by David Crane Accuracy International (AI) appears to have a hit on there hands with the AW50 .50 BMG bolt-action anti-materiel (anti-material)/sniper rifle. The AI AW50 anti-materiel rifle, in layman’s terms, is basically 33-35 lbs (depending on reports) of "you don’t want any." This is one very serious rifle designed for hard military use. The AI AW50 is therefore… modular …

by David Crane For all you Kalashnikov collectors out there, Ohio Ornance Works is offering a unique AK alternative. It’s called the VZ 2000. The VZ 2000 is a custom semi-auto version of the Czech VZ.58, and is made to look identical to the genuine military full-auto version. The Ohio Ordnance VZ 2000 looks like… a very interesting rifle. Just …

I know somewhere out there Dirty Harry is smiling. Considering lawmakers are banning .50 caliber rifles what are they going to do now that Smith & Wesson has introduced a new .50 caliber revolver? Link To Picture and Story

Looks like ceramic technology will be big this year. The Lincoln will be available this summer and it protects against high powered rifles while driving in style. Link to story

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. has just come out with their 25mm "Payload Rifle". The new Payload Rifle is basically a modified Barrett M82A1 Light .50 antimateriel rifle. The new offering utilizes a replacement upper receiver with a shorter barrel (17.5 inches) mounted on a slightly modified M82A1 lower receiver. The 25x59Bmm round the Payload Rifle fires …

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 October 5, 2002 Over the last few years, I’ve been fortunate to own a number of top notch semi-auto pre-ban AK’s (AKM and AK-47 rifles) by some of the best makers. I’ve owned several Hungarian pre-ban underfolders and fixed-stock models made by FEG, a couple of Yugoslavian under-folders and fixed-stock models made by Zastava, and a couple …

O.k, here’s the second installment highlighting the excellent "AK Mania" issue of SAR(Small Arms Review), Nov., 2002. By the way, this is a really great AK issue for all those Kalashnikov lovers out there. In this DefRev installment, we’re going to discuss ASD Firearms LLC’s authentic-looking AK variants, both full-auto and semi-auto only. The SAR story we’ll be discussing this …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com October 5, 2002 I don’t know about the rest of you, but there’s just something about a 7.62x39mm caliber Mini-AK the size of a subgun that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Who cares that it’s semi-auto only? Who cares that it doesn’t have a shoulder stock? It’s small, …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Force-on-force tactical CQB training and Real Action Gaming(R.A.G.) just got bumped-up in the realism department. Asia Paintball Supply(APS) out of Hong Kong is now marketing their Real Action Marker(R.A.M. or RAM) here in the U.S. The mastermind behind the U.S. marketing campaign is Harry Wong, an ex-British Army soldier who’s now an APS executive based in …