers. Both the rifle …

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 …